661 



for the three military departments and for the Department of Defense 

 generally. 



The Inc7'easv)ig Scope of Global Technology 



The growth has been described of international participation in 

 Earth satellite systems for global communications, resource surveys, 

 weather prediction, navigation, and other useful services derived from 

 the space program. One effect of this activity has been to advertise 

 globally the teclmologiciil accomplishments of the United States in a 

 difficult and costly field. Another effect has been to encourage a global 

 attitude toward the Earth itself — perceivmg it as itself a "space 

 sliip,'- whose passengers share its fate, irrespective of country or re- 

 gion. A third effect is to tie together into single systems global com- 

 munications, transportation systems, resources, environmental effects, 

 and weather and climate. International participation in space projects 

 is demonstrably being stimulated by the opportmiities for tangible 

 benefit as well as by the prestige they afford. 



As tecluiologies grow in size, cost, complexity, sophistication, and 

 range of effects, they may tax the willingness (if not indeed the physi- 

 cal means) of individual nations to support their development. This 

 effect has already been observed in the case of the Concorde super- 

 sonic transport aircraft, whose development is currently being shared 

 by France with the United Kingdom. As Basiuk notes — 



First, confronted by rising costs and problems of increasing scale, even the 

 superpowers individually may lack the capability of taking advantage of the full 

 potential of future technology. This factor will increasingly generate pressure 

 for international cooperation among the middle-rank powers (e.g. Britain, 

 France, Germany, Japan), between the superpowers and the Western Euroi)ean 

 powers and Japan — and perhaps between the superpowers themselves. Second, 

 some forms of future technology such as large-scale climate modification, wili 

 require international cooperation not so much because of the costs involved but 

 because more than one geographic region will be affected and the participation 

 of those concerned will be esisential."^ 



Numerous proposals for large-scale international technologies or 

 developments have been advanced in recent years. Among the more 

 notable have been proposals for damming the Bering Straits, for 

 large-scale transfer of water from Canada to the Great Basin of the 

 United States, large agro-industrial-nuclear desalinization projects 

 for desert regions, and systematic extraction of materials from the sea 

 bed. Leadership in large international projects of technology con- 

 tributes to diplomatic influence at the same time that diplomatic skills 

 are needed in the design and construction of international consortia to 

 execute such projects. 



HAZARDS OF ECONOMIES OF SCALE 



The exploitation of economies of scale has led to remarkable in- 

 'creases in the size of many technological installations. With increased 

 size may also come the possibility of danger to nearby populations or 

 to the environment from technical flaw, operating error, act of Nature, 

 or even sal3otage. The oil spill at Santa Barbara and the Torrey 

 Canyon episode illustrate these dangers. A number of tragic aircraft 

 accidents in recent history serve to highlight the possibility that as 



1^' Basiuk. "Technology and World Power," op. cit., page 16. • 



