Law and Politics of West-East Technology Transfer

Book excerpt: This book is based on an international conference at the University of Tokyo on CoCom and its related export control system'. Despite the changes in the overall political climate, such as the new thinking' in Soviet foreign policy, it seems that CoCom will continue to function for some years. Although the scope of control has been narrowed, the control itself has been tightened. All the old problems which caused conflicts within and outside CoCom still exist. The United States is still exercising export controls in an extra-territorial way via its extensive re-export control system. The 1988 Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act remains unaltered, notwithstanding its controversial nature. This book is a major contribution to the discussion of current legal and political issues concerning export controls, a discussion which has gained greatly in importance as a result of the Gulf crisis.