SEA GRANT COLLEGES 241 



petition will be stiff. For example, one of the most promising re- 

 sources of the oceans is food, but the United States has a surplus of 

 this commodity. However, we are at present committed to spend- 

 ing about $3 billion in foreign aid annually, and oceanic R. & D., de- 

 signed to meet the needs of the underdeveloped countries (particular 

 for food) , or of other countries deficient in certain resources, may sig- 

 nificantly cut our foreign aid without decreasing its effectiveness. In 

 the years to come, as our population grows and as the availability of 

 competing land-based resources diminishes, we shall be able to utilize 

 these technologies with full advantage to our own economy. 



The potential utility of oceanology to our foreign policy is not 

 limited to the problem of underdeveloped countries and foreign aid. 

 Exploitation of the resources of the ocean opens broad opportunities 

 in the area of international cooperation, with a considerable poten- 

 tial for political payoff. Let me emphasize at this point that I do not 

 believe, as some people do, that the rapid growth of science and tech- 

 nology — which does not seem to recognize political frontiers — in itself 

 provides an overpowering reason for w^orldwide international coopera- 

 tion. Vf e have seen too many instances of political and strategic con- 

 siderations override what is frequently claimed to be scientific and 

 technological imperatives for international cooperation. It seems fu- 

 tile to me to expect a millennium of international brotherhood in re- 

 sponse to scientific and technological developments. On the other 

 hand, we shall render a disservice to ourselves as a nation if we fail 

 to recognize that, if political and otlier factors are favorable, scientific 

 and technological cooperation can serve as an effective instrument of 

 foreign policy in achieving a politically desirable degree of interna- 

 tional solidarity or cohesiveness. 



One example in this respect can be provided by the case of the 

 Western nations bordering on the Atlantic Ocean. The idea of an 

 Atlantic Community is not new ; for economic, cultural, and political 

 reasons it is gaining in the number of its adherents. The Western 

 European nations are deficient in a number of natural resources — con- 

 siderably more so than the United States — and an effective exploitation 

 of the potential of the Atlantic and of its adjacent seas would present 

 them with an attractive opportunity to remedy this deficiency. A 

 cooperative program under American leadership may not only 

 significantly speed up the exploitation of the oceans as an economic 

 proposition, but may also provide just the right kind of cement to make 

 the Atlantic Community a politically viable entity if we decide that 

 this is a desirable goal of our foreign policy. 



My next example of using oceanolog;^^ as an instrument of foreign 

 policy may appear somewhat farfetched, but, if we look far enough 

 into the future, it may well prove to be realistic. I am referring to 

 the possibility of cooperation with the Soviet Union in oceanogi-aphic 

 programs. To be sure, at present we are competing with the U.S.S.R. 

 in oceanography as well as in other areas, and our rivalry is likely 

 to continue for some time. However, as the Sino-Soviet rift progres.ses 

 and the pressure of the rising Red China increases, the Soviet Union 

 may well desire a closer relationship with the United States. While, 

 for ideological and other reasons, an early political cooperation may 

 not be acceptable to the Soviet I^nion, a joint participation in certain 

 kinds of oceanographic undertakings may prove to be feasible as a 



