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)
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Source: Voice of America
.