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STRATEGY FOR THE SCIENCE ASSESSMENT 



The genesis of the task of assessment undertaken by the National 

 Research Council can be briefly summarized. In October 1983, when 

 consultations were in progress on contributions to the US/UNESCO Policy 

 Review , noted above, the Foreign Secretary of the National Academy of 

 Sciences provided the Assistant Secretary of State for International 

 Organizational Affairs (at his request) with some initial views per- 

 taining to the quality and management of UNESCO science activities. 

 In particular, he noted: 



• Science-related programs represent, in many ways, UNESCO's most 

 successful effort and fulfill an important function for the U.S. in 

 terms of international science cooperation and science education. 



• There is much criticism leveled at UNESCO programs, structure 

 and management, but, in the area of the sciences at least, there is no 

 real alternative to UNESCO at the present time. 



• With respect to the management of UNESCO science programs, there 

 is certainly room for improvement. 



• The mechanisms necessary to ensure effective U.S. participation 

 in UNESCO are not currently available. 8 



Following the announcement of the intention to withdraw from UNESCO, 

 a number of bodies of the Academy complex considered the implications 

 of withdrawal with respect to U.S. science interests and its impact on 

 science in general. This process resulted in the letter of March 13, 

 1984, from the Foreign Secretary of the National Academy of Sciences 

 to the Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizational 

 Affairs offering assistance in assessing the impacts of the U.S. with- 

 drawal in the science area and in identifying possible alternative 

 arrangements for U.S. participation. 9 This initiative provided the 

 basis for the contract between the Department of State and the National 

 Academy of Sciences to prepare the following: 



• An inventory of existing UNESCO-sponsored programs and arrange- 

 ments for U.S. scientific cooperation (provided in a Supplement to this 

 report) ; 



• An analysis of the extent to which these arrangements depend or 

 do not depend critically on affiliation with UNESCO; 



• Suggestions for alternative interim arrangements for facilitating 

 essential U.S. scientific interactions with UNESCO-sponsored programs; 



• Initial recommendations of future U.S. directions in multilateral 

 and global scientific cooperation (both within and outside UNESCO). 



