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Science as early casualty in the authoritarian turn

Grimm, Sven / Anna-Katharina Hornidge
External Publications (2025)

published on blogs.idos-research.de, 21.03.2025

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At flabbergasting speed, we currently see a very unappetising authoritarian turn in the United States under President Donald Trump. Numerous executive orders, often on questionable legal basis, target international cooperation and funding for academia, which, in the mind of “strongmen”, merit little attention, anyways. Most importantly, though, these decrees target the state’s capabilities to operate in the public interest. Science is one of the first functions treated with disdain and hostility. At the heart of the discussion lies the self-governance and public function of science as well as its natural mode of transnational cooperation, with dramatic implications for human well-being.

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