The NATO Science Programme, under the direction of the Science Com mittee, mounted in September 1986 a successful meeting which examined the structure and outputs of civil science in the Soviet Union. As a topical sectoral examination of the evolutionary state of the Soviet Union under those in separable and elusive twins, 'perestroyka' and 'glasnost', it was successful in providing the basis for assessments of the likely future role of Soviet scientists in the world scene. Such meetings are infrequent events in the Programme calendar; the Science Programme has concentrated for thirty years...

This volume represents one outcome of the initiatives, taken from time to time by the NATO Science Committee, to add to the work of supporting civil science within the Alliance by mounting open meetings or other projects dealing with some topical aspect of science and technology policy. Past examples have included the 20th anniversary meeting of the establish ment of the Science Committee in 1978 which made a review of the achieve ments of the various programmes. It proved to be a valuable opportunity to take stock of the impact of science and technology on Western societies and was a...