Computer Exports and National Security in a Global Era: New Tools for a New Century

Citation

Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Computer Exports and National Security in a Global Era: New Tools for a New Century (June 2001) (full-text).

Overview

CSIS established a Senior Commission and three working groups to assess the current export control framework and consider changes in policies and procedures that would strengthen national security. The goal was to find practical policy recommendations. This volume grows out of the work of these experts and provides an overview of the issue and recommendations on how to move forward.

This report reaches three broad conclusions: (1) Current export controls on computers and microprocessors are ineffective, given the global diffusion of information technology and rapid increases in performance. (2) The United States should eliminate these Cold War controls and strengthen military and proliferation-related controls. (3) The trends that make computer export controls ineffective could damage national security if the United States does not use new information technologies to retain its military advantage over potential opponents.

This report also contains a series of recommendations for strengthening U.S. national security that fall into three groups: ending Cold War export controls, strengthening proliferation-related controls, and accelerating the process by which the United States gains national security advantage from information technology.