The Pervasive Role of Science, Technology, and Health in Foreign Policy Imperatives for the Department of State (1999) / Chapter Skim
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5 Interagency Interests and Opportunities
5 Interagency Interests and Opportunities
Pages 62-73
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From page 62... ...
interagency reviews and coordination may unnecessarily delay or complicate the implementation of international programs of the departments and agencies. According to one analysis, more than 60 departments and agencies support international STH activities carried out through more than 200 programs, with many programs consisting of large numbers of projects; the annual expenditures for these programs exceed $1 billions Against this broad panorama of activities, the committee reviewed the interests and selected activities of eight departments and agencies; they are responsible for about 90 percent of the federal civilian R&D budget and Interagency Working Group on U.S.
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From page 63... ...
International organizations are finding greater political support for a variety of global programs involving STH issues that are central to the missions of the departments and agencies. American industry and American scientific organizations are increasingly looking for support from the departments and agencies as they strengthen their international activities.
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From page 64... ...
On occasion, the Department stimulates STH programs of other departments and agencies in order to serve foreign policy objectives. Whatever the origin of an international activity, the Department seeks to ensure that it is consistent with foreign policy objectives while the originator of the proposal seeks a foreign policy that will facilitate, or at least accommodate, the activity.
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From page 65... ...
Thus, the Department, acting through the embassies, sent about 1,000 diplomatic notes requesting clearance, received 1,000 answers, and took steps to ensure that trip reports were filed with each of the governments granting access. In some countries local scientists joined the cruises, and additional diplomatic interactions were necessary.3 · Support of activities of international organizations and multilateral negotiations: With more than two dozen major international organizations having significant interests in STH developments, the Department requires (1)
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From page 66... ...
: STH capabilities of the departments and agencies support such responses in many ways in addition to military responses, including the deployment of high-technology communications equipment, provision of medical and food support, advice on approaches for stopping degradation of agricultural lands and water supplies, and predictions of impending droughts and floods. · Removal of impediments encountered in implementinglong-duration international programs: Even though programs may have been operating overseas successfully for many years, there are often administrative or policy issues that arise and can be resolved only through intervention by the Department with the counterpart foreign ministry.
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From page 67... ...
As discussed in Chapter 2, additional resources are clearly warranted in some areas, but realistically the Department will have many demands on new resources that become available, and support of interagency activities may not be its highest priority. Thus, it is important to face directly the reality that the Department simply does not, and probably will not, have sufficient personnel or the technical wherewithal to adequately discharge all of its current STHrelated responsibilities, let alone assume additional responsibilities as new opportunities for integrating STH capabilities with foreign policy objectives arise.
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From page 68... ...
Indeed, the deliberate transfer of responsibilities with continuing coordination should be more effective in ensuring an integration of STH activities and foreign policy than a situation whereby other departments and agencies undertake international activities on their own and simply avoid the Department due to the overload in its administrative and foreign policy channels. By dispersing selected responsibilities to departments and agencies capable of adequately handling them, the Department should be able to move toward a better balance of responsibilities and available resources.
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From page 69... ...
Clearer guidelines are needed as to when a proposed activity reaches the threshold of a formal agreement and therefore needs Circular 175 clearance and when and how a dormant agreement should be canceled, keeping in mind the interests of other governments that may have budgetary or other reasons for requiring and maintaining formal agreements. To ease the process of canceling meaningless agreements, the "sunset" provisions now included in some agreements might become a regular component of agreements unless there are compelling reasons against .
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From page 70... ...
To ensure that the Department can monitor developments when blanket travel authorizations are granted, other departments and agencies should be required to inform the Department and the relevant embassies of impending international travel with sufficient lead time so the Department and embassies can disapprove the travel if there are overriding foreign policy considerations or administrative problems that dictate against it. 4This estimate was provided in July 1999 by Department officials responsible for handling a significant portion of the clearances.
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From page 71... ...
foreign policy. During the past several years, senior OSTP officials have had difficulty engaging senior Department officials in discussions concerning interagency coordination of STH activities.
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From page 72... ...
The Department's leadership should have a continuing dialogue with senior officials of the other departments and agencies on the mutual benefits from such involvement of technical personnel in its activities and should establish more effective mechanisms that will help ensure continued interagency support for addressing both ad hoc and recurring issues. Budget Support Although each technical agency must justify its own request for personnel and budget resources to support international activities, a united front before OMB and Congress can often be helpful in demonstrating synergism among programs and fending off criticisms of lack of coordination.
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From page 73... ...
This interchange of personnel, together with the organizational adjustments recommended above, is ever more important as the foreign policy issues with STH content become more complex, deadlines become shorter, and stakes for the United States and the world become higher.
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