Soviet-American computer trade : a facet of international interdependence

• Main Author: McGhie, Michael John
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/22011

International politics is now characterized by international interdependence. This fact is both the cause and effect of increased transnational and transgovernmental contacts, arising from the. size and complexity of modern governments. Traditional concerns about military security resulted in theories of international politics which focussed primarily on the potential for war between sovereign states and relegated issues of trade, economics, communications and the like to the status of "low politics". The reality of world politics today requires the analyst to reassess the role of economic factors in international interaction. Military force is an unwieldy or inappropriate tool for many vital issues in the contemporary worlds Computer trade is one such issue. The annual value of trade in computing equipment is approximately US$10 billion, and is expected to increase manyfold in the near future; This paper focusses on computer trade between two states which the traditional theory posits as mortal enemies. The importance of computers to a modern society makes computer trade between adversary nations a controversial subjects. The emphasis of traditional theory on military security is an inadequate perspective from which to assess the effects of computer trade; therefore, the international interdependence paradigm of Keohane and Nye is used for the basis of the political analysis presented in this paper. A chapter on computer software is presented for the reader who is not knowledgable about computers. Hopefully, the reader will understand more about how computers work, about the amount of thought and labor required to build and use computers, and why software and hardware can be considered seperately. The last point is considered especially important for the future of relations between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. === Arts, Faculty of === Political Science, Department of === Graduate