I'm trying to keep this blog broadly science oriented, as it is my primary area of study and expertise, but it's nearly impossible for me to not inject some political and economic commentary every now and again; especially since the scientific industry, like all others, is heavily reliant on political policy.
Two weeks ago, President Obama visited South and Central America for the first time in his presidency. This baffles me.
Think of 10 humanitarian causes or images of plight and suffering across the world. Then think of 10 images of successful global cities or centers of industry. Chances are that with the exception of Haiti in the former category, you won't give a thought to the western hemisphere (sans U.S. / Canada) and who could blame you.
I wish I knew why this was, aside from the obvious fact that our education system doesn't teach us about Latin America and our media doesn't cover it. We have stronger ties with Thailand, Saudi Arabia, and Poland than we do with Peru, Uruguay, or Costa Rica. Our hispanic population is growing immensely and, with a clear majority, the best known second language in this country is Spanish. Yet still our ties with these countries and their greater than 600 million residents are feeble at best.
The best explanation that I can come up with is that the highest performers still underperform compared to western europe, and the lowest performers are considerably better off than the poorest nations of Africa and central Asia. These countries are stuck in the middle ground where NGO's care little about the poorest (Nicaragua, Bolivia, Honduras, etc.) and, with a few exceptions, our government ignores possible strategic alliances with the wealthiest (Chile, Argentina, Panama, etc.).
Aside from brutally obvious political (security) and economic (natural resources, labor markets, trading markets) advantages that relationships with our southern neighbors will foster, I'm also interested in the science. Intelligent and entrepreneurial people are being educated and doing research in the higher performing countries of this region, and I can't help but think that the economic might of the U.S. can help further the growth of science and technology industries here. Indeed, these industries already exist (see: Chile and Panama) but few people realize it or give them much merit.
Instead, the rising scientific and technological powers are emerging in Asia (think: India, China, Singapore, Korea). While I support increasing scientific proficiency and investigation everywhere, it seems that many of the countries of Latin America would produce a far greater return on investment. With GDP per capita in multiple countries doubling that of China and quadrupling that of India, they are simply better poised to enter the global marketplace of ideas and develop policies conducive to scientific investment.
In what will inevitably be a predominant theme of this blog, and of my future research: I firmly believe that scientific discoveries and technological innovations are to a large extent numbers games. More people actively pursuing discovery will result in more discoveries but meeting the challenges of a more diffuse scientific network will require smart policies to cope with the infrastructural needs of knowledge dissemination and trust. Businesses, educational institutions, and individuals can start by fostering collaborations but eventually our government must set a clear precedent of allegiance based on mutual interests and our increasingly shared cultural heritage.
As it stands, most of the well performing countries in Latin America are politically far to the left of the U.S. (Colombia and Chile being two notable exceptions) and would likely prefer an invite to dinner with Hugo Chavez and Raul Castro over Barack Obama. This is tragic, and for the sake of political security, economic growth, and scientific discovery, it must be redressed.
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