American Academy of Political and Social Science

The United States Point Four Program-A Bilateral Approach

Author(s): Rollin S. Atwood
Reviewed work(s):
Source: Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 323, Partnership
for Progress: International Technical Co-Operation (May, 1959), pp. 33-39
Published by: Sage Publications, Inc. in association with the American Academy of Political and Social
Science
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The United States Point Four ProgramA BilateralApproach

By ROLLIN S. ATWOOD

ABSTRACT:Bilateral technical co-operation programs are

being carried out by the International Cooperation Administration and the governmentsof approximatelysixty-five underdeveloped countries of the world. These are countries which
have requested assistance from the United States Government
in those activities which are felt to be fundamental to their
economic and social development. Programsin these countries
are jointly planned, staffed, and financed. The International
Cooperation Administration operates through the medium of
a United States Overseas Mission, the Director of which reports to the United States Ambassador in the particular
country. Programs are designed to demonstrate techniques
and train local technicians and administrators. As soon as
these objectives have been accomplished, negotiations are initiated to have the projects absorbed as normal functions of
the country in question or to be terminated.

Rollin S. Atwood, Ph.D., Washington, D. C., is Regional Director for Latin America
of the International Cooperation Administration. He has served with the Department of
State since 1942. From 1928 to 1942 he was a member of the faculty of the University
of Florida. He was elected Honorary Fellow of the Swedish Anthropology and Geography
Society in 1937 and was the recipient of the Cervantes Metal of the Instituto de las
Espanas in 1942. Dr. Atwood is the author of The Localization of the Cotton Industry
in Lancashire, England (1930) and co-author of Workbooks in Geography.

34

THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY

BILATERAL technical co-operation

is a concept with roots deep in history. It has been recognized as an integral part of relations between the
nations of this hemisphere from the day
of their independence. In fact, cooperation played an extremely important
role in the achievement, and has characterized the successful maintenance of
that precious independence whenever,
however, and wherever it has been
threatened. For more than fifty years
religious organizations of the United
States have been sending missionaries to
Latin America. The efforts of these
people have been largely in the fields of
education, health, agriculture,and social
and religious services. Many other organizations such as industrial firms,
foundations, universities, and the United
States Department of Agriculture have
conducted projects of technical assistance.
During the period 1939-50, which was
the ten year period prior to the launching of the Point Four Program, the
United States Government conducted
two programs within Latin America.
The first of these was known as the
Interdepartmental Committee on Scientific and Cultural Cooperation. This
was the first organized and systematic
intergovernmentaltechnical co-operation
program in Latin America. More than
twenty-five government bureaus were
members of this Committee and the
Assistant Secretary of State for Public
Affairs was its Chairman. The Committee began operations in 1940 with a
budget of $370,500. This budget increased to about $4,000,000 per year
during its last three years, 1948-50.
The second program which came into
being during this 1939-50 period was
the Institute of Inter-American Affairs.
The Institute was organized as a government-ownedcorporation in 1942 and
is still in existence today as an integral
part of the administrative structure of

the International Cooperation Administration.

The present period in the history of
technical co-operation began with the
President Truman inaugural address of
January 1949 which culminated in the
Point Four Program a year and half
later when Congress passed the Act for
InternationalDevelopment. This was the
point at which the concept of technical
assistance was extended to underdeveloped countries throughout the world.
From the inception of Point Four until
the present time, the United States technical co-operation program has undergone a number of organizational
changes.1 In October of 1950 the Technical Cooperation Administration was
established within the Department of
State. In October of 1951 the Mutual
Security Act of 1951 was enacted.
Under this Act the Officeof the Director
of Mutual Security was established to
co-ordinatemilitary, economic, and technical assistance. In August of 1953 the
Foreign Operations Administration was
established. The functions of the Mutual Security Agency and the Technical
Cooperation Administration were transferred to the Foreign OperationsAdministration. In July of 1955 the International Cooperation Administration
was established within the Department
of State. The Foreign Operations Administration was abolished.
The technical co-operationprogramin
Latin America has gradually increased
over the years and has embraced new
fields of economic and social development. In the early years it was concentrated in the fields of agriculture,health,
and education. Today it is operating in
additional fields such as transportation,
marketing, industry, administrative and
management training, labor, housing,
community development, and economic
1See Philip M. Glick, The Administration
of Technical Assistance (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1957).

