The NATO Archives put the spotlight on Science and the Alliance
The NATO Archives Committee meeting held in December 2014 opened with an exhibition and a seminar on scientific cooperation. This little-known but fundamental aspect of NATO's mission was developed during the first years of its existence in parallel with the military and political dimensions. NATO's involvement in scientific affairs marked the beginning of a long and fruitful cooperation between NATO nations, researchers and the Alliance's civil and military divisions. This cooperation is still going on today and the exhibition "Science and the Alliance: NATO's third dimension" presented the many facets of this cooperation.
In his capacity as Chairman of the Archives Committee, Mr Wayne Bush (Assistant Secretary General for Executive Management) invited two representatives of the Science and Technology Organization to speak. Ambassador Sorin Ducaru (Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges - ESC) highlighted two fundamental issues for NATO: adaptability and partnership. Adaptability because science facilitated the transition to a post-Cold War environment. Partnership because science has made NATO stronger by bringing together countries who are now allies in order to meet new security challenges together. Major General Albert Husniaux (NATO Chief Scientist) was born in 1957, the year when the Science Committee was officially established by the NATO Heads of State and Government. He stressed that research and technological advances contribute greatly to NATO's success, as Allied forces are better equipped and better informed.
In the role of moderator, Major General Husniaux led the seminar held in the Brosio Room at NATO HQ. The idea was to invite the participants (scientists, NATO staff and high representatives) to engage in a kind of theory-and-practice dialogue: a question-and-answer session between NATO and those who study it.
First of all, two science historians described how the Cold War and NATO had influenced scientific research, making reference to two recent articles. Dr Simone Turchetti (University of Manchester) retraced the history of the NATO Science Programme, covering the critical role of American scientists, the problems encountered by the Committee in 1966, and the environmental awareness of the 1970s.
Dr Roberto Cantoni (Paris Est University - Marne la Vallée) described the embargo on pipeline construction products for the USSR between 1960 and 1962. The aim was to avoid excessive dependence on Russian oil and a possible economic war. It was both illuminating and worrisome to recognize that this contemporary question was already being discussed within the Alliance over 50 years ago.
Next, Mrs Deniz Beten (Head, IS/ESC – Science for Peace and Security) and Mr Nico Pos (OCS – Coordination and Outreach Section) shared their experience in the field with the audience and researchers.
The Chairman ended the session by emphasizing a remarkable point: every day, we can see how topical these questions remain 50 years on.
In conclusion, Dr Turchetti expressed the hope that unofficial documents (such as those sent or received by the Assistant Secretary General on scientific affairs) would be made public. This would give researchers a better understanding of the political will and the crisis factors in the NATO-science partnership. This call did not go unheeded: the NATO Archives are proposing the declassification and public disclosure of the subject files related to the Scientific Affairs.