I wish to acknowledge the assistance of Dr. Charles F. Elliott and Dr. John P. Hardt. Their guidance, encouragement and gentle prodding contributed greatly to the completion of this research. The Institute for Sino-Soviet Studies and the Graduate Program in Science, Technology, and Public Policy of the George Washington University gave valuable financial assistance. The final manuscript reflects the diligent and expert typing assistance of Mary Helen Holliday Seal.

This analysis of the basic Soviet orientation to the international economy in general, and to Western technology in particular, examines the Soviet experience in borrowing technology from the West during two periods, 1928-1937 and 1966-1975. It includes case studies of three major projects in the Soviet automotive industry. Dr. Holliday studies the methods used by the Soviet Union to acquire foreign technology and evaluates the impact of Soviet attitudes, policies, and economic institutions on the technology transfer process. The evidence he presents--a new Soviet economic growth strategy that places emphasis on technological change, new attitudes among Soviet political leaders, and new institutional developments--suggests that Soviet policy is undergoing a gradual but definitive change away from the isolationist approach of the Stalinist period toward a policy of greater technological interdependence with the West.

In Imagining America, historian Alan M. Ball explores American influence in two newborn Russian states: the young Soviet Union and the modern Russian Republic. Ball deftly illustrates how in each era Russians have approached the United States with a conflicting mix of ideas—as a land to admire from afar, to shun at all costs, to emulate as quickly as possible, or to surpass on the way to a superior society. Drawing on a wide variety of sources including contemporary journals, newspapers, films, and popular songs, Ball traces the shifting Russian perceptions of American cultural, social, and political life. As he clearly demonstrates, throughout their history Russian imaginations featured a United States that political figures and intellectuals might embrace, exploit, or attack, but could not ignore.