1391 



THE IMPORTANCE OF COUPLING 



A heavy burden of responsibility rests on the attache to spend his 

 time wisely. How can he be reasonably sure that his reports are useful 

 back home? What "feedback" does he get that directs his attention to 

 pertinent items? What "feedback" does the State Department itself 

 receive from the other agencies, presumed interested, to which these 

 reports are forwarded? 



While time did not permit full exploration of this question, a few 

 comments can be made. First, SCI over the past decade made a 

 positive effort to bring all attaches back to Washington annually for a 

 1-week briefing on scientific, technological, and political-economic 

 developments in this country. Here they heard lectures and talks by 

 the Secretary of State, White House officials, and various officers of 

 the Department; they met with appropriate congressional committee 

 members and staffs in technical sessions and receptions; they held 

 question-and-answer workshops. ^"^ 



In 1968, an assessment by Daniel S. Greenberg suggested that the 

 utility of attache reports was uneven: ". . . It is difficult to determine 

 the role plaj^ed by the science attaches, who are now posted at some 

 20 U.S. embassies around the world. Some convey the impression of 

 being resigned to writing reports that are never heeded, even if read, 

 and also of being somewhat out of things at the embassies in which 

 they serve. Others, however, sound as though they feel themselves to 

 be in the tliick of important affairs, with an opportunity to move 

 matters as they believe they should be moved." ^^^ 



Inescapably, the qualit}^ of personnel will vary, as will also the range 

 of opportunities for useful scientific and technological reports and 

 services within the country to which they are posted. (Even more 

 variable was the extent to which Foreign Service officers "who were 

 "especially designated" as science officers responded to their assigned 

 task, which was "in addition to their other duties." ^°*) Perhaps most 

 variable of all is the relationship between the Ambassador and his 

 scientific attache. Much depends on the importance the principal 

 officer of the embassy, the personal representative of the President in 

 the country, assigns to science and technology as essential ingredients 

 of diplomacy. It would be of interest to learn how much preparation 

 new ambassadorial appointees receive on this subject before taking up 

 their posts, and indeed how much sophistication or even awareness the 



"K For example, the annual meeting in 1966, held for one week- in November, brought 14 of the 17 attaches 

 to Washington. They met with Vice President Humphrey who stressed the importance of science and 

 technology for diplomacy; they heard discussions on the "technological gap," international cooperation In 

 oceanography and space, political security aspects of nuclear power, and the "Water for Peace" program. 

 ("Scientific Attaches Gather for Annual Conference," Department of State Newsletter, no. 68 (December 

 1966), p. 15.) It should be noted that recent meetings ol the attaches have become very intensive 

 and systematic. 



A later meeting, the week of January 26, 1970, included sessions with the Secretary of State, the President's 

 Science Adviser, the President of the National Academy of Sciences, a full day with the House Committee 

 on Science and Astronautics; meetings with senior officers of the Departments of Commerce, Transporta- 

 tion, and HEW; a tour of National Bureau of Standards facihties and a lecture by the Director of NBS; and 

 lectures by State Department officers on AID, Space, Oceans, Environment, Population, Export Controls, 

 and the use of Public Law 480 funds. 



'M Daniel S. Greenberg, "Science Attaches: U.S. Aides Meet to Report on International Scene," Science, 

 September 13, 1968. p. 1116. 



101 For an example of one Foreign Service officer who became interested in this assignment see: Bryan R. 

 Frisbie, "A Science Liaison Officer Discusses His Work," Department of State News Letter, no. 89 (September 

 1968), pp. 40-41. The article appears to offer a case for extending the full attache system to many additional 

 embassies, in view of the wide range of significant scientific activities that enlisted the author's attention; 



