CHAPTER 1— TOWARD A NEW DIPLOMACY IN A 



SCIENTIFIC AGE 



Introduction 



This study addresses the interaction of U.S. foreign policy and 

 diplomacy with modern science and technology. 



The hypothesis of the study was that detailed examination of the 

 dynamics of specific instances of these interactions would provide the 

 Congress with insights into present arrangements for (a) the uses of 

 foreign policy to support U.S. science and technology, and (b) the 

 uses of science and technology to develop and support U.S. foreign 

 policy. 



From the beginning of the history of America as a nation, the 

 Congress has had a shared responsibility for the formulation and 

 implementation of foreign policy. Congressional concern with science 

 and technology has greatly intensified since World War II. Science 

 and technology, exerting an ever-increasing influence on domestic 

 public policy, also appear to have a growing effect on the content and 

 conduct of American foreign policy. 



Arts of peace and war alike rest on an increasingly technological 

 base. Science and technology contribute in a major way to many pro- 

 grams of Government departments and agencies : For defense, space 

 exploration, agriculture, industry, transportation, communications, 

 medicine, meteorology, natural resource development and use, and 

 management of information itself. Most of these programs have 

 international as well as scientific aspects. The purposeful coordination 

 of the international aspects of science and technology presents unusual 

 difficulties because of their range, complexity, and specialized nature. 



The Congress of the United States has many reasons for devoting 

 attention to the problems of science, technology, and American 

 diplomacy. Apart from the special constitutional role of the Senate in 

 giving advice and consent to appointment of principal presidential 

 advisers and to formal agreements with foreign governments, the 

 Congress authorizes programs to develop and use technology for inter- 

 national purposes, funds international programs of the Chief Execu- 

 tive, and conducts oversight of the executive branch in policy imple- 

 mentation, program execution, and the observance of law. As science 

 and technology have become important for American diplomacy, they 

 have become of corresponding importance for the Congress. 



The Congressional Role 



The congressional response to the need for public action generated 

 by such major innovations as atomic energy and artificial earth 

 satellites was positive and vigorous. Also of importance has been the 



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