1669 



and Cultural Affairs Alan Reich acknowledged publicly that "at times 

 this problem creates embarrassment for the U.S. Government." '^ 



It was suggested at the outset of this commentary that the brain 

 drain problem lacked sufficient visibility in developed countries to 

 prompt official action by these major beneficiaries of the brain drain. 

 However, it is evident from what has just been said that, insofar as 

 the United States is concerned, there is a continuing official awareness 

 of the problem at the State Department level. ^^ Why, then, is remedial 

 action not taken? Why, for example, is the United States literally 

 dependent on foreign medical graduates as a substantial part of its 

 perennial medical manpower supply? 



THE COMPLEXITY OF THE BRAIN DRAIN PROBLEM 



It is not enough to say in reply that, as in the case of most foreign 

 policy problems, the brain drain problem is complex and there are 

 no easy answers. It would seem reasonable to suppose that options 

 must be open to the United States for at least ameliorating the 

 problem and helping to direct the international migration of talent in 

 more constructive ways. 



Some options will be considered later in this commentary. For the 

 moment, it must be conceded that the problem is indeed complex, 

 especially for a country like the United States, committed to the 

 principle of freedom. There is a close linkage between that principle 

 and human mobility. "One of the salient features of migrations as 

 a historical phenomenon is the frequency with which exceptional 

 people . . . possessed of above average talents, strength, and 

 courage . . . had 'the heart to brave new worlds.' ^^^ . . . Robert C. 

 Cook, a longtime student of demography, gave this succinct explana- 

 tion of the historical process of migrating intellectuals : 'Lots of bright 

 people come from Ozark Junction — and the brighter they are the 

 faster they come.' "^^^ Is the United States to make agreements with 

 developing countries which result in repatriation of a promising 

 mathematician or nuclear physicist because the parent country needs^ 

 sanitary engineers? Moreover, "... a specialist on cancer research 

 from a small developing country who seeks intellectual contacts and 

 research facifities available in a larger advanced nation in order to- 

 satisfy his professional ambitions may be making a greater contribu- 

 tion to his nation than if he remained home. 'The results of his works,' 

 wTites Frankel, 'flow outward and benefit his country as well as the 

 country where he works.' " ^^"^ 



A further difficulty facing the United States with respect to the 

 brain drain problem lies in the extent to which principle and advantage 

 are interwoven. The only massive migration of talent away from the 

 United States (occurring, ironically, when it was a developing country) 

 was that of Loyalists at the time of the Revolution — estimates have 

 placed their number as high as 100,000. Otherwise this Nation has 

 been the beneficiary. As Assistant Secretary of State Frankel — 



2" Ibid., p. 1306. 



"^ Especially (the author comments) In AID. 



2« The phrase is that of Walter Adams, a student of the subject and editor of a book, The Brain Drain 

 (New York, Macmillan, 1968, 273 pp.) 

 2«« Jbid., p. 1075. 

 2" Ibid., p. 1060. 



