1447 



— Contracting Avdth a qualified research institution to define 

 the FSO need for technical information and to design wa3's of 

 meeting the need; 



— Stronger support by higher level officers of the Dei)artment; 



— Increased emphasis on general technical knowledge in 

 initial qualifying examinations for admission to the Foreign 

 Service ; 



— A series of assessments of the comparative predictive power 

 of economic statistics and technological trend analysis, for use 

 in regional studies; 



— Increased use of technological inputs b}' INR, and OES, 

 to the work of the functional bureaus and the Polic\^ Planning 

 Staff; and 



— Arrangements for the continuing education of students, 

 after taking an FSI science policy course, through continued 

 mailings of reports on science and technology trends of significance 

 for diplomacy. 

 Dean Harvey Brooks of the Department of Applied Physics, Har- 

 vard Universit}^, would stress the problem-solving approach sug- 

 gested in some of these options. He writes: 



Insofar as an attempt is made to impart technical literacy to FSOs, it should 

 be i.ssue-oriented rather than discipline oriented. But I think that State needs 

 both specialists and technically literate generalist FSOs who can coniuiunicate 

 with the specialists and feel comfortable in making use of the technical expertise 

 of others.'^* 



Similarl}", David Beckler, long associated mth the Office of Science 

 and Technology (OST) and earlier with the Department of State, 

 suggests that "science literacy" should be a logical outcome of practical 

 issue-oriented study courses in FSI : 



In-house policy training at the Foreign Service Institute. — I am not an enthusiast 

 for special lectures or courses aimed at developing scientific and technical 

 "literacy" on the part of the Foreign Service officers. On the other hand, many, 

 if not all, of the matters of direct concern to them at the Institute have a scientific 

 or technological dimension. This dimension needs to be developed and elaborated 

 in the context of the overall issues whether they be foreign trade, relationships 

 between the U.S. and developing countries, environment, population, energy, 

 etc. It is important to weave this perspective into the Foreign Service Institute 

 program. Special study materials should be developed for this purpose. In this 

 way, the Foreign Service officers can become interested in and familiar with the 

 nature and implications of science and technology for their future work.' *^ 



There are, however, inherent limitations on what the FSI can do to 

 inculcate scientific and technological expertise in the FS. In par- 

 ticular, the individual officer must somehow be motivated to absorb 

 what the FSI has to offer, to combine it with knowledge fiom other 

 sources, and to appl}^ it within his terms of reference. A recent article 

 by James N. Cortada, dean of the FSI School of Professional Studies 

 and consultant A. Guy Hope of the Maxwell Graduate School, 

 Syracuse Universit}'', describes this problem thus : 



It is the philosophy of the Institute that, regardless of how carefully developed 

 training programs may be, they must complement, not substitute for, professional 

 experience under competent and conscientious superiors. Only to the extent that 



i9< Brooks to Huddle, Februarj' 10, 1975. 



'85 Beckler to Huddle, .March 5, 1975. Mi-. Beckler is now serving as Assistant to the President, National 

 Academy of Sciences, 



