DATE=3/16/99
TYPE=NEWS FEATURE
NUMBER=5-42868
TITLE=SCIENTISTS AND PEACE
BYLINE=JULIE SHAW
DATELINE=NEW YORK
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: A BOOK JUST PUBLISHED IN NEW YORK EXAMINES THE POSSIBILITY
THAT SCIENTISTS CAN HELP TO PROMOTE PEACE BETWEEN NATIONS. VOICE
OF AMERICA'S JULIE SHAW REPORTS.
TEXT: SCIENTISTS ARE NOT THE ANSWER TO WORLD PEACE, BUT THEY CAN
CONTRIBUTE TO INCREASED COOPERATION BETWEEN HOSTILE NATIONS. THAT
IS ONE CONCLUSION OF A NEW BOOK PUBLISHED BY THE NEW YORK ACADEMY
OF SCIENCES. ITS DIRECTOR OF POLICY PROGRAMS IS ALLISON DE
CERRENO (DEE SEH-RAINYO).
/// DE CERRENO ACT ///
SCIENTISTS ARE HIGHLY REGARDED NOT JUST BY THE
POPULATIONS OF DIFFERENT COUNTRIES, BUT BY THE
GOVERNMENT POLICY MAKERS THEMSELVES. THEY BRING
EXPERTISE IN TERMS OF KNOWLEDGE TO THE TABLE THAT OTHERS
MIGHT NOT HAVE. AND BECAUSE THEY HAVE THAT EXPERTISE,
THEY ARE SOMETIMES MORE LIKELY TO BE LISTENED TO.
/// END ACT ///
THE NEW BOOK -- CALLED "SCIENTIFIC COOPERATION, STATE CONFLICT"
-- IS BASED ON A CONFERENCE HELD AT THE PRIVATELY-SUPPORTED
ACADEMY. THE MOST IMPORTANT ROLE FOR SCIENTISTS, MS. DE CERRENO
SAYS, IS MAINTAINING THE LINES OF COMMUNICATION BETWEEN COUNTRIES
THAT DO NOT HAVE AN ESTABLISHED PATTERN OF GOVERNMENT RELATIONS.
FOR INSTANCE, SHE SAYS, SCIENTISTS PAVED THE WAY FOR A POLITICAL
OPENING BETWEEN ISRAEL AND ITS NEIGHBORING ARAB COUNTRIES. MS. DE
CERRENO CO-EDITED THE BOOK WITH ALEXANDER KEYNAN (KEE-NAHN) OF
THE ISRAEL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
/// DE CERRENO ACT ///
ALEX KEYNAN AND SEVERAL OTHER PEOPLE DOCUMENTED VERY
WELL THE FACT THAT THERE WERE COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN
SCIENTISTS LONG BEFORE THERE WAS ACTUALLY AN OFFICIAL
OPENING OF WHAT WAS GOING ON. AS TO WHETHER OR NOT THAT
HAS ACTUALLY INCREASED PEACE IS A LITTLE HARD TO SAY,
BUT IT CERTAINLY HASN'T HURT AND HAS CERTAINLY LAID THE
FOUNDATIONS FOR SOME OF THE POLITICAL OPENING THAT HAS
HAPPENED.
/// END ACT ///
THAT WAS ALSO THE CASE IN THE NORMALIZATION OF RELATIONS BETWEEN
THE UNITED STATES AND CHINA IN 1979. PRIOR TO THAT, THE SIGNING
OF THE SHANGHAI COMMUNIQUE BY PRESIDENT NIXON IN 1972 LAID THE
FOUNDATION FOR BILATERAL EXCHANGES IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND
OTHER AREAS.
