Open email to Congress:
Andrea Whitner, of Chemical and Engineering News May 13, 2013, has a four-page article on the "The State of Science Diplomacy".
Basically, the pitch to increase scientific knowledge within the State Department is obviously not an area of controversy, when one considers that State Department officials have responsibility to negotiate with foreign countries concerning various scientific matters, such as rockets, nuclear weapons, raw material boundaries etc..
While this is an admirable program, it has an obvious deficiency. Increasing science capability within the State Department cannot only improve scientific negotiations with other countries, but it can also be used for nationbuilding, which should not be one of the objectives of the State Department. For example, it has been said that the State Department has already developed a number of programs to work with 140-150 countries on ways to raise their level of scientific capability and scientific expertise. This sounds more like nationbuilding than preparation for US State Department officials to be able to properly negotiate on scientific matters.
It is also said that a few countries, such as Egypt, India, Israel, and Mexico, have specific funds set up by Congress to promote cooperative science projects with the US. This again sounds like nationbuilding to me.
We have considerable experience with nationbuilding; for example the failed wars with Korea and Vietnam, and more recently the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, with subsequent military intervention in Egypt's and Libya's revolutions. Those were military efforts at nationbuilding. The present proposal is an educational effort at nationbuilding. However, we have no right to determine how a foreign country develops its culture, and we have no justification in these times of US spending excesses to attempt doing so.
I call on Congress to fund any State Department requirements to improve scientific capability for purposes of improved US international negotiation, but to disallow any funding for use of science programs to build scientific capability either within a foreign government or with a foreign public.
In addition,
I further call on Congress to eliminate funding for any cooperative science projects, with any foreign country, such as said to presently exist with Egypt, India, Israel, and Mexico. Elimination of those cooperative science projects would likely cover the cost of developing any new scientific capability within State for international negotiation purposes.
Andrea Whitner, of Chemical and Engineering News May 13, 2013, has a four-page article on the "The State of Science Diplomacy".
Basically, the pitch to increase scientific knowledge within the State Department is obviously not an area of controversy, when one considers that State Department officials have responsibility to negotiate with foreign countries concerning various scientific matters, such as rockets, nuclear weapons, raw material boundaries etc..
While this is an admirable program, it has an obvious deficiency. Increasing science capability within the State Department cannot only improve scientific negotiations with other countries, but it can also be used for nationbuilding, which should not be one of the objectives of the State Department. For example, it has been said that the State Department has already developed a number of programs to work with 140-150 countries on ways to raise their level of scientific capability and scientific expertise. This sounds more like nationbuilding than preparation for US State Department officials to be able to properly negotiate on scientific matters.
It is also said that a few countries, such as Egypt, India, Israel, and Mexico, have specific funds set up by Congress to promote cooperative science projects with the US. This again sounds like nationbuilding to me.
We have considerable experience with nationbuilding; for example the failed wars with Korea and Vietnam, and more recently the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, with subsequent military intervention in Egypt's and Libya's revolutions. Those were military efforts at nationbuilding. The present proposal is an educational effort at nationbuilding. However, we have no right to determine how a foreign country develops its culture, and we have no justification in these times of US spending excesses to attempt doing so.
I call on Congress to fund any State Department requirements to improve scientific capability for purposes of improved US international negotiation, but to disallow any funding for use of science programs to build scientific capability either within a foreign government or with a foreign public.
In addition,
I further call on Congress to eliminate funding for any cooperative science projects, with any foreign country, such as said to presently exist with Egypt, India, Israel, and Mexico. Elimination of those cooperative science projects would likely cover the cost of developing any new scientific capability within State for international negotiation purposes.
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