In the category of little-known government facts, a group of about 30 scientists are taking a year off from their research to lend their expertise to the State Department. These doctorate-level scientists spend that year in positions ranging from desk officers specializing in matters relating to a specific country to writers toiling in public diplomacy for America.gov.
On December 17, we had a chance to meet Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and 15 of us ascended to the Treaty Room (the room at the State Department headquarters used for signing treaties). It’s an ornate series of three open chambers bordered with gilded columns topped by the department crest and ringed by built-in shelves containing books about diplomacy and biographies of former State Department officials.
Also in attendance were Under Secretary for Democracy and Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky; Ambassador Reno L. Harnish III, principle deputy assistant secretary of state at the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs; Nina Fedoroff, science and technology adviser to the secretary; and Andrew W. Reynolds, deputy science and technology adviser to the secretary.
We stood in front of a portrait of Thomas Jefferson, the first U.S. secretary of state, as Rice emerged, looking and sounding just as she does on television.
In her five-minute remarks, given without notes or a podium, she discussed three ways in which science is important for diplomacy:
• Science is a powerful tool that can be used to benefit society or to damage it. It is important that the world redirect scientists who work to develop weapons of mass destruction.
• Science knows no linguistic, cultural or geographic boundaries. The values of scientific inquiry are consistent with those of a free and open society. (A view in sync with that of President-elect Obama, who said in his December 20 weekly radio address that “promoting science isn’t just about providing resources, it’s about protecting free and open inquiry.”)
• Many people from countries at odds with U.S. foreign policy nonetheless want to interact with American scientists. During the Cold War, some of the first contacts between the United States and Russia occurred among scientists.
After shaking each of our hands and thanking us for our service, Secretary Rice departed, leaving us inspired that, although we toil anonymously at dreary desks, scientists play an important role in diplomacy.
It’s nice to be thanked.
Why would a promising young scientist leave the lab to spend a year working for the United States government? Daniel Gorelick is here at the State Department trying to figure that out.