1661 



effort to disseminate information about them (presumably in the form 

 of human interest stories as well as statistics)? Should Congress on a 

 contimious or periodic basis publicize the programs and call attention 

 to their role in furthering U.o. foreign policy goals? 



ISSUE FIVE— BRAIN DRAIN: A STUDY OF THE PERSISTENT ISSUE OF 

 INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC MOBILITY"* 



Staiement of the Issue 



December 1975 : "The loss of domestic intellectuals and academically 

 trained individuals is becoming a serious problem for a number of 

 African governments. Despite the often catastrophic shortage of 

 skilled personnel in their homelands, a large number of African 

 students studying at West European and American countries choose 

 to remain abroad after graduation. 



"The number of Nigeiian university graduates who have remained 

 in the United States, for example, is estimated at 8,000. . . . " 225 



Items like this have been common in the world press for more than 

 a decade. They illustrate a problem which has been critical for many 

 of the less-developed countries (LDCs) of Africa, Latin America, 

 and — most of all — Asia. Paradoxically, however, that problem has 

 virtually been dropped from the agenda of the governments of the 

 developed countries gaining the skilled personnel; in those countries 

 (though not in the losing countries) it has almost lost official and 

 political visibility. The issue has both substantive and procedural 

 importance. The substantive factor may be stated about as follows: 

 The "have" countries attract educated talent away from the "have- 

 not" countries, thereby hampering the development process of the 

 latter and tending to offset the development aid which the latter 

 receive from them. The procedural might be put in question form: 

 How is it possible for a problem or issue which exists, and which has 

 been the subject of emotional debates in major and minor world 

 forums (the U.S. Congress, the United Nations, the British Parlia- 

 ment, the parliamentary organs of dozens of other developed and 

 <leveloping countries), to drop out of sight before any significant 

 remedial action has been taken? What is missing in the arrangements 

 by which responsible governments of powerful countries recognize 

 problems, keep them under, study, and when they are sufficiently 

 understood, taKe coiTective action? Why do the developed countries 

 permit problems with important consequences for foreign policy and 

 international relations to be ignored? 



Importance oj the Issue 



The brain drain problem "has special relevance for the modern 

 scientific-technological age . . -. [Situated] at the juncture of science, 

 technology, and American diplomacy, [it] reveals and is symptomatic 

 of a deeper and far more serious problem: that of this Nation's rela- 

 tions with the LDCs and its foreign policy stand respecting the larger 



*>* U.S. Congress. House, Committee on Foreign Affairs, "Brain Drain. A Study of the PertltUnt Is»ve of 

 International Scientific Mobility," in the series on Scietic*, Teclinology, and American Diplomacy; prepared 

 for the Subcommittee on National Security Pohcy and Scientific Developments by Dr. Joseph O. Whelan, 

 senior specialist in international affairs, Congressional Resenrch Service, Library of Congress, Washington, 

 D.C., U.S. Government Printing Office, September 1974. See vol. II, pp. 1037-1318. 



«» Peter Seidlitz, "The African Brain Drain," Swiss Review of World Affairs, December 1975, p. 11. 