THE UNITED STATES POINT FOUR PROGRAM

planning. Over the years it has increased from a programthat represented

expenditures in the nature of 10 or 12
million dollars, with the United States
supplying 90 per cent of the funds, to
a program today which calls for the expenditure of slightly less than 90 million
dollars, with the United States supplying approximately one-third of this
amount. In 1942 the technical co-operation program in Latin America was
made up almost entirely of United
States technicians. Today it is a program with a total of 28,363 employees
of which approximately1,000 are United
States nationals.

35

strengths and weaknesses in the economic balance sheet of the country.

Emerging problems both long-term and
short-term are discussed frankly and
fully with responsible officials of the
host governments. As the plan and programs of the host government are developed to cope with their national problems, the character and scope of the
external assistance required to solve
these problemsare fully considered. The
part which will presumably be played
by private enterprise and the external
financing by private and public banks
or institutions are all carefully evaluated. Following this, a mutual decision
is reached as to the type of United
How A TYPICAL BILATERAL PROGRAM
States governmentco-operationrequired.
IS DEVELOPED
The national interests and policy objecThe first step is that of a country tives of both countries must be accomindicating that it desires United States modated before a joint program is
co-operation in helping to carry out a approved. Naturally this type of ecoprogram to solve its economic and social nomic and technical co-operation reproblems. The International Coopera- quires a maximum degree of flexibility
tion Administration staff in the country and the ability to make long-term comconcerned must first of all evaluate on mitments. On the basis of the discusa continuing basis all aspects of the sions, review and evaluation of the host
economic and social development of that country's project proposals and addicountry. Special attention is given to tional screening by International Cothe trends which can be recognized in operationAdministrationofficesin Washthe economic development and the ex- ington, a decision is made to implement
tent to which this development is bal- the projects. New projects are worked
anced or out of balance. This is done into the existing pattern of operations
day by day and week by week and in- to provide the maximumeconomic benevolves daily and weekly staff meetings fits based on mutually agreed upon
which include International Cooperation objectives.
Administration personnel, economic and
political officers of the Embassy, and Social revolution in less-developed
nations
specialized attaches such as Treasury,
Labor.
It
also
The underdeveloped countries of the
Agriculture, Minerals,
involves close working relations with world have been experiencing an exrepresentativesof international agencies, tremely rapid economic and social revosuch as the International Bank, the In- lution. There are, of course, sharp
ternational Monetary Fund, and spe- differencesin the scope and rate country
cialized agencies of the United Nations. by country. The overriding fact howIt also includes discussions with business ever is that economic development is
and labor leaders and officials of host taking place at a rate far beyond the
government departments and agencies. capacity of a majority of the people to
A running account is kept of the understand. As it touches the lives of

36

THE

ANNALS

OF THE

more and more people, as it is bound

to do, the reactions are personal and
perfectly human. People resent the
things they do not understand. Economic and industrial development must
be accompanied by an understanding of
the technical components, but of even
greater importance, there must be developed an intelligent understanding and
sympathetic appreciation of the human
consequences of economic development.
People must be able to adjust to the
changing environment. They must be
able to take part in the process that is
going on around them. They must realize that they can achieve their most
cherished objectives of a better life without losing freedom, independence, or
dignity of the individual. They must
come to appreciate through results, not
promises, that personal initiative combined with technical skills and hard
work will bring better homes, better
farms and industries, better education,
better health for them and for their
children. They must discover that they
can do it themselves if the determination
and the right tools are available.
For the people of a country to have
a feeling of achievement with regard to
economic and social development, the
country must have a balanced development program. If not, only one group,
one segment, or one region will benefit,
often at the expense of another.
The growing pains associated with
rapid industrialization have served to
intensify the zeal of most Latin American governments as well as of most governments in underdevelopedcountries in
other parts of the world. To expand
their own activities, to satisfy the extremely vocal popular demand, the cries
of the people have been for more housing, more schools, potable water supplies, and more roads. All too often,
however, local budgets have been augmented to build public monuments, to
keep up with the Joneses, in terms of

