Impediments to societal problem solving What must happen before we can succeed?

Historically the national goals of the United States have depended to a large extent on its science and technology. Now the character of this dependence is changing in light of the increasing emphasis on societal problems. The nature of these problems is discussed and needed actions delineated. It is concluded that the most critical areas in which progress is necessary are in the formulation of objectives and translation of these objectives into implementable action items, in the orchestration of resources, and in institutional reforms. It is pointed out that the engineer has the choice of playing a critical leadership role in the decade ahead or of being left to perform routine technical tasks set for him by others.