1023 



10 SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL ( OOPERATION 



mechanisms for the orderly sharing of detailed observational data as a 

 new dimension to the traditional sharing of scientific results through 

 publication. It also generated new intellectual capital which, in turn, 

 gave rise to additional cooperative research efforts (e.g., the Global 

 Atmospheric Research Program, or GARP). 



By the 1960s, European science had become largely self-sufficient, 

 and thv United States was experiencing a retrenchment in its own 

 R&D budget. The result was that, for the first time, a substantial num- 

 ber of voung American scientists were receiving European support for 

 their work in European labs. With the dawning of the era of East-West 

 detente in the late 1960s and early 1970s science and technology agree- 

 ments became favored instruments of both symbolic and instrumental 

 diplomacy. Conversely, the end of the detente era during the Ford ad- 

 ministration witnessed the curtailment or cancellation of many of 

 these same bilateral S&T arrangements. 



The post-oil crisis (1973) "stagflation" that has afflicted the entire 

 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) 

 community since the early l^VOs has had a dampening effect on the 

 willingness and capacity of the United States and other technically ad- 

 vanced countries to undertake new international S&T activities. One 

 manifestation has been a changing demography in the academic job 

 market, which has created a reluctance on the part of young American 

 researchers to leave the country for extended periods to participate in 

 scientific exchanges. The decline in the number of Ph.D.s undertaking 

 foreign postdoctoral study in the period since 1971 is apparent in the 

 data presented in Table 2. 



U.S. policy since the mid-1970s regarding international S&T coop- 

 eration has remained at cross purposes. Europe and Japan are no 

 longer "weak sisters" requiring U.S. capital and technical infusions; 

 they are strong and sophisticated economic competitors. At the same 

 time, growing alarm has been expressed regarding the potential loss of 

 militarily sensitive scientific and technological information as a result 

 of various international S&T contacts." In many fields, this concern 

 also involves the potential loss of proprietary data, due to the reduced 

 time delay between basic research and commercial application. 



Yet, there are also trends toward increased levels of cooperation. 

 These have been particularly in evidence since the 1982 economic 

 summit at Versailles, France, at which the heads of state agreed to 

 study the most fruitful areas for collaboration in various scientific and 

 technological areas. The subsequent report, produced under the direc- 

 tion of Jacques Attali of France, identified 17 specific cooperative 

 projects involving various combinations of OECD countries; it re- 



