Petrodollar Science

This understanding was evidently lacking in earlier Arab science initiatives. A testimony to that is the current Arab science landscape; it is sprinkled with relics of the half-hearted projects of the 1970s and 1980s. One instructive example is King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST). Established with great fanfare in Riyadh in 1977, the institution’s mandate was to propose policies for advancing science and technology in Saudi Arabia, to conduct and support scientific research, and to “foster international cooperation in science and technology.” The implementation, however, was a different story. Farouk El-Baz, the Egyptian-American geologist who now heads Boston University’s center for remote sensing, said in an interview that instead of aiming for the best talents as had been planned, the Saudis filled the ranks with low-paid, subscale researchers and administrators. Another example is Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR). It was established in 1967 by the Japanese as part of the concession agreement with the government of Kuwait that led to the founding of a joint oil company. In 1973, KISR was reorganized and came under the direct guidance and review of the council of ministers. The Kuwaiti institute too sought to “establish and foster relations, and carry out mutual research with higher education institutes and the technological and scientific sectors in Kuwait and [other] parts of the world,” according to KISR’s website. But then the institute was “managed and staffed mostly by Kuwaitis, with little to show in scientific research,” El-Baz said." (thanks Caitrin)