| Sumario: | By 1993, civil and military disorder along the perimeter of the former Soviet empire had worsened a burgeoning economic crisis and threatened the already insecure existence of scientific research centers across the former Soviet Union, says Irving A. Lerch, director of international affairs for the American physical society in College Park, Maryland. Despite mounting concerns, Western governments had done relatively little at the end of 1992 to assist scientific institutions in former Soviet states. The primary burden of relief fell on the Western scientific community. In 1992 and 1993, the American Physical Society organized a comprehensive program to aid physicists in the former Soviet Union. The program's scope included small grants and fellowships, bulk journal distribution, subsidized society memberships, aid for education, travel, and equipment, and, most notably, participation in the International Science Foundation program. Steps taken thus far have been largely designed as stop-gap measures pending the mobilization of international governmental efforts. The ultimate answer, Lerch suggests, may lie in actions not yet taken and in initiatives not yet implemented. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.
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