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http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v455/n7209/full/455002b.html
Nature 455, 2 (4 September 2008) | doi:10.1038/455002b; Published online 3 September 2008
Scientific collaboration between East and West must survive the crisis in Georgia.
Less than three months ago, hundreds of scientists from Russia, Europe, Asia and North America gathered in Tbilisi, Georgia, for the 2008 Phage Biology, Ecology and Therapy Meeting at the George Eliava Institute of Bacteriophage, Microbiology and Virology. In the light of recent events, it seems unlikely that a similarly illustrious scientific meeting will happen again there any time soon.
But the political reverberations that have inevitably followed the conflict in the Caucasus region should not be allowed to damage science. Indeed, the rougher the language between Moscow and the West, the more valuable it becomes to sustain good relations in research.
Science cannot and should not be blind to politics. But even if the current political crisis escalates, it would be utterly unwise of either side to halt or suspend existing scientific agreements and collaborations. Over the past two decades, East-West scientific relationships have developed from pure unilateral aid to increasingly fruitful collaborations.