1451 



which science has influenced the problems of foreign poUcy is tech- 

 nology." The report continued: Science was not to be confounded 

 with technology; the time lags in converting scientific discoveries into 

 widely applied technologies had been greatly reduced; accordingly, 

 there was a need to reduce the time lag between the diplomatic impact 

 of a new technology and the diplomatic response to that impact. 



Wliile the report dealt mainly with the diplomatic problems created 

 b,y present and future science and technology, it also suggested the 

 possibility that technical initiatives could advance U.S. diplomatic 

 goals. Some efforts were assertedly already undervv^a}^ 



But on the whole [said the Report] the extent to which science is conscioiisly 

 being called upon to improve the formulation or execution of our foreign policy is 

 quite small compared with the conscious use of science in connection with military, 

 industrial, agricultural, and medical problems, particularly small when one consid- 

 ers the urgent need to find new approaches to foreign policy problems. '^^ 



The Report suggested that the committee review this situation. It 

 also proposed three steps (paraphrase) : 



1 . Identification of, and action on, foreign polic}^ problems that 

 research and development initiatives could alleviate; 



2. Stepped-up effort in basic research judged beneficial to U.S. 

 foreign policy formulation and execution; and 



3. New steps devised and taken to exploit the "bridge" effect 

 of science, that links scientists across national boundaries. ^^' 



A number of examples were suggested in each of these areas, some of 

 which have since been initiated (e.g.. World Weather Watch and 

 International Biological Program). Others still invite attention (e.g., 

 "an international translation and information retrieval center"). 



FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE HEARING ON SCIENTIFIC DIPLOMACY 



Following receipt of the SRI study on "Possible Nonmilitary 

 Scientific Developments and Their Potential Impact on Foreign 

 Policy Pioblems of the United States," the Senate Committee on 

 Foreign Relations held open hearings on the report, January 28, 1960. 

 Howevei, these hearings added little to the information before the 

 committee. Speaking for the Institute, President E. Finley Carter 

 urged more science initiatives for social purposes on a global basis, 

 expanded research in polic}' sciences in the Department of State, 

 more science in foreign assistance programs, and more support for 

 U.S. participation in international meetings and conferences. There 

 was, he said a role for the Congress here; 



... If science is to contribute, there must be hard, realistic thinking, by 

 both scientists and Government people, and there must be money and leadership 

 av'ailable. As members of Government, concerned with the overall directions of 

 the United States in foreign affairs, we look to you in the Congress, and to the 

 executive branch, to provide the leadership and the support necessarj^ to en- 

 courage more effective application of science to the problems of human welfare 

 and human understanding. ^^^ 



Carter was followed as a witness by Dr. Wallace R. Brode, science 

 adviser, Department of State, who agreed that "It is impossible to 

 dissociate those developments in science and technology which affect 



190 Stanford Research Institute, Possible Nonmilitary Scientific Developments, op. cit., p. 183. 

 >»' Ibid., p. 1^4. 



192 U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Foreign Policy, Hearings, Part 

 I, 86th Cong., 2d sess., January 28, 19bO, pp. 2-7. 



