| ID | 180321 |
| Title Proper | Introduction |
| Other Title Information | U.S. Foreign Relations Historians Writing their Way out of COVID-19 |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Goedde, Petra ; Anne L Foster, Petra Goedde ; Anne L Foster, |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | As we write at the end of December 2020, reflecting now on almost a year of living with the SARS-Cov-2 virus, we are heartened by the emergency authorization of several vaccines in the United States, the European Union, Great Britain, China, and Russia. The first of these vaccines is notable not only for the speed, but also the international collaboration which has facilitated its development. It was developed in a small scientific lab in Germany, BioNTech. Its founders are a husband-and-wife team, Uğur Şahi and Özlem Türeci. One was born in Turkey and immigrated to Germany at the age of four; the other is the daughter of Turkish immigrants. In February 2020, they partnered with the U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, which had the infrastructure, scale, and logistical capacity to conduct large-scale trials and manage the eventual manufacture and distribution of the vaccine. While the company Pfizer is U.S.-based, its CEO is not. Albert Burla is a Greek national who grew up and received his education in Thessaloniki. He has lived and worked in several countries for the past quarter century. Even as the pandemic has prompted many countries to close borders and prioritize the nation, these biographies tell an important story about the global production of knowledge, global trade, and global cultural networks. The past year has felt dominated by a retreat into smaller and smaller spaces, as we have been denied travel across borders, across town, and even out of our apartments and houses. In the midst of these closures, the global persists, not only in the constantly traveling virus, but also in the scientific research conducted to fight against it. |
| `In' analytical Note | Diplomatic History Vol. 45, No.3; Jun 2021: p.445–450 |
| Journal Source | Diplomatic History Vol: 45 No 3 |
| Key Words | COVID-19 ; U.S. Foreign Relations |