Sylvia Schwaag Serger

This article examines the emerging decline in international research collaboration, especially between China and the United States, and asks whether we are entering a new era of globally fragmented science. While US–China coauthorship is decreasing, European trends are more uneven. Drawing on bibliometric data and institutional analysis, the authors argue that growing political constraints and institutional caution are shifting global scientific cooperation into a more divided, uncertain phase, raising urgent questions about the future of science as a public good.