1611 



It seems paradoxical, concludes the study, that the United States — 

 best equipped to apply science and technology to the solution of the 

 world's 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 opportunities: earth resources satellites, ocean and ocean floor 

 development, urban improvement, recovery of resources from all 

 forms of waste, the Oak Kidge proposal for large agricultural-industrial- 

 nuclear complexes, and man}^ more." '^° 



Author's Reassessment 



Technology is perhaps the most powerful of all forces for change 

 in the modern world. It' measures the qualification of nations for 

 leadership in the community of nations. It affords a nieans for the 

 achievement of a nation's domestic and foreign goals. It is a principal 

 substance of modern diplomacy. A nation's diplomatic voice is often 

 heard in proportion to the nation's excellence in science and tech- 

 nology, and in its competence to use these for national and inter- 

 national purposes. 



In this chronologically first substantive study of the Science, Tech- 

 nology, and American Diplomacy series, the research drew mainly on 

 historical sources. Most of the eleven studies that followed it provided 

 evidence that the theme and findings of this study were altogether 

 valid. The impact of the energy crisis, the demands by developing 

 countries for technical assistance, and the directions recently taken by 

 bilateral and multilateral programs, are some additional contemporary 

 evidences of their validity. 



The emphasis of the study was on the roles and impacts of tech- 

 nology on the world scene. Attention might usefully have been given 

 also to the ranges of problems created by these developments for 

 U.S. and foreign diplomats and for the U.S. Congress. The study 

 demonstrated beyond cavil the diplomatic significance of technology. 

 But the relevance of the study would have been more incisive if the 

 diplomatic issues related to main technological trends had been ex- 

 plicitly stated. This was done in later studies in the series with nar- 

 rower scope, and most strongly of all in the concluding substantive 

 stud}'. Science and Technology in the Departjnent of State. (See vol. 11, 

 pp. 1319-1504.) ' _ 



There are two aspects to the question of legislative relevance : 

 the actual relevance of the subject of international technology for the 

 Congress, and its perceived relevance as demonstrated by congressional 

 action. The variety of problems of diplomacy with substantial tech- 

 nological content is large, and growing. Accordingly, the subject is 

 increasingly more relevant for the Congress. However, the complexity 

 of the problems presented, and the want of means for rendering them 

 coherent and manageable, stand in the way of congressional action. 



At the oXitset of the project the decision was made, as to its scope, 

 to encompass both science and technology in their relation to diplo- 

 macy. It soon became evident that science and technology had different 

 kinds of impacts on diplomacy. In starting out with an examination 

 of the technological impacts on diplomacy, we saw that these were 

 direct and powerful; moreover, we observed also that the main im- 

 pacts of science on diplomacy tended to be indirect — through the 



"0 Ibid. 



96-243 O - 77 - 



