VIII. Brain Drain: A Force in History, Science, Technology, 



AND Diplomacy 



A subject so universal, so wide-ranging in its implications, and so 

 multi faceted, as brain drain defies simple summation. Three trans- 

 cending themes deserve special emphasis for the purposes of this 

 study. They are : 



( 1 ) That brain drain is an historical phenomenon with a past, a 

 present, and a future ; 



(2) That brain drain, as a problem, has special relevance for 

 the modern scientific-technological age ; and 



(3) That the brain drain problem, lying as it does at the junc- 

 ture of science, technology, and American diplomacy, reveals and 

 is symptomatic of a deeper and far more serious problem : that of 

 this Nation's relations with the LDCs and its foreign policy stance 

 respecting the larger issue of international development as re- 

 lated to U.S. economic health and national security. 



Brain Drain as an Historical Phenomenon 



Migration is a natural phenomenon in the history of mankind, and 

 brain drain is one of its unique manifestations. Aii integral part of 

 historical development, brain drain is a process, not an event. It has a 

 past, a present, and a future; the direction of its flow depends upon 

 historical forces that determine the rise and fall of nations, and the 

 ebb and flow of their wealth and power. Scientists and scholars, doc- 

 tors, and other intellectuals going to Athens, Rome, and Alexandria 

 in the Ancient World ; to Bagdad, Bologna, London, and Paris in the 

 Middle Ages ; to France, England, and Germany in the 19th and early 

 20th centuries; and to the United States in the 20th — were drawn 

 along a magnetic course whose center of attraction was power, wealth, 

 and civilization. 



A widely accepted principle provided a rational basis for this talent 

 migration throughout history : the principle of self-determination. 

 Without the exercise of this human right there could not have been 

 mobility in the past, nor could there be in the present and future. 

 Motivated by powerful economic, social, intellectual, and political 

 forces, talent migrates to seek its greatest reward. 



Now, as throughout history, state policies contribute to this flow 

 of talent from nation to nation. The value placed on the acquisition of 

 science and knowledge determines the intensity in applying these 

 policies. Science policy is thus a durable phenomenon in the history 

 of mankind, as indeed is the perception among nation-states of the 

 interrelationship among science, diplomacy, and the acquisition of 

 political power. A persisting awareness of the value of technology 

 and its handmaiden, science, as instrumentalities of progress, politics, 

 and power continues into the contemporary era. 



(1314) 



