CHAPTER 14— SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN THE 

 DEPARTMENT OF STATE: BRINGING TECHNICAL CON- 

 TENT INTO DIPLOMATIC POLICY AND OPERATIONS 



I. T.NTUODUCTIOX 



Tliis is the coiuliulinjj: ^iib-iaiitivc study in tli(> >(M-ios on "Science, 

 'iVchnoloiry, and American Diplomacy." It identifies and e.\!imin(>s 

 thos(! elements of the Department of State where science and tedi- 

 nolofiy int(>fact with diplomat} . 'J'he i)urpo-t> of the study is to iHs- 

 cover leirislative opj)oit unities to stivnirthen the Department's ir- 

 soui'ces (a) to cany out those of its diplomatic functions that iiave a 

 substantial technical content, and (b) to extend the reach of it^ policy 

 ])laiminir in diplomatic trends and conct^rns that are o;ravely intlueneed 

 l)y the rush of technolo<i;ical change. 



Tiie C\)n<!;ress api)reciates fidly the ma^jnitude of tlie discontinuity 

 that science and technolo<ry have injected into tlie stream of history, 

 beginning in 1945 with the first atomic ])omb and later eonfirme<l 

 with ihermonuclear-tipped ballistic missiles humched from silos or 

 subnnirines. Tiiese developments inive made general war with its 

 miclear implications seem an exercise in suicidal folly, thereby muiei-- 

 mining the military power base of diplomacy and enormously com- 

 plicating the practice of that obscure art. 



Ill his 1957 study, J^uclear Weapuiis ainl Fore't'jn Pollen, Henry 

 Kissinger remarked that "President Dwigiit D. Eiseithower [hadl 

 sunnned up the dilennna posed by the new weapons technology in tlie 

 phrase 'there is no alternative to peace.' " Kissinger went on to re- 

 mark that "if recourse to force luis in fact become impossible, diplo- 

 nnicy too may lose its efficacy," giving as liis explanation tlie point tliat 

 "The motive force behind international settlements has always been 

 a combination of the belief in the advantages of harmony and the 

 fear of the consequences of proving obdurate." ' 



Science, Technology, and the Growth of Interdependence 



Science and technology have wrought many other clianges in the 

 relations among States: 



— Instant conmnmication and visual reports at great distance^; 



— Unlimited recording and rapid manipulation of data; 



— Photographic surveys of the total area of the Earth; 



- — Man-made nuclear energy; 



— Global weather predicticni; 



— Cheap synthetic substitutes for many cash crops; 



—Chemicals and drugs with global social and enviromnen- 

 tal impacts; and 



— Massive and rapid air transportation. 



I Hfriiy A. Kissiiii;iT, Xiidnir ll>a/>o/i» and Forniin Policy (Now York: lInr|>or and lliolhpis (or tlio 

 Council on Kort'lgn lidntlons, l'J.>7), pp. 3-4. A conciiiriiiK opinion comes from the discipline of psycliology: 



If coercion tins p:issrd the llniils of ullllty as a innuis for adjiistlnp dlfToro'iccs ainouR states, 

 means nm.sl lie funnd In limit llie nsi- of foicc and, sinnilliinconsly, to snbslitule otlior ways of exer- 

 cIsliiK inllneni-e. Tlie discovi i y tli.il artion <!epiMi(lsoii perception has provided a necessary niodifv- 

 iiiK factor: an api>ioa<h c.io We made to Umllirip; the use of foice hy alterlim the pcrceptnal basis for 

 coercive acts; nji an while, .systems iidjnstnii'ntsi an come about lliroiiKh inlhietices on perception I'f 

 tliH actors by other means besides the threnl or use of foicc— for example, by pcrsua-sion. 



Vlvlnii J. Hohrl-Wedt'c and Hryanl \\'e<li;o, "The Role of Perception In International I'olltles." Interna- 

 tional S'ikIiik XtiiKlilter, I'reliniiiiary Is-ne A (Kail l>j73), p. 40. (\'ivian J{ohrl\\edK<' is a psychologist and 

 Uryunt Wcdije is u physician.) 

 NOTE : This chapter was prepared in 1975 by Franklin P. Huddle. 



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