Keeping
International Economic Interation Multilateral and Mutually Beneficial
Maintaining
U.S. Leadership in High-Tech Industries
Maintaining
an Economic Base for National Security Interests
Efforts to lower barriers to the free flow of goods, services, capital, and technology across borders will reinforce growth, raise living standards, and--if combined with appropriate adjustment policies for those who must absorb the costs of trade--produce domestic polities with an interest in stable relations among states. Of particular importance is the need to integrate the economies of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union into the global economic system by providing greater market access for their products.
But efforts at international economic integration will have less salutary effects should they lead to the creation of exclusive economic blocs that could result in exclusive security alliances--or, in the worst case, antagonistic security alliances.
As indicated in the previous section, the United States must be careful that it is not left out, or forced out, of strategic industries by the policy actions of other states. Clearly, there is some tension between pursuit of this interest--which could have zero-sum dimensions in some cases--and the U.S. interest in fostering positive-sum international economic interactions.
Further U.S. economic interests that are more directly related to traditional security concerns include (1) managing U.S. dependence on imports and foreign technology so as to minimize the potential for foreign control and domination, especially in defense-related sectors; and (2) maintaining an appropriate defense industrial base in an era of declining defense budgets and increasing dependence on foreign inputs.