As the Soviet Union was collapsing in late 1991, reports began to reach the West about agents "shopping" for weapons systems - and weapons scientists - in the beleaguered Soviet military-industrial complex.

In response, the United States, the European Community, and Japan, in cooperation with the Russian government, created a program to reemploy Soviet scientific personnel in civilian projects dealing with the legacy of the Soviet system - a polluted environment, unsafe nuclear power facilities, and economic underdevelopment.

In this fascinating first-person account, the American environmental scientist who led the effort to establish the International Science and Technology Center in Moscow tells the diplomatic, scientific, and human story behind a remarkable post-Cold War conversion initiative.