AMERICAN

ACADEMY

tanks and jet planes and to provide

liberal financing for facilities which
would better have been left to private
enterprise. Thus there has been, and
will continue to be for some years, a
serious shortage of local capital available on a long- and medium-term basis
to finance those aspects of the economic
and social developmentwhich have been
seriously neglected.
Technical co-operationwhich helps to
bring about balance in the economic
development of a country will be of increasing importance as the industrialization of underdevelopedcountries surges
forward. An increasing portion of the
transfer of strictly technical skills, especially in the fields of industry and mining is being supplied by private enterprise. Training in public administration,
management and the accompanying experience in labor management relations
is being considered in the bilateral program. We are also working directly
with private industry in this important
field and an increasing portion of this
aspect of technical co-operation is being
assumed by industry itself. Continued
training and demonstrationwill be necessary for some time in the fields of health
and sanitation, education, agriculture,
traisportation, and marketing. Those
concerned with technical co-operation
are giving more attention to improving
the training capabilities within each of
the host countries. We are also making
increased use of trained local personnel
throughout the entire program.
On the basis of experience, we should
consider as a supplement to technical
co-operation long-term loans to finance
development in the neglected economic
and social fields. The effective results
of the total program could be multiplied
many fold. It is probably safe to assume that over the next ten years private investment will continue to increase
and that more funds will be available
for the type of economic development

THE UNITED STATESPOINT FOUR PROGRAM

financed by the Export-Import Bank,

the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International
Finance Corporation, and the Development Loan Fund.
ORGANIZATION:

FIELD LEVEL

Basic differencesbetween countries as

far as desires and needs are concerned
give rise to somewhat different patterns
of organization and operation throughout the International Cooperation Administration programwhen looked at on
a world-wide basis. In general, however, International Cooperation Administration activities are operated through
the medium of what is known as a
United States Operations Mission
(USOM). The Mission Director in any
country operates under the over-all
supervision of the United States Ambassador in that country. Within the structure of the Mission, the amount of
money available, the number of personnel and the exact operating pattern are
determined primarily on the basis of
requirements as established in the program planning carried out in co-operation with the government officials of the
country in question. If one of the
problems being tackled in a particular
country is that of agricultural development, there will be an agricultural division in the USOM. This agricultural
division will be staffed with those United
States specialists and local technicians
deemed necessaryto deal effectively with
the problem. In some instances problems are dealt with which, by and large,
are consideredof short duration. Where
this is the case, instead of having a division set up and staffed to work on the
problem, the Mission may have simply
a number of specialists in pertinent
fields who are brought into the country
to work on particular problems. In
general, these specialists would work
within the frameworkof the Mission but
in very close collaboration with the per-

37

sonnel of the host government agencies

involved in the particularproblem.
The Servicio
The Institute of Inter-American Affairs worked out a unique system of
co-ordination with government officials
of a host country. This device was
known as the "Servicio." It is probably
the most interestingmechanismfor international technical co-operation that has
as yet been devised. The "Servicio"is a
government entity, specifically established by the host government within
one of its ministries to administerjointly
with United States technicians a group
of projects in a major functional field,
such as agriculture or public health.
The purpose of the "Servicio"is to create a program that will be jointly operated, the two partners being the ministry
within which the "Servicio" has been
established and the technical mission
sent by the United States to work with
that ministry. There are great differences in the pattern of operations
between "Servicios" in the various
countries. Their particular method of
operation must of necessity be molded
by local conditions, local laws, and the
personalities who operate them. The
commondenominator,however, for "Servicios" in all countries in which this
device is used is that of joint operations.
The mechanismsor mechanics of getting
the job done vary from country to country. However, the underlying concept
of joint operations remains the same.
The director of the "Servicio" is at
the same time head of the corresponding
division within the United States Operations Mission. He is an American and
reports administratively to the International Cooperation Administration Mission Director for the country. The "Servicio" would also have a co-directorwho
would be a national of the host country.
Personnel within the "Servicio" would
be largely nationals with only those

