Science, Technology and American Diplomacy

Science Foundation supports international activities that facilitate U.S. access to foreign science and engineering resources, assist in the study of large-scale natural phenomena that transcend national boundaries, and help advance specific U.S. foreign policy objectives. About 20 percent of NSF's research grants have an international component under one of these criteria. In 1985 the Committee on International Science of the National Science Board urged that NSF develop approaches to assess "areas of excellence" in science and engineering outside the United States more systematically.

International activities supported by NSF in 1985 included cooperative research in elementary particle physics with Europe and Japan, materials research in several countries, and activities at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile which gives U.S. and other astronomers a major facility for observing phenomena that cannot be be seen from the Northern Hemisphere. Robotics and artificial intelligence, and automated manufacturing research were the principal fields of international engineering cooperation with industrialized countries supported by the NSF.

ORGANIZATION OF THE TITLE V REPORT

This report is organized into three distinct, but related, parts, as indicated in the table of contents.

Part I-Science and Technology in American Diplomacy-focuses on: (1) An assessment of the role that science and technology plays in the conduct of U.S. relations, including benefits and problems, and (2) the resources devoted by the Department of State to the oversight and coordinating tasks mandated by the Congress, including steps taken to enhance capabilities to carry out these roles. These topics are also dealt with, in a different form, in parts II and III, and readers are encouraged to consult the country index for an indication of where in the report additional information on a particular country can be found.

Part II-Comprehensive S&T Programs-deals with: (1) A description of U.S. involvement during fiscal year 1985 in multilateral organizations dealing with science and technology and in special multilateral initiatives-such as the Summit S&T Initiative, and (2) reports on selected countries with which the United States has formal government-to-government bilateral S&T agreements and programs in which there were significant developments in 1985. Readers should also be aware that there are many instances of other types of agreements; for example, between counterpart technical agencies and laboratories (see appendix I). An extensive listing of agreements, with a brief description of activities carried out under them can be found in appendix II. Activities of U.S. technical agencies under such agreements, as well as in international S&T organizations, are covered in greater detail in part III. Readers are invited to consult the country and international organizations indexes as a guide.

Part III-Specialized S&T Programs-is organized by separate S&T subject matter, focusing primarily on recent developments and costs and benefits to the United States and foreign S&T communities rather than by country or organization-although many of the chapters in this part have subsections devoted to specific countries or organizations. In some cases, a subject chapter can turn out to be a description of the activities of only one particular U.S. technical agency. However, several of the chapters deal with the undertakings of a number of agencies, and some agencies are involved in multiple activities described in more than one chapter. This report is not intended to be an agency-by-agency examination, but rather an overview of the totality of the U.S. governmental role in international S&T activities-as part of overall U.S. foreign

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