Science has always been an international endeavor. In many ways, science was "born global". It was already so at the time of the Renaissance and with the great scientific discoveries of last century. Now, the international dimension is more fundamental than ever. Indeed, we are now right in the middle of an unprecedented acceleration of science and technology. As globalization picks up pace, fuelled by the knowledge-based economy, new opportunities -and new challenges -are emerging. Rapid scientific advances are underpinned by faster and freer exchange of scientific results and researchers between countries. Convergence of technologies and markets take down barriers between scientific disciplines, technology markets, countries and even continents. All this is happening with increasing speed. The knowledge-based economy is compressing time scales, putting unprecedented pressure on knowledge workers and knowledge industries to quickly transform research into innovation -and deliver competitive advantage on global markets. Simultaneously, unprecedented new risks and challenges are appearing -changes which transcend national borders and test the ability of the scientific community to provide answers.