natural sciences and technology, e.g., population, 

 the environment, energy, geology, and oceans re- 

 search. These and other aspects of science, wheth- 

 er at the basic or the applied research ends of the 

 spectrum, have become important in foreign af- 

 fairs. Indeed, the scope and import of Department 

 requirements make the results of basic research a 

 vital concern. 



More precisely, in social science areas, the De- 

 partment can benefit from essentially basic re- 

 search in (1) the impact of modern cultural and 

 educational systems, (2) causes of ethnic and cul- 

 tural conflicts, and (3) major variables in attitudes 

 toward perceptions about people of other cultures, 

 religions, and nationalities. 



In the recent past, academic research on foreign 

 societies — once financed significantly by Ford and 

 other foundations — no longer receives their consi- 

 derable support. Also, universities, under severe 

 financial constraints, have been forced to reduce 

 their support of international studies and research. 

 The Department of Health, Education and Welfare 

 and the State Department have been preparing 

 proposals for advanced foreign-affairs and foreign- 

 areas research in universities which would be fi- 

 nanced on the order of $10 million annually. Fi- 

 nancing could be arranged under Department aus- 

 pices if funds were made available while maintain- 

 ing the autonomy of such research within universi- 

 ty programs. 



The Department does support outside basic re- 

 search in several instances. One is its payment — in 

 the present fiscal year amounting roughly to $1.7 



million — to the North Atlantic Treaty Organiza- 

 tion's (NATO) science program within its civilian 

 budget. That program stresses fellowships, semi- 

 nars, and cooperative projects among national 

 members, all of which are oriented to basic sci- 

 ence. Through science and technology agreements, 

 such as those with Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, and 

 Japan, it retains a stake in the successful pursuit of 

 research and cooperation. The Department's con- 

 cern is only partly political, because successful 

 research and successful political relations in the 

 science agreement framework go together. 



In still another sense, the Department supports 

 basic as well as applied science by facilitating the 

 attendance of foreign scientists at international 

 meetings in this country. It has developed ex- 

 change activities with the Soviet Union and with 

 Eastern Europe. It also has supported the freedom 

 of research in the oceans as it has been debated in 

 the "Law of the Sea" negotiations. It seeks to fa- 

 cilitate the practice of science and research in the 

 international setting. 



The Department is both the beneficiary and the 

 promoter of basic research. As beneficiary, it can 

 profit greatly from increased activity and support 

 of U.S. academic research in a variety of areas. At 

 the least, the trend downward of academic re- 

 search of value in foreign affairs must be arrested 

 if the Department's mission is to be carried out 

 efficiently. At the same time, increased support of 

 research on an international basis will both assist 

 its mission in the broadest sense and enable it to 

 overcome more effectively the problems of foreign 

 affairs and to pursue its programs. 



AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 



AID Mission 



A major mission of the Agency for International 

 Development (AID) is to provide technical assis- 

 tance to developing countries with emphasis on the 

 fields of agriculture, rural development, and nutri- 

 tion; population planning and health; education 

 and human resources development; and other spe- 

 cial problems such as energy, environment, and 

 intermediate technology. 



Definition of Basic Research 



Research for new knowledge and its application 

 are vital to solving problems of the poor in devel- 



oping countries. All AID research and develop- 

 ment is oriented toward problem solving. In the 

 conventional sense of seeking knowledge for its 

 own sake without prior application goals, AID 

 supports no basic research. 



Role of Basic Research 



Nevertheless, AID clearly recognizes the im- 

 portance of a broad research and development 

 program and its continuing dependence on both the 

 Nation's fund of basic research and its extensive 

 technology. AID encourages Federal support for 

 continuing work in basic research as essential to 

 the maintenance of the Nation's dynamic stock of 

 basic knowledge. 



STATE 1 53 



