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158 SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL COOPERATION 



BENEFITS TO THE UNITED STATES 



Did the United States accme benefits commensurate with these 

 outlays? The benefits are even more difficult to assess quantitatively 

 than are the inputs contributed, but the existence of benefits is not in 

 doubt. In common with other nations, we acquired access to unique 

 data sets, including not only complete collections of global observa- 

 tions, but also specialized data on regional phenomena such as the Asian 

 monsoon and the details of air flow over mountain masses. These could 

 have been obtained in no other way than through an international col- 

 laborative program, for the real estate of the globe is after all managed 

 by some hundreds of sovereign nations. Access to that real estate, the at- 

 mosphere above it, and the ocean bordering it for the purposes of 

 science therefore requires the cooperation of those nations. If our scien- 

 tists are to address global geophysical problems at all, they must address 

 them in an international context. 



We also obtained ideas from afar and thereby enriched our own na- 

 tional scientific life. Although the U.S. scientific community is massive 

 and affluent, it has no monopoly on talent and imagination. 

 Throughout the history of G ARP, major intellectual contributions were 

 made by scientists from other countries. Indeed, for most of the pro- 

 gram's life, Sweden and Canada provided the leaders of the JOC, and 

 Argentina and Sweden were the chiefs of the multinational ]PS. Ideas in- 

 itiated in the United States time after time migrated into the international 

 planning forums, were reshaped by many hands, and returned in a 

 greatly improved form. The international machinery offers an oppor- 

 tunity for independent review and improved conceptualization of scien- 

 tific ideas that is often difficult to obtain within the political and institu- 

 tional framework of an individual country. 



One must recognize also that other countries mobilized through 

 GARP contributed very significant resources to the program's im- 

 plementation that in total outweighed our own . For example, the Soviet 

 Union contributed 10 oceanographic ships to the Global Experiment, 

 and we enjoy access to their results. The Air Mass Transformation Ex- 

 periment (AMTEX) and the recently concluded Alpine Experiment 

 (ALPEX) were primarily led, funded, and implemented by other coun- 

 tries. The United States played a minor role in the support of these ef- 

 forts, but was able to draw fully on their observational and scientific 

 results. International programs can provide highly significant leverage 

 for our investments in science. 



There are also other intangible benefits accruing to U.S. science from 

 such international activities. GARP drew together the meteorological 



