1691 



... it seems reasonable that the many recommendations which have been made 

 for a strong and technologically sophisticated policy planning staff in the Depart- 

 ment of State might be allowed to suggest a corresponding need in the congres- 

 sional environment. Such a mechanism or institution, capable of assessing prospec- 

 tive future trends at a reasonable confidence level, might help the Congress to 

 design preyentive actions in advance of crises. Examples of the kinds of services 

 that might usefully be performed within such an institution might be: 



— Sustained monitoring of executive branch compliance with congressional 

 intent in the area of scientific and technological impacts on foreign policy 

 and international relations — and vice versa; 



— Assessing the present and forecasting the future diplomatic environ- 

 ment as changes occur in response to the global spread of technological 

 innovation; 



— Assessing the secondary impacts and interrelationships of "international" 

 technological issues; 



— Examining the adequacy of U.S. "international" institutions in the 

 face of changes in the diplomatic environment resulting from the global 

 spread of technological innovation; 



— Structuring and making coherent the array of foreign policy interactions 

 with science and technology; and 



— Maintaining a continuity of foreign policy expertise, an extended insti- 

 tutional memory, and an assistance cadre for major studies for "interna- 

 tional" committees concerned with S&T questions, S&T committees con- 

 cerned with foreign policy questions, and committees monitoring major tech- 

 nological missions with significant international implications.'^" 



Status of the Issue 



Appraisal of the status of State Department efforts toward effective 

 integration of science, technology, and diplomacy would appear to 

 require mention of the following considerations (not all of which have 

 been dealt with in the foregoing pages, though all are treated in the 

 study itself or elsewhere in the study series) ; 



DIPLOMATIC PERSONNEL ARE DISCOURAGED FROM ACQUIRING 



TECHNICAL EXPERTISE 



Although the importance of science and technology (especially the 

 latter) to diplomacy has been recognized at top levels of the Depart- 

 ment, and institutional provision has been made for furthering the 

 success of integration, that process has not made significant headway 

 among the various bureaus and in the Foreign Service generally. 

 The Department of State and the Foreign Service appear to "focus 

 attention on, and extend preferment to, generalist officers in the polit- 

 ical officer ranks, and to a lesser extent to those in the administrative, 

 economic, and consular ranks. Those specializing in technical and 

 science policy fields receive less encouragement to enter or opportunity 

 to advance. The cause of this personnel emphasis is suggested by a 

 study by a panel of the United Nations Association (UNA) [of the 

 United States] in 1973. In this report, the general problem was 

 characterized as follows: 



The United States Government [like American society as a whole] is increasingly 

 part of an interdependent world, but its organization and procedures still reflect 

 earlier, simpler times when nation states could on most matters safely deal with 

 each other at arms length and through career foreign services. In today's world, 

 international relations are of necessity pervasive, technical, continuous, and 

 intimately involved with domestic issues, and this requires new styles and new 

 systems of governmental organization and process, which rely far more than in 

 the past on a wide range of professional participation in policymaking. 



310 Ibid., p. 1467. 



96-243 O - 77 - 13 



