ABSTRACT
In a time of expanding East-West trade, the question has been raised whether it makes sense for the West to ban the sale of certain strategic commodities to communist destinations while, at the same time, making efforts to expand the sale of other commodities. This chapter provides a retrospective view of the evolution and derivation of the Western international trade control list from its inception in 1949 up to the present list review. It then presents a historical and an institutional perspective on Western multilateral technology transfer policy, highlighting some of the dynamics of the Coordinating Committee (COCOM), the little-known mechanism designed to facilitate negotiation of the list, as Allied countries tangle with the problem of joint decision-making on a sensitive issue. COCOM is the informal, multilateral organization whereby the United States, its North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies, and Japan coordinate their national policies on the export of strategic items to the East.
