The emerging political economy of global science is a significant factor influencing economic, social and cultural development, building national systems of innovation, and the rise of new multinational corporate, private/public and community involvement. It is only since the 1960s with the development of research evaluation and increasing sophistication of bibliometrics and webometrics that it has been possible to map this emerging economy of global science on a comparative national and continental basis.  The question of the political economy of world science and its geographic distribution cannot be easily separated from its measurement and evaluation or the pattern of journal ownership.

The emerging political economy of global science is a significant factor influencing economic, social and cultural development, building national systems of innovation, and the rise of new multinational corporate, private/public and community involvement. It is only since the 1960s with the development of research evaluation and increasing sophistication of bibliometrics that it has been possible to map this emerging economy of global science on a comparative national and continental basis.

Professor Hadi Salehi Esfahani reveals a curious correlation between the price of oil and dynamical U.S.-Iran relations, explaining economic consequences of ongoing political tension while offering practical approaches to abatement as well.

The main theme of this paper is that sustained growth and longer term political stability follow democratization, including the development of civic institutions and the rule of law. Democratization and the rule of law require widespread primary and secondary education that creates a large and economically viable middle class. The secondary theme is that these processes which are education externalities are slow and long delayed. Short term arms control measures and encouragement of some but not excessive expenditures on the military as a percent of each government's budget are also found to be helpful in sustaining democratization and longer run political stability. But it is possible that there is also at the same time some reverse causation; i.e., that democracies spend less on the military.