Bridging Borders: Lessons on Collaboration Amid Geopolitical Rivalry from the Cold War
In an Era of Geopolitical Rivalry, Can We Still Collaborate?
As global tensions continue to rise and geopolitical competition strengthens, researchers, companies, and NGOs collaborating across borders must navigate a new complex political landscape. The challenge of forging and maintaining partnerships is compounded by political rivalries and agendas that erode trust, hinder communication, and disrupt cooperation. This issue is particularly acute in fields where collaboration is essential for addressing grand societal challenges—such as climate change, public health, and space exploration—as they intersect with technology and innovation that is deemed critical to national and economic security, like artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and aerospace.
Our recently published study examines how cross-border collaboration can transcend geopolitics through the lens of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP)—a surprising space collaboration between the United States and the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War (1972-1975).
The Cold War in Orbit: A Case of Unlikely Cooperation
The ASTP was a high-stakes space mission in which NASA and the Soviet Space Program worked together to dock an American Apollo spacecraft and a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft in orbit. While the mission was considered a scientific success, our research reveals the intricate political and organizational dynamics that made this mandated cooperation challenging. The planned meetings where official collaboration took place – something we label as “supervised space” – were heavily monitored and constrained by national security concerns, ideological differences, and even government spying.
Yet, despite these barriers, scientists and astronauts from both nations found ways to collaborate effectively. They created “free spaces”—informal, unsupervised settings outside of government control—where they could build trust, share knowledge, and form personal bonds. It was in these unplanned and unmonitored spaces—barbeques in remote parts of Texas, in a crowded shopping mall, or a bus trip through Kazakhstan—where the Capitalist Americans and Communist Soviets were able to overcome their deep political differences and rally around their common scientific objectives.
Lessons for Organizations Today
Our study highlights several key takeaways for organizations engaged in cross-border collaboration amidst our present geopolitical tensions.
- The Role of Free Space: Creating informal settings outside of structured, monitored environments allows for more open dialogue and trust-building. Whether through off-site meetings, social interactions, or informal exchanges, free space is essential for overcoming political barriers and biases.
- Navigating Supervised Spaces: Official collaborations are often shaped by political and bureaucratic constraints, especially in science and technology. Understanding these limitations and working within them—while also supplementing them with informal exchanges—can enhance effectiveness of collaboration.
- The Power of Personal Relationships: The astronauts and cosmonauts involved in the ASTP initially viewed each other with suspicion. Over time, through shared experiences and conversations, they developed mutual respect and understanding. Organizations today can benefit from building procedures that help establish personal connections among team members from different countries.
A Blueprint for Collaboration
The ASTP serves as a powerful reminder that even in times of deep political division, meaningful collaboration is possible when people find ways to build trust, foster dialogue, and work toward common goals. History has shown that when diverse and distant individuals and organizations commit to working together, even in the face of political discord, the possibilities for progress are limitless.
Read the full paper here: https://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/10.1287/orsc.2021.15574
