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William Berry, former director of basic research at the Pentagon, believes that there should be a scientific cooperation between the U.S. and China, despite their military rivalry. This collaboration would also help the U.S. military learn more about China’s scientific capabilities. The first step, says Berry, is for the program managers and scientists to travel to Chinese universities, establish a liaison office in China, and sponsor visits by Chinese academics to U.S. institutions.

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South Korea’s president, Lee Myung-bak said he wants research spending to rise from 3.2% to 5% of the country’s gross domestic product by 2012. Currently, they spend about a quarter of the $30 billion on research.  Officials in the Lee administration hope to make basic research half of the government’s total portfolio.

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After reading this essay, it is feasible to say that the only hope for resurrecting American S&T leadership lies in a high-tech Cold War. This approach has worked before when S&T prospered in the USSR and US for 40 years. Visualizing this scenario quickly brings one to the realization, as Augustine points out, that the economic and manufacturing base to support a Cold War defensive position is being rapidly hollowed out vis-a-vis the Chinese. If present trends continue, the US may find itself in 2020, like the USSR in 1990, unable to pay for, or make, all the innovative weapon systems necessary to defend itself–even if it can somehow find the Americans able to make those innovations.
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The 2009 U.S. budget resolutions have been recently passed and there are evident increases for U.S. research agencies. Senate proposed that $3 billion, 10.3%, will be added to President Bush’s request for a flat budget at the National Institutes of Health. Unlike the Senate, the House’s version did not increase the NIH budget. However, both versions endorsed the president’s request for dramatic increases at the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy’s Office of Science. But until President Bush is relieved of office, the White House has maintained that he will veto any bill that exceeds his requests.

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A paper titled “Relations between national research investment and publication output” shows a statistical analysis of input and output relationships at the national level for the research enterprise.

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Since 2001, funding for federal research and development has rose and broken records each year. However, since 2004, although there has been increases, it is deceiving. When the numbers are looked at based on the constant 2007 dollar, federal spending on research has declined. Despite the growth of the budget, it has not been able to keep up with inflation.

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John Young, the head of research and engineering at the Defense Department, has recently convince the White House to boost funding. After activists complained that the military shouldn’t be left out of the three year old ACI, a 17% boost, $1.7 billion, was made for basic science.

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The CSP and AAAS have recently published a report title Advancing Innovation: Improving the S&T Advisory Structure and Policy Process. This report includes discussions by the CSP and AAAS that took place at a conference on science policy, the evolution of the White House Office of Science and Technology, as well as other congressional aspects of S&T.

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A new Web site has been launched by the AAAS which highlights the major issues in science and technology as they pertain to the 2008 Presidential race. Five different issues are examined: competitiveness and innovation, education and the workforce, health care, energy and the environment, and homeland security.
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The new Science and Engineering Indicators 2008 has been available via the web and by CD.

It is published by the National Science Board and gives an overview of scientific and engineering enterprises in the U.S. and other international countries.

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