‘Science: The Endless Frontier’, the doctrine that was adopted by the United States of America after World War II, had turned it into the global engine of scientific prog­ress. But the US’s hold on science and research may become tenuous under President Donald Trump. Last week, Mr Trump’s government issued an executive order called Restoring Gold Standard Science that would give political appointees the power to decide when scientific findings need to be “corrected”. The fact that political appointees can do so without having to consult bona fide scientists is troubling. This order comes on the back of debilitating budget cuts to scientific research — the National Science Foundation faces a staggering 55% slash in funds; NASA’s science budget may shrink by over half; the National Institutes of Health faces a 44% reduction. Astonishingly, State grants have been cancelled because research projects contain words like ‘climate’, ‘diversity’, ‘disability’, ‘trans’ or ‘women’. Mr Trump’s administration is also denying visas to foreign students, expelling existing foreign scholars, and even detaining visiting scientists. All this should be of particular concern to India because between 50,000 and 77,000 Indian STEM students could be adversely affected by cuts in US funding and visas and three lakh Indian students could be forced to stop their research and return home.

Many nations, in Europe and the Middle East, have started courting scientists from America and elsewhere. But the weakening of scientific research in the US has global ramifications. Not many nations have America’s deep pockets that saw it spend approximately 3.6% of its GDP on research and development. Even in nations where funds are not a problem — China, for instance, has been actively spending on scientific research — State control over research subjects and findings continues to be a cause for concern. The US’s withdrawal from being the hub of cutting-edge research will have consequences outside the realm of scholarship. The spirit of empiricism and the sanctity of facts fostered by scientific outputs and American universities have been at the forefront of the production of this kind of knowledge that can act as a potent barrier against misinformation and unreason, which, in turn, facilitate the ascendancy of authoritarian regimes. That the rise of authoritarianism is witnessing a global assault on the spirit and the practice of science is, thus, not surprising. The US must rediscover its commitment to science; for itself and the world.