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.

Technology transfer, developed countries, developing countries, case studies, China, Eastern Europe, Japan, Turkey - economic development, food security, socialism, woman workers, cultural factors, multinational enterprises, management development. Bibliography, diagrams, statistical tables.

Only since the 1970s have the East European Socialist countries (known collectively as Comecon) participated in the international exchange of technology as exporters. In this book, Drs. Monkiewicz and Maciejewicz analyze the technology export performance of the Comecon countries. They begin by defining the nature of technology as a commodity, analyzing the structural characteristics of the international market, and outlining both the cost and benefits of technology export. Later chapters provide an overview of Comecon technological policies in the 1970s, with particular attention to the export-import factor and Comecon regional technological cooperation. In-depth analysis is presented through case studies of the experiences of Poland and Czechoslovakia. The book concludes with a discussion of the implications of technology export by socialist countries, particularly its potential impact on existing global patterns of technological dependence and domination.