The Only (Tense) Encounter of a Non-existent Relationship? NATO, IUPAP and the 1963 Travel Ban Controversy

During the Cold War the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the International Union for Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) became major patrons for international exchanges in the physical sciences, especially by sponsoring meetings focussing on topics of interests to physicists. Yet, the two multilateral organizations hardly ever corresponded on these initiatives, partly due to their different approaches to international collaboration. While IUPAP’s sponsorship sought to elude Cold War divides, and facilitate international exchanges, even across the Iron Curtain, NATO weaponized the patronage of physics by aligning its support to its defence and political agendas. Because of this fundamental difference, throughout their history IUPAP and NATO hardly ever even acknowledged their respective roles in the promotion of the physical sciences internationally. One interesting exception is, however, the 1963 ban preventing East German physicists from travelling to international meeting in Western countries. Following the erection of Berlin’s Wall, French, British and US authorities agreed to no longer issue permits for GDR scientists to attend meetings in Western countries. Since NATO endorsed and extended this ban to all its member states, IUPAP official approached the alliance’s authorities calling for a relaxation of these travel restrictions. This paper thus charts the circumstances of the only contact between two organizations otherwise deliberately uncommunicative with one another during most of their existence.