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The Global Agenda for American Engineering Proceedings of a Symposium (1996) / Chapter Skim
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Engineering, Technology, and National Defense
Pages 5-12

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From page 5...
... I'm sure he'd like to hear from you. Today, I'd like to focus on several trends affecting global technology and national defense.
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From page 6...
... Compare that with engineering projects today, in which you have teams of engineers working on computers all around the world interacting every few moments without ever coming in direct contact. Qualitatively, just in my lifetime, we have seen the advent of nuclear weapons, sent a dozen Americans to the surface of the moon, created television, launched weather satellites, created jet travel, designed and built electronic computers, cellular telephones and precision navigation systems, invented polio vaccines, and perfected heart surgery.
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From page 7...
... You may have noticed I certainly did that right after the war in the Persian Gulf, the Indian defense minister said, "The principal lesson to be learned from the war in the Persian Gulf is never fight America without nuclear weapons." I am sure there were others who noted that view, and some perhaps agreed with it. The principal tasks we have in terms of this first national security objective is to: try to preclude additional parties from obtaining nuclear weapons; destroy many of the existing weapons and do so peacefully; and deter the use of the weapons that remain.
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From page 8...
... That insurance policy will require the maintenance of a robust, multifaceted defense capability. In that regard, our nation's considerable technological and engineering expertise is of vital importance, especially in the sense of preserving basic research capabilities, maintaining viable design and prototyping teams, and continuing to seek technological breakthroughs.
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From page 9...
... technological superiority through their own efforts. Both of these developments have profound implications for national security.
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From page 10...
... That is one unpleasant option. But if we do that, what are the ensuing implications for maintaining national security capabilities?
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From page 11...
... Our task a difficult one, to be sure-is to respond to this challenging set of circumstances in a way that ensures both our national security and the health of the U.S. engineering enterpnse.
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Key Terms

  • persian gulf
  • security objectives
  • slide rule
  • unit cost
  • defense budget

  • tactical aircraft
  • integrated circuits
  • insurance policy
  • defense science
  • military force

  • moving outside
  • multifaceted defense
  • defense information
  • aircraft increases
  • military hardware

  • median age
  • standing army
  • course descriptions
  • commercial sphere
  • create superior

  • unit price
  • defense budgets
  • major threat
  • prototyping teams
  • engineering library

  • cellular telephones
  • militaristic russia
  • spiraling costs
  • indian defense
  • qualified engineers


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