1342 



The great scientific and industrial revolution of the nineteenth century pro- 

 foundly affected both the nature and effect of war and the hope for human progress 

 toward freedom from want. . . . During the nineteenth century our Nation, 

 and many other nations too, were absorbed in the pursuit of this great new 

 opportunity. . . . During this century the- people of the United States treated 

 their foreign affairs as a minor problem. . . . 



For we had grasped only one-half of the meaning of the industrial revolution. 

 The progress of science and invention brought with it a vastly increased inter- 

 dependence among the nations of the world. The civilization it created was brittle, 

 for the same science and invention which had produced new riches had produced 

 at the same time a wholl}'^ new power of destruction. . . . 



. . . We must recognize, therefore, that as a participating member of the world 

 community, in time of peace as in time of peril, the United States must continue 

 to play a major part. . . . 



... I urge upon the Commission the absolutely critical importance of leaving 

 nothing undone that may make us better able to ward off the danger of 

 catastrophe, and to bring nearer, in so far as in us lies, the lasting peace which 

 all manl^ind demands. . . . *' 



Out of the deliberations of the various task forces, staffs, and steering 

 groups serving the Hoover Commission a recommendation emerged 

 that the Department of State needed a capability to evaluate the 

 foreign policy aspects of scientific activities.^* 



Apparently in response to the thinking communicated by unpub- 

 lished papers of the Hoover Commission, the Secretary of State on 

 October 4, 1949, appointed Llo3^d V, Berkner as Special Consultant 

 to advise him on : 



1. Responsibilities and functions of the Department in formu- 

 lating and implementing international aspects of national science 

 policy; 



2. How these responsibilities and functions should be assigned 

 within the Department; 



3. Staffing; 



4. Interagency relations' of the Department (with emphasis 

 on science and intelligence) ; and 



5. Functions, staffing, and operational methods in science and 

 technology missions overseas. ^^ 



At the same time the Secretary appointed a Departmental vSteering 

 Committee on International Science Policy. This committee agreed 

 that the broad objective of the study would be: 



To develop deta,iled recommendations on the most effective means of utilizing 

 the functions and facilities of the Department for meeting the needs of United 

 States science and for strengthening national security to the end that the Dc- 



1^ Letter from Henry L. Stimson to Herbert Hoover, November 22, 1948, in The Organization of the Govern- 

 ment for the Conduct of Foreign Affairs: A report ivith recommendations, prepared for the Commission on 

 Organization of the Executive Branch of the Government, by Harvey H. Bundy and James Grafton Rogers 

 (Washinsrton, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Ollice, 1949), p. x. 



'8 In the report, U.S. Department of State, Science and Forcinn Relations: International Flow of Scientific 

 and Technological Information, General Foreign Policy Series, no. 3860, May 1950 (hereafter called the Berkner 

 Report), it was explained that the "Steering Committee of Reorganization Task Force No. 2" had reported. 

 May 2, 1949, that: 



The Department is dealing on the one hand with foreign policy matters which have a great effect 

 upon United States scientific policy and on the other hand with international scienti c activities 

 which have an impact on foreign policy. These matters are being liandled at various points without 

 adequate scientific evaluation. . . . We believe that the extent of the Department's responsibility for 

 international scientific matters requires top policy consideration and the aid of professional scienti ''c 

 judgment, and cannot properly be detennined in the course of a necessarily hurried review of the 

 Department's organizations, (p. 1)" 



Also, subsequently, a "special Department of State Task Force" reviewing the "separate and detailed con- 

 sideration of the interdeijendence of science and foreign relations" had recommended that: 



A scientist of national repute should be asked by the Department to serve as a temporary consul- 

 tant to analyze and submit recommendations on (a) the role of the Department in national scienti ('C 

 policy and activities, and their interrelationships with foreign policy, and (b) appropriate organiza- 

 tion and staffing required to carry out its respontibility. (p. 15) 

 i» Berkner Report, p. 16. 



