Eugene B. Skolnikoff

The Policy Gridlock on Global Warming

Climate change has become a staple of national and international politics. It is by far the most dramatic environmental issue yet to receive worldwide attention, as human activities pose unprecedented threats to the planets environment. The threat has spawned widespread proposals for treaties, international institutions, and major new policies, many of draconian dimensions. Even British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who so assiduously defends her countrys sovereignty in the European Community, has called for binding international protocols to control greenhouse gas emissions, with supervision and monitoring by international organizations. Analysis of the threat has also led to assertions that the climate will not change in the dimensions claimed, or that the proposed cures would be more costly in lives and prosperity than the climate change itself.

The political role of scientific cooperation

Abstract This article argues that the role of science and scientists in influencing foreign policy issues has diminished since the end of the Cold War. Scientists hold one among many legitimate claims of a role in the policy process. I survey the role of scientists in easing East/West tensions in three cases—the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, the Pugwash Conferences, and the International Institute of Science and Technology—as a way of exploring changes in the environment in which international scientific cooperation influences public policy.

Science Advice in the White House? Continuation of a Debate

Thus, we are skeptical of the commonly stated arguments for re-creation of a science office at the White House, but are ultimately convinced that such an office is justified. A three-man CST is a reasonable proposal, although the detailed structure is less critical than the mandate given to the office, and the general understanding within government of its functions and limitations and of its relationship to the President. To give it permanence, the office should be grounded in a science policy management and oversight function that is critically needed today. That kind of strong office could lead a president to use it as his personal science advisory staff, but the decision must be made anew by each president. The President does have other ways of obtaining scientific advice, although the right kind of science office would be a preferable route in our view. The importance of such an office being able to present its analyses and recommendations in policy terms useful to other policy-makers cannot be overestimated. This has important implications for the kind of competence required to staff and work with such a council; it also requires recognition of the fact that policy-relevant studies and advice can never be value-free, even when carried out by scientists and engineers. And finally, such a council could bring intensive and continuous attention to the international dimension of U.S. science policy, which seems to us to be particularly neglected. It is not yet clear whether there will be any structural changes in the new Administration. But it is not too soon to be clearer about the essential factors that should underlie a sensible proposal for this or the next Administration.

Between Two Worlds

Lynton Keith Caldwell can fairly be considered the dean of American political scientists concerned with environmental issues. He has published many books on various aspects of environmental politics and policy and has had an influential role in the development of environmental legislation in the United States. This most recent book is different from his others, however, for it presents a philosophical and personal summary of the extent of the environmental crisis he perceives to be facing the world, and what he believes is required to avoid the plight he sees as near at hand. Lynton Keith Caldwel can fairly be considered the dean of American political scientists concerned with environmental issues. He has published many books on various aspects of environmental politics and policy and has had an influential role in the development of environmental legislation in the United States. This most recent book is different from his others, however, for it presents a philosophical and personal summary of the extent of the environmental crisis he perceives to be facing the world, and what he believes is required to avoid the plight he sees as near at hand. Writing in the style of an extended essay or memoir, Caldwell takes the reader gradually through his deeply troubled analysis of how we came to the present situation. In his view, “modern society has reached a point in time and circumstance when its customary behaviors can no longer be continued. New ways of relating to the Earth have become necessary, and so the world is passing through a historical discontinuity.” He proceeds in a deceptively calm manner, avoiding inflammatory language, to present a radical view of what he believes is necessary to bring about a different world that “must be created if civilization, and perhaps humanity, are to survive.”

International Institutions and the Environmental Crisis: A Look Ahead

In the industrialized northern hemisphere we are assaulted daily with evidence of the deteriorating quality of the human environment: Rivers are closed to fishing because of dangerous levels of contamination; the safety of important foods is challenged; the foul air that major urban areas have been forced to endure is now spreading like an inkblot into surrounding areas. Lack of early concern about the implications for the environment of the widespread application of modern technology has allowed the problem to grow rapidly into a critical domestic and international issue.

Responding to asymmetric threat: The dual-use strategy †

Asymmetric threat targets the weak points of a powerful state. Rather than building additional military capability, a state facing asymmetric threat can invest in dual-use research and development of technology and infrastructure that reduce losses from human error and natural disaster as well as losses from terrorism.

The Elusive Transformation: Science, Technology, and the Evolution of International Politics.

Eugene Skolnikoff treats the roles of science and technology across the entire range of relations among nations, including security and economic issues, environmental questions, international economic competitiveness, the spread of weapons technology, the demise of communism, the new content of dependency relations, and the demanding new problems of national and international governance. He shows how the structure and operation of the scientific and technological enterprises have interacted with international affairs to lead to the dramatic evolution of world politics experienced in this century, particularly after World War II.

Policy Note: An “ACDA” for UN Policy

Notwithstanding the present low estate of multilateral machinery, it is inevitable that during the next decade governments will have to turn increasingly to international organizations to carry out a variety of tasks well beyond those now performed. In political, economic and technological areas, the need for international political mechanisms of some kind to regulate, control, allocate, adjudicate, operate, inspect, enforce, or monitor will be irresistible.* Whether the major responsibility falls on, or can be carried out by, the UN is not at all clear today. The competence of the UN and its associated organs for assuming new, sensitive tasks is not encouraging. Moreover, the political interest and support for the UN, in developed countries at least, is not calculated to improve the UNs performance. The situation in the United States is no exception, with low political visibility for most UN actions and little real commitment within the executive branch or the legislature to the UN. But in time, and not much time, the UN, or new institutions yet to be created, will have to be able to perform adequately in many functions of great political, economic and social importance. The United States posture towards the UN family, once filled with hope and national commitment, has sunk to a low political ebb. Except for a small number of high politics issues, usually those at the Security Council, most UN matters receive little attention from the public or the higher echelons of government. Future planning is essentially unknown. The Department of State is formally in charge of policy, but on most issues it knows relatively little of the substance. As a conse-

Amchitka and International Regulation

Scietice serves its readers as a forum for the presentation and discussion of important issues related to the advancement of science, including the presentation of minority or conflicting points of view. rather than by publishing only material on which a consensus has been reached. Accordingly, all articles published in Science-including editorials, news and comment, and book reviews -are signed and reflect the individual views of the authors and not official points of view adopted by the AAAS or the institutions with which the atuthors are affiliated.

Science, Technology, and American Foreign Policy

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