Abstract

This dissertation analyses export control programs in the Western state system. The main focus is Western alliance collaboration on East-West technology transfer controls through COCOM. It examines post-1945 intra-alliance and intra-national perspectives on the relationship between East-West trade and Western security. Within four historical periods four questions are addressed: How does the structural distribution of power and the nature of United States leadership affect collaboration on the form, the nature, and the enforcement of controls? How does the nature of global economic competition affect Western alliance states' collaboration on and Western firms' compliance with export controls? How does the nature and the distribution of power in intra-national politics on this issue affect United States policy and multilateral collaboration? How does the nature of changing images and representations of security and threats to security affect United States policy and the nature of collaboration? ;The project thesis is that a multi-factor analysis is necessary for an appropriate understanding of the dynamics of discord and consensus over the terms of the Western alliance export control program. To conduct such an analysis the project draws on four theoretical frameworks: modified structural realism, a market explanation, institutionalism and discourse analysis. ;The study is a contribution to the literature on international relations theory, particularly the role of ideas in international policy collaboration. It draws on work in theories of language and discourse and microeconomic theories of contested exchange. ;The dissertation concludes that emerging opportunities regarding overall global security will result in a transformation of Western collaboration from East-West export control to a multi-directional technology transfer management system. The problems with this transformation and issues that must be addressed in a broader-based program are considered