Western efforts to control trade and technological relations with communist countries affect many interests and political groups in both Eastern and Western blocs. Although there is general agreement within the Western alliance that government-imposed controls are necessary to prevent material having military importance from falling in the hands of the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies, there is considerable controversy over the specifics: the exact definition of "militarily significant" material, how the Western nations should administer controls, the implications of glasnost, and other matters.

The deterioration of detente in the wake of the ongoing Soviet arms build-up has sharply focused the East-West trade debate on the question of advanced technology transfer from the United States and its allies to the Soviet bloc. The transfer and acquisition of high technology have become central ingredients in super-power relations and are key elements of any national security policy. President Reagan, among others, has questioned the wisdom of the policies of the 1960s and early 1970s, when trade with the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe expanded rapidly. At recent industrial nation summits, conferees of Western countries agreed to high-level review of their East-West technology trade policies. But in light of the apparent West European commitment to continue and expand trade with the East, as exemplified by the Siberian gas pipeline project, and the growing U.S. opposition to such technology transfer, divisions between U.S. and Western trade policies toward the East are likely to become increasingly acute in the years ahead. Professors Bertsch and McIntyre have selected comprehensive and representative articles to examine the question of technology transfer from a variety of perspectives--political, economic, and military- emphasizing both the U.S. and the Western allies' points of view and offering insights into the complex issues raised by the strategic dimensions of East-West trade.

This book presents various aspects of the changing nature of East-West relations and attempts to anticipate future trends in East-West trade and technology transfer, dealing with the evolution of national approaches towards trade and technology transfer.

Originally published in 1985, in the deteriorating climate of East-West relations technology transfer became vitally important. The Eastern bloc desperately needed Western technology to assist in the development of the socialist economies, but a proposed US ban on the export of Western technology to the Siberian pipeline project led to increasing tension within the Western alliance abot the nature and scale of high technology that could be safely exported to the East. This book reviews the state of technology transfer to the East in the 1980s and considers the place of Western technology in the Eastern economies. It also discusses the strategic goals of Western technology embargoes. Many of the issues discussed remain pertinent today.