874 



The complexity and variety of these programs within the executive 

 branch and the problems of oversight by congressional committees 

 with different jurisdictions inhibit their comprehensive description 

 and analysis. This study, categorized as a "continuing issue" in the 

 series Science, Technology, and American Diplomacy, is partially in- 

 tended to rectify that information gap by highlighting the origin, 

 evolution, and status of several of these programs. The study also 

 identifies several issues which may warrant additional consideration 

 by the legislative and executive branches. These relate to limitations 

 and achievements of specific agency programs with respect to scientific 

 participation, the advance of science, and the promotion of coopera- 

 tive relationships in science and technology with other nations. Also 

 treated are issues posed by program inadequacies in light of emerging 

 national and international scientific and political trends. Notable 

 among these are the questions of: (1) developing conditions and 

 programs to encourage the participation of American scientific and 

 technical personnel in activities instituted under bilateral scientific 

 and technical agreements, (2) improving functional coordination, 

 Government-wide and overseas, and (3) reassessing the legislative- 

 executive branch interface to determine program priorities. 



Scope, Limitations, and Emphasis of the Study 



Two basic questions underlie this study and suggest its contents and 

 organization. They are: 



Wliat are the major impacts of science and diplomacy on the 

 origin and evolution of U.S. Government programs to send non- 

 governmental scientists abroad? and 



What are the impacts of these exchange activities on the Na- 

 tion's scientific and diplomatic programs? 



Ideally, the concept of a "world scientific community" would pre- 

 suppose the free movement of scientists from one country to another 

 to exchange information, publications, and research results. However, 

 divided by national barriers, the community of nations does not 

 permit such free interchange. Diplomatic arrangements between 

 nations both sanction and proscribe activities of the world scientific 

 community. Some of these arrangements enable scientists to obtain 

 information for their own research projects or for Government- 

 sponsored research; others permit the exchanges of information 

 between scientists of different countries for national or international 

 political purposes. 



At the private nongovernmental level, scientists exchange informa- 

 tion through the printed word, through channels increasingly pro- 

 vided by multinational corporations, and through personal visits and 

 correspondence. These devices, however, encounter a number of 

 barriers. Language differences hamper communication between 

 scientists. National security regulations prohibit the free export of 

 scientific information, particularly that obtained from military re- 

 search. And economic and technical competition between nations, 

 internalized and projected by scientists who are first and foremost 

 citizens of their countries, also deters scientific exchange. 



Some Government programs send abroad U.S. scientists and tech- 

 nicians on oflicial missions designed to obtain or disseminate informa- 

 tion supporting an agency's mission or objectives. These programs 



