1558 



REMAINING OBSTACLES 



On the negative side, the Soviets have not always honored tentative 

 agreements for exchange of scientific information and research. 

 Typical of this faihire is lack of cooperation in mental health research, 

 first proposed in mid-1971 and discussed in subsequent years as part 

 of an overall health package, but not agreed upon until 1975.^^ 



Much of the delay has been due to Soviet unwillingness to discuss 

 details of the proposed research and possible exchange of scientists 

 between the two countries. More recently, U.S. scientists have devel- 

 oped doubts as to the advisability of such cooperation as a result of 

 the possibility that some Soviet' psychiatrists may be deliberately 

 misdiagnosing political dissidents as schizophrenic to silence them by 

 confinement in mental hospitals. 



THE EMIGRATION PROBLEM 



Another problem which has continued is friction between United 

 States and Soviet scientists over alleged Soviet persecution of Soviet 

 scientists who wish to emigrate to Israel. The head of the Foreign 

 Relations Department of the Soviet Academy of Sciences has expressed 

 the view that such emigration represents a capitalistic brain drain to 

 the disadvantage of the Soviets,^^ whereas U.S. scientists have ex- 

 pressed their strong support for the Soviet scientists who wish to 

 move-. Correspondence between United States and Soviet scientists on 

 this subject has at times been abrasive. As a result of these and other 

 incidents, communication and travel by scientists between the United 

 States and the Soviet Union have been characterized as recently as 

 July 1977 as being a difficult problem.^^ 



A SUMMING UP 



In summary, while it is clear that the "IGY spirit" is by no means 

 in universal evidence throughout toda^^'s international scientific 

 community, international scientific cooperation continues at a higher 

 level of activity than it had reached in pre-IGY days. To the extent 

 of the difference, there is perhaps justification for greater hope that 

 bridges built by this cooperation will increasingly serve constructive 

 purposes of science and diplomacy. 



Some Illustrative Questions 



The IGY yielded far more new data for scientists to assimilate 

 than did the SPY 1932-33. On the other hand, data assimilation and 

 technological application are growing progressively more rapid with 

 every passing decade. The following questions are posed in the light 

 of this latter consideration: 



In what scientific areas covered by the IGY, and to what extent, is 

 there already a need for fresh data? Are there other geophysical areas 

 not covered by the IGY which should now be studied, from a purely 

 scientific stand[)oint, through a similar international cooperative 

 effort? 



57 Science, vol. 183, Mar. 8, 1974, pp. 932-935, and communication from the National 

 Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). 



^Physics Today, vol. 27, Aug. 1974, p. 64. 



=» Communications from various services, Including the American Institute of Physics, 

 the American Psychiatric Association, and NIMH. 