38

THE

ANNALS

OF THE

United States technicians needed because of their special skills in training

and demonstration activities. The financing of the "Servicio" is handled
jointly by the ministry in the host country and the United States Government.
Approximately 80 per cent of the costs
of operating the "Servicio"are borne by
the host government and 20 per cent
borne by the United States. At the time
a "Servicio" is established there is an
agreement between the host country and
the International Cooperation Administration Mission. This agreement provides for the type of program to be
operated by the "Servicio," the financial arrangement between the host
government and the United States
Government,and also provides for joint
approval of all personnel to be hired
by the "Servicio." After a project has
been in operation for sufficient time
to have accomplished its objectives or
to operate "on its own," every effort
is made to have that particular project
taken over by the appropriate agency
of the government of the host country.
In other words, when sufficient demonstration work has been done and there
are enough local people trained in a
particular activity, discussions are entered into between the appropriate
ministry of the host government and
the USOM to determine just how and
when the activity will be absorbed by
the host government as a normal part of
its operations.
During the years of technical cooperation programs in Latin America
there has been a wide variety of projects
undertaken and terminated successfully.
The manner in which the project has
been continued in each country varies
with the type of project and the economic and financial conditions in the
country. Private enterprise has taken
over such projects as could be put on
a sound commercial basis. In some
cases it is a governmental unit which

AMERICAN

ACADEMY

continues the work. Local governments

have initiated the development of local
water supply or sewage systems once
the techniques have been demonstrated.
Vocational school or area health programs are most often taken over by the
central government. Agricultural programs are generally taken over by the
Ministry of Agriculture. More than
2,000 individual and readily identifiable
projects have been turned over or terminated since the Latin American technical co-operationprogrambegan in 1942.
ORGANIZATION:WASHINGTON LEVEL

The International Cooperation Administrationis a semiautonomousagency

within the Department of State. The
operating part of the program is divided
into four regional offices: Officeof Latin
America; Office of Far East; Office of
Near East and South Asia; and Office
of Africa and Europe. There is a
Deputy Director for Operationsto whom
each of the four Regional Directors report. Within each regional office there
are area directors and desk officers.
Each area director is responsible for
operations within a specific geographical
area. His staff is made up of desk
officers who are responsible for one or
more countries. The desk officer is a
key man in the organization in that he
must have his finger on the pulse of
everything that is happening within the
country to which he is assigned. He
serves as the connecting link between
the Mission Director in the field and the
Washington organization. In addition
to working on problems which must be
dealt with within the International Cooperation Administration organization,
the desk officermust maintain close contact with the appropriate offices in the
Department of State and with such
agencies as the Development Loan
Fund, Export-Import Bank, International Monetary Fund, and the World
Bank.

THE UNITED STATESPOINT FOUR PROGRAM

Apart from the operating arm of

ICA's Washington organizationthere are
offices for program and planning, technical services, congressional relations,
and management. Each of these offices
operates under the direction of a Deputy
Director who reports to the Director of
the International Cooperation Administration, who in turn reports to the Secretary of State.
Co-ordination of the program within
ICA is accomplished through the medium of staff meetings. Co-ordination
and supervision of field programs is
accomplished through correspondence,
cables, field travel, and meetings with
field people.
PROBLEMS

The problems with which the International CooperationAdministrationhas

to deal are not all unique to this organization. Many of them are very similar to
those faced by most other government
agencies and many private corporations.
Those problems which are rather unique
to the International CooperationAdministration are generated by the complexity of the program.
The ability to attract and hold competent personnel is probably one of the
most serious problems. Working effectively in foreign countries requires a degree of competence and a set of personal
characteristicsnot normally requiredfor
work within the United States. A technician must have outstanding technical
skills, outstanding personal qualities,
language ability, unwavering loyalty to
the United States Government and its

39

policies, and something of a missionary

spirit if he or she is to be effective in
a foreign situation. The International
CooperationAdministrationis constantly
trying to attract better qualified people
and is intensifying its efforts to up-grade
present employees.
Another major problem facing the
organization has to do with understanding: on the part of the United States
taxpayer, of the people in countries who
are not receiving technical assistance but
are nevertheless watching what the
United States is doing, and of the people
in those countries who are recipients of
technical and financial assistance. The
International Cooperation Administration is constantly striving to improve its
methods and techniques and trying to
further activities within the underdeveloped countries which will improve the
lot of the average citizen. While problems will continue to exist there is much
evidence indicating that substantial
progress is being made and that in the
over-all the bilateral approach to the
situation in underdevelopedcountries is
making substantial inroads on poverty
and attitudes.
The community of basic beliefs and
common goals which characterize the
inter-Americanfamily of nations is the
strongest asset this hemispherehas. The
religious and spiritual foundations which
support our political, economic, and
social objectives and guide us in the
achievement of our common goals-are
the surest guarantee of the freedom and
happiness of our peoples and the star
of hope for millions who seek that freedom and happiness.