United States Technology Export Control: An Assessment

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This is a study of the US strategic export control policy. In particular, this book analyses and evaluates the effectiveness of export controls in delaying the acquisition of militarily sensitive high technology by the Soviet Union and its allied states. Furthermore, the question of whether or not US economic competitiveness in various high-technology sectors has been unduly undermined by export controls is also evaluated. Numerous official government studies and reports, supplemented by a host of interviews with government officials, business people, and analysis in the United States and Europe are utilised in drawing conclusions and positing policy recommendations. The consequences for export control policy of the revolutionary political upheavals in Eastern Europe and the former USSR are also addressed. The study concludes that the strategic/security goal of utilising controls to hinder and delay the acquisition of militarily significant high technology by the former Soviet Union and its allied states was generally effective. More controversially, McDaniel argues that export controls per se have not been a significant determinant of lagging US competitiveness in high technology. However, this conclusion is qualified by the observation that while overall trends in US high-technology exports to important trading partners do not suggest that controls by themselves have unduly hurt US exporters, individual sectors and small firms may be disadvantaged. Finally, the study cautions that US policy must adapt or risk becoming outmoded and increasingly ineffective. This book should be of interest to scholars and students of international relations, international political economy and international business.

Author Bio

Douglas E. McDaniel is an analyst with the Inspector General's Office of the U.S. Department of State. He earned his Ph.D. at The American University.