Wall, war, wealth: 30 years of science.

The article reports on a discussion paper released by Science-Metrix Inc. in February 2010 which examined geopolitical shifts in knowledge creation in Russia, the Middle East, and Asia, as well as their effects on scientific production. An example of geopolitical change and its effects cited is the fall of the Berlin Wall in Germany in 1989, which was followed by the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The report noted that different responses in the development of national scientific systems resulted from political tensions in the Middle East.