1662 



issue of international development as related to U.S. economic health 

 And national security" : ^^^ 



Brain drain is a symptom of underdevelopment; solutions lie largely in the 

 realm of international development; the most essential mechanism is nation- 

 .building through science and technology. As a foreign policy problem, therefore, 

 .brain drain raises the basic question of this Nation's stance toward international 

 ■development. 



Brain drain is essentially a foreign policy problem of low visibility; but even so, 

 it is a testing ground for the vitality of a policy of much larger significance, namely, 

 the Nation's commitment to development. Solutions for brain drain may be the 

 primary responsibility of the LDCs, particularly the task of institution-building 

 .and establishing an infrastructure of science and technology as the basis for 

 modernization, but solutions can neither be devised nor development goals 

 ■achieved without assistance'trom the advanced countries like the United States.-^" 



In parallel with the American humanitarian tradition of helping 

 others to help themselves, it is necessary to comprehend — the author 

 continues — that political realism alone requires a continuing U.S. 

 -commitment to development: 



It would seem beyond dispute that the LDCs, long the cockpit of international 

 tension and conflict in which the United States has not been able to stand aside 

 ■uninvolved, hold the potentialities for even deeper and more dangerous involve- 

 ment. War in South and Southeast Asia, recurring crises in the Middle East, 

 famine and tribal strife in Africa, are only recent illustrations of the problems that 

 have been shaking the foundations of this volatile^ troubled Third World. Eco- 

 nomic development, it is argued, offers perhaps the best prospects for peace and 

 stability. Thus the increasingly compelling requirements of political interdepend- 

 ence bind all nations, advanced and underdeveloped, in a common search for 

 peace through economic development. 



American dependence on mineral resources largely under the control of the 

 LDCs, as development specialists are quick to indicate, points to a new vulner- 

 rability for the United States. Awareness of this problem comes at the height of the 

 -current energy crisis and suggests what may be a scenario for things to come with 

 ■growing cartelization of world mineral resources and growing consciousness of in- 

 creased leverage among the LDCs to be used against the advanced industrial 

 nations. Reasons of self-interest appear to warrant a reappraisal of the Nation's 

 f)osture towards the LDCs and the affirmation of a policy of interdependence.^-* 



To summarize: ". . . in the judgment of students of development and 

 brain drain, one of the major challenges to mankind remains the chal- 

 lenge of finding ways to put the LDCs on a course leading to a self- 

 reinforcing upward spiral of social and economic progress." The im- 

 portance of the brain drain issue is that resolving it for any given LDC 

 or group of LDCs would be one of the critical ways of putting the 

 ■countries concerned on such a course — and to that extent contributing 

 to the ultimate diplomatic goal of "a world in balance, with social and 

 economic opportunity within the grasp of all inhabitants and a sense 

 of hope in all nations." ^^' . / 



How the Issue Developed 



The international migration of talent is hot a new historical phe- 

 :nomepon.^^° Of primary concern in the context of the Science, Tech- 

 nology, and American Diploniacy study series, however, is its current 

 manifestation as the "brain drain" from countries in need of educated 

 talent (the less developed countries, or LDCs) to those ' already rich 

 in such talent^ — especially the United States, 



"6 Whelan, Brain Drain, vol. U, p. 1314. 



22' Ibid., p. 1316. 



228 Ibid., pp. 1316-1317. 



■'■^^Ibid., p. 1318. 



230 For ail account of the migrations of talent from ancient times until the recent past, including their role 

 in the spread of science and technology throughout the ages and in the development of Colonial America, 

 see ibid., "Brain Drain in Historical Perspective," pp. 1064-1076. 



