58 



foreign policy was inevitable. Its significance was enhanced by the 

 fact that the first demonstration of the technology was its use as a 

 weapon in actual warfare. Considering the decisive role which the 

 atomic weapon played in ending the war with Japan, its use gave rise 

 to a number of questions for the United States on both the international 

 and national levels. 



On the international level, the nations of the world recognized a 

 need to prevent proliferation of atomic energy weapons technology 

 and capabilities. Questions were raised in official quarters both at home 

 and abroad with regard to the intentions of the United States, as sole 

 owner of atomic weapons, and how this fact would affect its relations 

 with the rest of the world. Officials in the U.S. Government perceived 

 the urgency of devising a policy regarding the U.S. contribution to an 

 international arrangement for the control of atomic energy to pre- 

 vent its employment for weapons purposes, and also perceived the need 

 for monitoring by some international means the country-by-count re- 

 development of atomic energy. 



The new nuclear science and its early technology also offered the 

 potential for development of atomic energy to serve beneficial pur- 

 poses, national and international. Traditionally, scientific advance- 

 ments are shared readily within the scientific community without re- 

 gard to national boundaries. However, the military implications of 

 atomic energy generated pressures to prevent traditional free com- 

 munication in this instance. 1 



Moreover, concern for the military applications of atomic energy 

 necessarily overrode attention to peaceful uses. In turn, these military 

 security factors presented obstacles and limitations for the hoped-for 

 international cooperation in developing peaceful uses, for the formu- 

 lation of a U.S. policy regarding its role in international cooperation, 

 and for a program within the United States itself to pursue peaceful 

 exploitation. 



What challenges did the innovation of the atom bomb present to 

 traditional concepts of diplomacy ? Did the policymakers in the United 

 States or the diplomats of the negotiations meet them ? Were the scien- 

 tific and technological factors of the situation used to support or to 

 correct established principles of U.S. foreign policy? What steps were 

 taken by diplomats and scientists to understand each other's points of 

 view ? Were they successful ? How did they fail? 



These are a few of the salient questions to which this study is ad- 

 dressed. The following discussion offers a brief historical overview 

 mikI an explanation of the political, military, and technical factors of 

 (he atmosphere in which the negotiations took place. During the nu- 

 clear policymaking process in the United States and in the interna- 

 tional negotiations, certain issues arose which are pertinent to this 

 series of studies on science, technology, and American diplomacy. The 

 study examines the development of these issues from (he I'.S. policy 

 deliberations through their outcome in the negotiations. Finally, it 

 discusses a number of prominent features in the negotiations and sets 

 forth some general concluding observations. 



1 It was the early nuclear scientists themselves who adopted a policy of secrecy In the 

 United States, well before the start of the Manhattan Project, the wartime Rovernment 

 effort which developed the atom bomb. 



