Managing Dual-Use Technology in an Age of Uncertainty

Abstract

'Dual use' refers to those technologies that can, with some adaptation, have both military and civilian applications. It is a concept rooted in the dichotomies of the Cold War. Over the last 55 years it has served both to structure an export control regime aimed at limiting the diffusion of advanced technology to hostile states and to underpin a range of domestic defense acquisition policies aimed at increasing the utilization of civilian technologies by the military. With the end of the Cold War and the erosion of the boundaries between civil and military technologies, U.S. policy to control the spread of military-related technology is in disarray. A more workable policy would replace open-ended support for new military technology with a realistic assessment of the security risks and needs, and limit export controls to a few, highly dangerous technologies.