1341 



containing mainly technological information. But neither the expertise 

 possessed nor the information accumulated by the Scientific Officer in 

 the London office of the Department of State was useful to the parent 

 organization. There was no strategy to use the expertise and there 

 was no procedure to assure use of the information. The diplomats had 

 at hand the technical expertise but they did not know how to use it 

 and the scientists did not know how to be used. Their activities did 

 not appear to be relevant to the diplomatic problems of the day; no 

 effort was exerted to show how they could be relevant ; no preparation 

 was undertaken to assure that they would be relevant. 



The Berkner Report on Science and Foreign Relations 



Shortly after the close of World War II, President Truman had 

 turned to former President Herbert Hoover for advice in undertaking 

 a postwar reorganization of the executive branch. The proliferation of 

 agencies and functions had made the bureaucracy virtually unman- 

 ageable and the Hoover Commission received a broad charter to 

 recommend its consolidation. With particular respect to the State 

 Department, the Commission transmitted to the Congress, Febru- 

 ar}^ 18, 1949,'^ its report on "Foreign Affairs." The report took note 

 of the rapid increase in the size of the Department and of the pro- 

 liferation of overseas responsibilities of other agencies: 



In the Presidency new factors affecting the conduct of foreign affairs include 

 the Chief of Staff to the President and statutory interdepartmental bodies such 

 as the National Security Council. The State Department itself, in terms of appro- 

 priations, is 12 times larger and, in terms of personnel, almost 5 times larger in 

 1948 than it was in 1938. In the interdepartmental field there are more than 30 

 committees concerned with economic, social, military, and other aspects of foreign 

 affairs. Of 59 major departments and agencies in the executive branch, at least 46 

 are drawn into foreign affairs to a greater or lesser extent. Certain units are 

 deeply involved, such as the National Military Establishment in connection with 

 the administration of occupied areas abroad, the Economic Cooperation Adminis- 

 tration in connection with the financial assistance overseas, the Treasury Depart- 

 ment in international financial matters, and the Commerce Department in 

 connection with export control. Finallj', Congressional participation in the conduct 

 of foreign affairs has become^ particularly evident in the enhancement of the role 

 of the House of Representatives in connection with appropriations for foreign 

 programs. '6 



Neither the report nor an accompanying Task Force Report on the 

 same subject dealt explicitly with the role of the Department of State 

 in science and technology. However, in a letter to Mr. Hoover in 

 comment on the Task Force Report, Henr}' h. Stimson, who had 

 served as Hoover's Secretary of State, highlighted the growing impor- 

 tance for diplomacy of science and technology and their products. He 

 wrote : 



. . . The world today is faced with two great challenges. Can it keep the peace, 

 and can it build a secure foundation for ordered freedom? We have reached a stage 

 in history when it is absolutely vital that we meet both of these challenges success- 

 fully. The scourge of war has now acquired an expanding destructive power 

 enormously greater than ever before. We must have peace. At the same time 

 mankind cannot and will not abandon its long upward struggle toward freedom 

 and the good life. Challenges to freedom continue, and the tension between free 

 societies and their opponents must be recognized as a grave threat to peace. In 

 such circumstances, the conduct of American foreign policy takes on a new order 

 of importance. 



" Pursuant to Public Law 80-162, approved July 7, 1947, setting up the "Commission on Organization of 

 the Executive Branch of the Government". 



'• U.S., The Commission on Organization of the Executive Branch of the Government, Budgeting and 

 Accounting: A Report to the Congress, Rept. No. 7, (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing OflSce, 

 February 1949), p. 4. 



