CHAPTER 12— U.S. SCIENTISTS ABROAD: AN EXAMINA- 

 TION OF MAJOR PROGRAMS FOR NONGOVERNMENTAL 

 SCIENTIFIC EXCHANGE 



I. Introduction 



This study describes major i)roo:ranis of the Federal Government 

 which send abroad nongovernmental scientists and technical personnel 

 to lecture, study, attend meetings, or conduct research and it high- 

 lights how these programs relate to American scientific and dii)lomatic 

 goals. 



During the fiscal year 1970, three-fourths of all Americans sponsored 

 abroad b}-^ the Government were scientists, technicians, or engineers 

 in more than half of the nations where civilian Americans were 

 stationed. Most Federal agencies periodically send abroad scientific 

 and technical personnel as part of the agency mission. However, two 

 agencies have princi|)al responsibility for ])rograms which sponsor 

 overseas activities of nongovernmental senior-level scientists: the 

 National S(;icnce Foundation (XSF), and the Department of State. 

 The National Academy of Sciences (NAS), a nongovernmental agency, 

 also administers substantial overseas programs with funds transferred 

 from the Foundation and the State Department. 



Issues surrounding the origins, purpose, size, effectiveness, and 

 administrative underpinning of these exchange activities illustrate 

 several dimensions of the interaction of science with diplomacy. These 

 include the constraints and opportunities generated b}" scientific 

 factors such as the rate of scientific participation and requirements for 

 the "unfettered" conduct of scientific research; and also diplomatic 

 factors such as arrangements to facilitate scientific exchanges and to 

 couple these exchange programs to foreign polic}' goals. For instance, 

 the Senior Fulbright-IIays program, funded by the Department of 

 State and administered by an agency of NAS, is designed to support 

 educational and cultural components of the Nation's foreign policy. 

 Programs of NSF have as their major objective the encouragement of 

 the growth of science and of cooperative international scientific 

 relationships. Some programs are designed, or have evolved, to support 

 a mixture of objectives, including technical assistance to hasten the 

 growth of science infrastructure in the develophig nations. Other 

 l)rograms, notabl}^ the bilateral agreements with the Soviet Union 

 and with the countries of Eastern Europe, serve both science and 

 diplomacy by forging continuing working relationshi{)s and a degree 

 of interdependence between the citizens of ideologically disparate 

 states. Still other programs serve the goals of national prestige and 

 national or international cooperative scientific inquiry. 



A number of these programs were initiated in the immediate post- 

 World War II period; some were established as a response to the 

 Sputnik "launch" of the late fifties; but the bulk are of more recent 

 origin, reflecting current trends toward relaxation of international 

 tensions and broader understanding of the benefits to science and 

 society of cooperative international science. 



Note : This chapter was prepared in 1974 by Genevieve J. Knezo. 



(873) 



97-400 O - 77 - 18 



