ABSTRACT
The United States is concerned about its technological prowess compared to that of Japan; and Western Europe realizes that it is technologically behind the United States in some microelectronic fields. The West wants to maintain its technological lead over the East, although there is disagreement within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization about how great that lead is and should be. The allied disputes highlight the problems in postwar Western policy toward Eastern Europe that go beyond economics. The Federal Republic of Germany is the only Western country that has consistently pursued an active policy toward one Eastern European country in the postwar era, the German Democratic Republic. The United States and Western Europe would have a variety of technologies to offer Eastern Europe if there were no restrictions on technology exports; but a range of export controls limits the nature of the East-West technological exchange.
