Gordon B Smith - Böcker

Trade and technology transfer have come to occupy a major role in Soviet-American relations. Twice in recent years embargoes have been imposed on the sale of U.S. high technology to the U.S.S.R., and these sanctions have had wide-ranging political and economic consequences in the Soviet Union, Europe, and the United States. The Politics of East-West Trade draws together leading U.S. and European scholars, government officials, and businesspeople to explore the complex issues arising from U.S. trade policies toward the Soviet Union. The book begins with an assessment of the degree to which the Soviet economy is dependent on Western technology imports. In subsequent chapters, in addition to assessing the general nature and volume of U. S .-U. S. S .R. trade, the contributors consider the extent to which Western technology has helped or hindered Soviet economic and technological growth; the specific impact of U.S. trade sanctions in four critical sectors (computers, energy, agriculture, and defense); and the impact in the West of U.S. trade policies (for example, recent embargoes have resulted in the loss of several billion dollars in U.S. equipment and commodity sales to the U.S.S.R.). Examining the serious strains that differences over East-West trade policy have put on U.S. relations with its West European allies, the authors conclude that there are tangible limits on the ability of the United States to use technology trade as leverage to alter Soviet policies.

Trade and technology transfer have come to occupy a major role in Soviet-American relations. Twice in recent years embargoes have been imposed on the sale of U.S. high technology to the U.S.S.R., and these sanctions have had wide-ranging political and economic consequences in the Soviet Union, Europe, and the United States. The Politics of East-West Trade draws together leading U.S. and European scholars, government officials, and businesspeople to explore the complex issues arising from U.S. trade policies toward the Soviet Union. The book begins with an assessment of the degree to which the Soviet economy is dependent on Western technology imports. In subsequent chapters, in addition to assessing the general nature and volume of U. S .-U. S. S .R. trade, the contributors consider the extent to which Western technology has helped or hindered Soviet economic and technological growth; the specific impact of U.S. trade sanctions in four critical sectors (computers, energy, agriculture, and defense); and the impact in the West of U.S. trade policies (for example, recent embargoes have resulted in the loss of several billion dollars in U.S. equipment and commodity sales to the U.S.S.R.). Examining the serious strains that differences over East-West trade policy have put on U.S. relations with its West European allies, the authors conclude that there are tangible limits on the ability of the United States to use technology trade as leverage to alter Soviet policies.

Reforming the Russian Legal System is a comprehensive analysis of the forces that are shaping legal reform in the republics of the former USSR. Looking beneath the flow of day-to-day developments, the book examines how traditional indigenous Russian legal values, and the 74-year experience with communism and 'socialist legality' are being combined with Western concepts of justice and due process to forge a new legal consciousness in Russia today. The author provides a broad historical survey of pre-revolutionary and Soviet-era legal developments, which provides a backdrop to the reforms initiated by Gorbachev. Chapters analysing constitutional law, criminal law and procedure, the Procuracy, and the laws governing the transition to a market economy illustrate the recurring themes of the book: the interaction of crosscurrents in Russian legal culture, and variations in the pace of legal reform from republic to republic and region to region.