Advanced technology and public policy: Multinational weapons acquisition

This article's purpose is to examine the role of institutions in the innovation and dissemination of advanced technology in the international policy arena, focusing specifically upon multinational cooperation in the acquisition of advanced technology weapons. The analysis examines interrelationships among different national public policy processes and compares cross-nationally the role of governmental and non-governmental organizations in policy formulation. An analytic framework for comparative analysis of organizational objectives is developed and then applied to four cases of multinational cooperation. Based upon the results of this comparative analysis, the article's conclusion sets forth some observations potentially applicable to a policy aimed at furthering transatlantic cooperation in particular, and more generally, to public policy and technology.This is a revised version of a paper originally prepared for a Technology and Public Policy Workshop held under the auspices of the Technology and Policy Program at MIT on 16–17 February 1979. The sponsorship of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is gratefully acknowledged. The author particularly wishes to thank Peter deLeon for his asistance and encouragement. The research was performed under grants from The Brookings Institution, while the author was a Fellow with the Defense Analysis Staff, and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Readers should take careful note of the fact that the views expressed in this paper are those of the author alone and do not reflect official positions of the US Government or its component agencies, nor are these views necessarily shared by The Brookings Institution or the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.