1728 



In view of the apparent opportunities for such leadership, this 

 "Other-Directed" syndrome suggests a regrettable failure to grasp 

 opportunity : 



It seems paradoxical that the United States, best equipped to apply science and 

 technology to the solution of man's global problems, and credited with the highest 

 development of managerial skills, has been reluctant to devise and implement a 

 positive technological strategy of its own. There would seem to be no lack of oppor- 

 tunities : Earth resources satellites, ocean and ocean floor development, urban im- 

 provement, recovery of resources from all forms of waste, the Oak Ridge proposal 

 for large agricultural-industrial-nuclear complexes, and many more."" 



On the other hand, the reactive mode has apparently been a factor 

 in encouraging "high" technology to the neglect of bread-and-butter 

 technologies on which most of the world's economies rely. Thus: 



One of the consequences of this "Other-Directed" syndrome in national tech- 

 nological strategy is that the United States has concentrated its efforts on tech- 

 nologies characteristically remote from everyday experience. It has supported the 

 laser but not the science of processing garbage. There are lags in the technological 

 levels of a number of industries in the United States : such lags may in time impair 

 the credibility of the U.S. posture of world technological leadership. On this point, 

 one issue of U.S. technological strategy would seem to be a conscious set of deci- 

 sions as to the domestic technological gaps to be closed or ignored. What older 

 technologies might be revitalized by an infusion of fresh technological effort, such 

 as the railroads, glass and ceramics, coal, lumber, and textiles? What would be the 

 diplomatic consequences of a vigorous technological effort in one, several, or all of 

 these fields? 3" 



Emphasis on high technology may serve useful purposes. But, ob- 

 served the study, "in the design of a total national strategy of tech- 

 nology," 



. . . the effect of their being already on the scene in great numbers is to provide 

 pressures for the United States to keep on doing. what it has been doing. Where 

 can objective analysis and innovative policy be found that can examine alterna- 

 tives or additions to the national program? ^*^ 



The posture suggested by the President in 1970 seems valid still: "If 

 our policy is to embody a coherent vision of the world and a rational 

 conception of America's interests, our specific actions must be the prod- 

 ucts of rational and deliberate choice." ^''^ 



ISSUE two: the politics of global health 



A general characteristic of the subject of this study is that its broad 

 objective — world health — does not invite controversy. Controversy 

 about the management of means of advancing global health such as 

 health care delivery systems, national declarations about epidemics, 

 quarantine regulations, and so forth, can be quite lively. But there is 

 an underlying content of substantial international consensus in the 

 broad field and general acceptance of the moral essence of efforts 

 toward health of all peoples. The author suggests the possibility that 

 initiatives in the field of global health, intrinsically beneficial, can 

 also yield diplomatic gains because of the universal respect the subject 

 commands. Moreover, the United States as a highly advanced nation 

 in the science and technology of medicine and public health is ideally 

 equipped to exploit the diplomatic advantages of leadership in the 

 effort toward world health by systematically seeking out ways for 

 nations of the world to benefit from this resource. 



^0 Ibid., p. 677. 

 3" Ibid. 



3*i Ibid., p. 678. 

 3" Ibid., p. 680. 



