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.

Modernisation has been a constant theme in Russian history at least since Peter the Great launched a series of initiatives aimed at closing the economic, technical and cultural gap between Russia and the more ‘advanced’ countries of Europe. All of the leaders of the Soviet Union and post-Soviet Russia have been intensely aware of this gap, and have pursued a number of strategies, some more successful than others, in order to modernise the country. But it would be wrong to view modernisation as a unilinear process which was the exclusive preserve of the state. Modernisation has had profound effects on Russian society, and the attitudes of different social groups have been crucial to the success and failure of modernisation. This volume examines the broad theme of modernisation in late imperial, Soviet, and post-Soviet Russia both through general overviews of particular topics, and specific case studies of modernisation projects and their impact. Modernisation is seen not just as an economic policy, but as a cultural and social phenomenon reflected through such diverse themes as ideology, welfare, education, gender relations, transport, political reform, and the Internet. The result is the most up to date and comprehensive survey of modernisation in Russia available, which highlights both one of the perennial problems and the challenges and prospects for contemporary Russia.