1554 



use for surveys of global resources of agricultural and niirerul 

 wealth and for the management of these resources." 



INTERNATIONAL IMPACTS 



The international impacts of the IGY and. the Soviet Sputniks 

 "were every bit as spectacular as were the impacts upon the United 

 States and would be difficult to exaggerate." 



Foremost was the impact upon the cold war. Tensions heightened in East- 

 West relations as the Soviet leadership sought to use its success in space to further 

 its goals in foreign and military policy and as the United States countered Soviet 

 thrusts with crash programs in space and missile development. Sputnik I catalyzed 

 the cold war and not until the aftermath of the Cuban missile crisis 6 years later 

 were Soviet- American leaders able to take the first steps decelerating the spiralling 

 pressures of the arms race. Additional impacts were the effect upon the international 

 politics of science, the use of science as a vital element in foreign affairs, and the 

 generation of a remarkable degree of international cooperation and good will 

 in politically nonsensitive pursuits. *° 



Noteworthy effects on international science included the strengthen- 

 ing of the ICSU and its affiliates; the bringing together of Western 

 scientists wdth Soviets and others previously cut off from the Western 

 world; the stimulation, on a worhlwide basis, of the interdisciplinary 

 approach to problem solving; and encouragement of the revival 

 of science in underdeveloped countries newly experiencing their 

 independence. 



The IGY and the manner in which it was conducted served also, 

 in various ways, as a model for other programs involving iiiternational 

 collaboration in scientific activity. These new programs, govern- 

 mentally sponsored, included the International Years of the Quiet 

 Sun from January 1, 1964, through December 31, 1965; the Upper 

 Mantle Program held in 1966-70; a Global Atmospheric Research 

 Program; an International Geodynamics Project; an International 

 Magnetosphere Survey; the World Weather Watch; Indian Ocean 

 Research; and the International Biological Program. 



Apart from organized developments and institutional impacts, 

 the IGY was effective in helping to meld the top scientific talent of 

 the various participating countiies into an international scientific 

 leadership element. The pervasive influence of this element has not 

 been confined, over the years since the IGY, to purely scientific 

 matters, but has moved into the realms of politics and ethics. The 

 Pugwash Conferences are a manifestation of this trend; others 

 include numerous conferences and movements of recent years in 

 such areas as population control, food production and distribution, 

 and conservation of the Earth's resources. While many other influences 

 have combined to bring about these movements, the IGY appears 

 to have played an important part in helping to set the stage for them. 



" Huddle, The Krolution of International Tcctinnloqii. vol. II, pp. 6.38-639. (For further treatment of this 

 latter subject see: (1) U.S. CoiiRrcss. Senate. Earth Resources Satellites. Hearings lipfoie the Senate Com- 

 mittee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences pursuant to S. 23.''i0 and R. .'5484. August 6, 8, and 9 and Sept. 18, 

 1974. Washington. U.S. (iovt. Print. Off., 1074, .■^36 p. (-') U.S. Congress. Senate. Earth Resources Survey 

 System Uearin-js biiorj th3 Sub-onrnitt" > o'l Spwe Scic'ico and Applications, House Science and Astro- 

 nautics Committee, pursuant to H.R. 14978 and H.R. i:w81, Oct. 3, 4, and 9, 1974. Washington, U.S. Govt. 

 Print. Off., 1974, 283 p. 



M Bullis, op. cit., pp. 341-342. 



