A Disunited Front? The World Federation of Scientific Workers and the 1952 Korean War Bacteriological Warfare Allegations

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Abstract

Historical scholarship on international science and the relationship between science and diplomacy have tended to focus on a common set of ‘canonical’ institutions. This is certainly true of international scientific organizations, for these have long served as the normative defaults. Others, like the World Federation of Scientific Workers (WFSW), have been cast as comparatively fringe examples, when discussed at all, owing to their comparatively overtly politicized character. This chapter considers internal diplomacy that took place among WFSW scientists set in motion by a state-supported delegation of scientists from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) looking to leverage their influence in the international nongovernmental organization to encourage its public support for allegations that the American military had used bacteriological warfare during the Korean War. Against the backdrop of long-running armistice negotiations and a wider push on the part of PRC foreign affairs officials and scientist interlocutors to gain international support for these allegations, the internal dynamics of the WFSW provides new insights into the tensions and challenges that arise when state actors seek to leverage international scientific organizations for diplomatic ends. The WFSW case is especially notable for taking place during a crucial period in which ideologies of science were in flux, providing a window onto the nature of scientist-to-scientist diplomacy.