Science, Technology and Superpowers

Cooperation in Science and Technology: An Evaluation of the U.S.-Soviet Agreement. Catherine P. AiIes and Arthur E. Pardee Jr. Westview Press, Boulder, CO, 1986. 368 pp. $28.50. After-the-fact appraisal of the 1972-82 intergovernmental agreement on scientific and technical exchanges between the superpowers turns out to present the old question of whether the glass was half full or half empty relative to what was hoped for. SRI International analyst Catherine Ailes and consultant Arthur Pardee Jr

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Within the umbrella agreement signed by the two powers in 1972, 11 working group programs were launched by the Americans and the Soviets as joint efforts. Steering responsibilities were shared between the White House Office of Science and Technology and the U.S.S.R. State Committee on Science and Technology, through a Joint Commission. So far, so good. But auspicious beginnings announced at summit meetings and keyed to political objectives with science employed as an instrument of convenience are at the mercy of the foul-up factor, in this case the unsteady equilibrium of overall political relations.

Of the 11 working parties, a few hit the ground running and accomplished respectable results. Several others slipped and slid through the muddy terrain with little to show by the time the curtain dropped, and a few late-starters were cut off at the pass when the basic agreement met sudden death in the wake of the ...

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