1019 



U.S. Participation in 



International S&T 



Cooperation 



A Framework for Analysis 



Mitchel B. Wallerstein 



The decade of the 1980s has witnessed a renewed interest in interna- 

 tional scientific cooperation and the forces that shape U.S. participa- 

 tion. Enhanced appreciation of science as a national resource, of the 

 value of cost/task sharing in large or expensive projects, of technolog- 

 ical advances in telecommunications and travel, and of constrained 

 opportunities for younger scientists are some of the factors that have 

 become central topics of international science and technology (S&T) 

 policy discussions. At the same time, science and technology have be- 

 come increasingly important as instruments of foreign policy. 



U.S. policy on international S&T cooperation must take account of 

 opposing and, often, irreconcilable pressures. On the one hand, the 

 constraints on domestic resources and growing scientific excellence 

 abroad suggest strongly the need for the U.S. to enter into cooperative 

 arrangements with other technically advanced nations. Yet, on the 

 other, foreign policy imperatives and concerns about the loss of pro- 

 prietary information to potential cornpetitors or security-sensitive in- 

 formation to potential adversaries have created new impetus in the 

 United States for greater vigilance in the open interchange that charac- 

 terizes the international S&T community. 



THE SETTING AND OBJECTIVES OF S&T COOPERATION 



International cooperation in science and technology encompasses a 

 broad spectrum of activities ranging from informal exchanges or visits 



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