The current state of international co-operation on development is epitomised by the high-cost, low-impact talkshop that is the Rio+20 summit.
In 1941, Urey and George B. Pegram led a diplomatic mission to England to establish co-operation on development of the atomic bomb.
Negotiations are now focused on more limited goals of co-operation on technology development and deployment.
They will offer a blueprint for international co-operation on sustainable development for years to come.
Amid the widespread anger and disappointment from politicians and campaigners in response to the the draft agreement text adopted on Tuesday, Brazil's foreign minister, Antonio Patriota, said it will be "a blueprint for international co-operation on sustainable development for years to come".
There is also talk that the UK and France will use the show to announce further co-operation on drone development.
A joint declaration to be signed by the two leaders at a UK-France summit will signal a shared commitment to civil nuclear power, establishing a framework for co-operation on security, research and development, education and training.
You do not need to be a genius to see that international development would be as friendless as it was in the 1980s, a decade when Britain cut its budget, and undermined attempts, such as the Brandt report, to forge international co-operation on aid, trade and development.
The report, and Australia's subsequent lack of a public apology, prompted Yudhoyono to suspend co-operation on defence and border protection – a damaging development given the Coalition's reliance on Jakarta for co-operation in stopping the flow of asylum boats from Java.
He is based in Maastricht, the Netherlands, where he works on issues including the reform of European development co-operation, financing for development and policy coherence for development.
That bodes well for their co-operation on foreign policy.
