668 



had little experience with colonies or undeveloped regions, with lan- 

 guage and cultural barriers, with national economic planning, or with 

 the complex phenomenon of technology transfer. The program went 

 forward on the simplistic notion that the developing countries wanted 

 "American know-how" and that sending U.S. experts abroad would 

 provide it.^-^ 



One difficulty with the program was that its objectives were seen 

 differently by the various groups involved ; various of its supporters 

 looked for different outcomes. Was it a humanitarian program to raise 

 living standards in poor countries ? Was it intended to effect political 

 stabilization of these regions to halt the spread of communism, under 

 the containment doctrine of the period? Was it to render the political 

 soil less fertile for subversion ? Was it to strengthen with gi\atitude U.S. 

 relations with less- favored nations? Was it to provide assured future 

 sources of essential materials for U.S. industry or possible wartime 

 military requirements? All of these were offered at one time or another 

 during the two years in which the Point IV Program wa^ debated in 

 Congress. 



When John F. Kennedy came to the Wiite House in 1961, he called 

 for a sweeping review and revision of the program, and the design 

 of a new effort ". . . tailored to meet the needs and resource potential 

 of each individual country instead of a series of individual unrelated 

 projects." He criticized past efforts because "our development goals 

 and projects have not been undertaken as integral steps in a long- 

 range economic development program." "° However, again the goals 

 recognized by the President were to develop lagging economies and 

 technologies, without explicit statement as to why this should be done 

 by the United States, or why the United States was the appropriate 

 instrument for raising the technological/economic level of the unde- 

 veloped world. 



PRESIDENT NIXON's FOKEIGN POLICY 



In his special message to the Congress, February 18, 1970, on 

 "United States Foreign Policy for the 1970's", President Nixon fur- 

 ther developed the theme of foreign aid and technical assistance. He 

 described the goal of U.S. foreign policy as being the creation of a 

 "durable structure of international relationships which inhibits or 

 removes the causes of war." The^ means would be (a) partnership with 

 all friendly nations, (2) strength to match the strength of any potential 

 aggressor, l)ut coupled with willingness to accept cooperative arrange- 

 ments for the control of arms, and (3) willingness to negotiate differ- 

 ences, toward the building of a durable structure of peaceful relations. 

 His criteria were that the specifics of foreign policy needed to be crea- 

 tive, systematic, based on factual knowledge, selective among alterna- 

 tives, competently responsive to crises while seeking to anticipate them, 

 and — finally — capable of being carried out effectively. 



American foreign policy [the President declared] must not be merely the 

 result of a series of piecemeal tactical decisions forced by the pressures of 



''^ Some of the rleficiencies of this early program are discussed in Chapter Four — "The 

 Point IV Projrram : Technological Transfer as the Basis of Aid to Developing Countries," 

 In "Technical Information for Congress." op. cit.. page 61 sq. 



^^0 President ,Tohn F. Kenned.v. "Special message to the Congress on foreign aid." March 

 22. Ifl61. In Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States. John F. Kennedy. Con- 

 taining the public messages, speeches and statements of the President Jan. 20-Dec. 31, 1969. 

 (Washington, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1962), page 206. 