/// DE CERRENO ACT ///
ONE OF THE EARLIEST REASONS FOR OPENING (RELATIONS WITH
CHINA) WAS PRECISELY BECAUSE OF SCIENTIFIC TRANSFERS AND
WANTING TO EXCHANGE OUR SCIENTISTS AND STUDENTS IN
SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING. OF ALL THE ARTICLES THAT WE
HAVE THOSE ARE PROBABLY THE STRONGEST CASES FOR
SCIENTISTS ACTUALLY HAVING AN IMPACT IN A SENSE EVEN
BEFORE OPENING OCCURS AND HELPING TO MAKE THAT OPENING
HAPPEN AND PROVIDING THE MECHANISM FOR SOME SORT OF
POLITICAL OPENING.
/// END ACT ///
WHILE THE BOOK PUBLISHED BY THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES DOES
NOT PROVIDE A DEFINITIVE ANSWER TO WHETHER SCIENTISTS DO OR DO
NOT HELP TO PROMOTE PEACE, IT IS ONE OF THE FIRST STUDIES TO
RAISE THE POSSIBLE LINKAGE. MOST SCIENTISTS HAVE NOT SEEN
THEMSELVES IN THAT ROLE, SAYS MS. DE CERRENO, BUT LATELY, SHE
ADDS, THAT ATTITUDE HAS CHANGED.
/// DE CERRENO ACT ///
(IT) USED TO BE, PEOPLE WOULD THINK THAT THE SCIENTISTS
WERE IN THEIR OWN LITTLE BUBBLE, DOING THEIR WORK,
(SAYING): "SCIENCE IS NOT GOOD NOR BAD, IT DEPENDS ON
HOW IT'S USED AND IT'S UP TO OTHERS TO USE IT." I DON'T
THINK THAT'S ANYMORE THE CASE. AND I DON'T THINK IT CAN
BE THE CASE. AND I THINK THIS BOOK VERY MUCH, AND
CERTAINLY UNDER ALEXANDER KEYNAN, THE WHOLE PROJECT VERY
MUCH POINTS THAT OUT: THAT SCIENTISTS ARE NOT IN THEIR
OWN LITTLE BUBBLE, THAT THEY ARE VERY MUCH INVOLVED IN
POLITICS.
/// END ACT ///
DO SCIENTISTS HAVE A ROLE TO PLAY IN EASING CURRENT CONFLICTS?
LOOKING INTO AREAS OF POSSIBLE SCIENTIFIC COOPERATION BETWEEN
PAKISTAN AND INDIA -- THE TWO NEIGHBORS THAT DECLARED THEMSELVES
NUCLEAR STATES LAST YEAR -- MS. DE CERRENO SAYS SCIENTISTS HAVE A
ROLE TO PLAY.
/// DE CERRENO ACT ///
TO SET UP AN EFFECTIVE NUCLEAR DETERRENCE, SCIENTISTS
CAN BE MOST HELPFUL IN DEFINING WHAT NEEDS TO BE
WATCHED, IN HELPING TO LAY OUT AND TO PROVIDE NOT JUST
THE KNOW-HOW BUT THE MECHANICAL TOOLS FOR MONITORING
EACH OTHER AND THAT WILL HELP VERY MUCH IN PREVENTING AN
ACTUAL EXCHANGE.
/// END ACT ///
MS. DE CERRENO SEES LITTLE ROOM FOR SCIENTIFIC COOPERATION IN
SITUATIONS WHERE GOVERNMENT RELATIONS ARE EXTREMELY HOSTILE SUCH
AS THOSE BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND IRAQ. BUT THE BOOK FROM
THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES -- "SCIENTIFIC COOPERATION,
STATE CONFLICT" -- POINTS OUT THAT SCIENTISTS ARE INCREASINGLY
BECOMING INVOLVED IN INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS. BY ESTABLISHING
CONTACTS WITH SCIENTISTS IN OTHER COUNTRIES, THE BOOK OBSERVES,
THEY CAN BE INSTRUMENTAL IN BUILDING A RELATIONSHIP THAT
HOPEFULLY, WILL EXTEND TO THE GOVERNMENT LEVEL. (SIGNED)
NEB/NY/JS/LSF
16-Mar-99 11:22 AM EST (1622 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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