11. Memorandum From the Presidentʼs Science Adviser (DuBridge) to President Nixon1
SUBJECT
- Scientific Cooperation with Eastern Europe
At your suggestion I have looked into the chances for new cooperative scientific initiatives toward Eastern Europe—specifically Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland.
Initially, I considered the possibility of leading a science delegation to these countries this spring as I did to Romania, Yugoslavia and other countries last fall.2 I would recommend, however, that any visit involving the prestige of the Presidential office be postponed until we have “tested the water” with specific proposals or until concrete policy decisions or statements can be made on our side to set the stage for better cooperation. Otherwise, there is a danger that the Eastern Europeans may be unwilling or unable to upgrade their cooperation or that we will engender hopes with the visit which cannot be realized. Our cooperative scientific relations with these countries over the past several years have not gone smoothly and the unlikelihood of a sudden [Page 19] change for the better leads me to the conclusion that a gradual, persistent approach is best.
In general these Eastern European nations want help in industrial technology more than in science. This is an area of concern to U.S. commercial firms, who for the most part have not yet found attractive business opportunities in Eastern Europe. However, the collaboration in this area depends on decisions regarding trade and export control policy rather than on scientific considerations. Both Czechoslovakia and Hungary (like Romania) would like to have Most Favored Nation status (MFN) in order to increase their sales to this country and to earn the hard currency for making purchases of American equipment and processes. They also seek Export-Import Bank financing for purchases from the United States. Poland, of course, has MFN but seeks better financing opportunities. Both of these concessions would require legislative action and the time may not be right for that. However, the importance of these factors to the Eastern European countries must be borne in mind as one considers projects for better scientific and, particularly, technical cooperation.
Even independent of MFN and Ex-Im financing all three countries seek to purchase modern technology from the U.S. Presently, one of the hottest areas is petroleum cracking technology. During the recent preparation of recommendations to you on interpretation of the Export Administration Act, sharp differences of opinion among the agencies on refining technology were apparent. Without attempting to referee among those views, I can assert on the basis of our Romanian trip that the selective approval of certain export licenses can be a useful tactic in demonstrating a genuine U.S. desire to cooperate. Conversely, generous statements about scientific cooperation, in the face of denial of technologies deemed by these countries to be important and essential to their civilian economies, are not convincing evidence of our sincerity to Eastern European officials faced with sagging economies and lagging industries.
With regard to the areas of basic and applied sciences, a number of specific proposals are now under consideration by U.S. agencies, which could lead to more science cooperation with Eastern Europe. For instance, the State Department is assembling details of a generally expanded program of scientific exchanges for submission to Henry Kissinger. In Czechoslovakia there is some good work on water pollution control in which Interior may decide to participate. With Hungary, after four years of waiting, we are about to sign a scientific exchange agreement between the American and Hungarian Academies of Sciences. There are of course always funding problems.
Several agencies are preparing proposals for additional projects with Poland to be funded by U.S.-held excess currency under PL–480. [Page 20] The Smithsonian is also exploring the possibility of locating a large surplus computer in Poland, in connection with the 500th anniversary of Copernicusʼ birth, as a basis for cooperative work in astronomy and other fields requiring computational capacity.
As these efforts continue on the U.S. side, I would propose to show the U.S. interest in closer cooperation by arranging through my office for visits to Eastern Europe of distinguished American scientists to test the receptivity for closer ties. If the visitors are well-received and if U.S. preparations for the programs mentioned above are successful, then it would seem appropriate for you to announce your desire to send your Science Adviser to these countries to explore in more detail the opportunities for scientific and technical cooperation. Such a visit would take place in the fall of 1970 at the earliest or the spring of 1971.
If you agree with this general strategy I will move promptly to accelerate the U.S. preparations and to arrange for the initial visits of American scientists. I would plan to report our progress to you within three months and to presen a recommendation for further action.
- Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 667, Country Files—Europe, Eastern Europe. No classification marking.↩
- DuBridge visited Bucharest September 24–27 and Belgrade September 27–October 1, during a September 18–October 7 trip to Europe. For text of a statement outlining the trip and its objectives, see Department of State Bulletin, October 20, 1969, pp. 338–339.↩