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opportunities. Only in technology does the system of science make 

 tangible and material impacts upon human affairs. Technology is 

 thus the cutting edge of science, the point at which economic and 

 political decisions are required, as to whether an innovation is com- 

 patible with the needs and limitations of society. Basic science can 

 reveal information about the passage of pure water through a mem- 

 brane; applied science can develop information as to which mem- 

 branes work best to separate water from dissolved salts; technology 

 provides a desalting plant. 



The relationship of technology to domestic and foreign affairs is 

 limitless. It encompasses almost all forms of foreign aid, military 

 hardware, arms control, the extraction of minerals, agricultural tech- 

 nology, transportation and communications systems, exploitation of 

 the seas and the ocean floor. It raises questions as to the reshaping 

 of social institutions to accommodate new capabilities of man, whether 

 to feed his expanding numbers by the "Green Revolution" or to achieve 

 peace through "balance of terror." Industrial production and gross 

 national product are only two of many measures of the application of 

 technology; others are the satisfaction man can take from his control 

 or his preservation of his own environment. 



Almost all forms of technology pass over international boundaries. 

 The beneficial effects are eagerly sought in East and West. Moreover, 

 the sometimes adverse second-order consequences of technology (such 

 as pollution, noise, risk of accident, and the like) are felt in all countries 

 where technology takes root. As with science, the interest in technology 

 is international, and diplomatic concern is warranted for both its 

 benefits and its costs. 



2. Diplomacy 



The word diplomacy in this study stands for the broad function of 

 making and carrying out foreign policy, and the word diplomat is used 

 for a person engaged in this function. While scientists may sometimes 

 be diplomats, in this study the term will be used to identify those 

 whose primary training, interest, and work is in international political 

 problems as apart from scientific or technological problems. It includes 

 not only those who negotiate with other nations directly but also 

 participants in the foreign policy making machinery within the United 

 States. 



The background of diplomats, in this sense of the word, may be 

 quite varied. The preparation for a traditional diplomatic career in 

 the Foreign Service has been a liberal arts education, with much of the 

 specific knowledge and skills acquired through experience in the State 

 Department or at posts abroad, supplemented by brief courses at the 

 Foreign Service Institute. However, many who are engaged in the 

 political and economic aspects of foreign policy are not in the Foreign 

 Service and have never served abroad. They may be generalists or 

 specialists in some geographic area or functional field, and some — 

 including the President, many ambassadors, heads of agencies, and 

 .Members of Congress — may have achieved their influential positions 

 in the making of foreign policy primarily because they were active in 

 politics, lather than because of their academic background or expert- 

 ness in any international activity. 



