“Techno-Nationalism” and the Contemporary Debate over the American Defence Industrial Base

Abstract

In the contemporary context, “benign” mercantilist forms as techno-nationalism display a logical consistency not only with the previous pattern of mercantilism, but also with the contemporary requirements of security. The current debate over techno-nationalism triggers a powerful sense of dijd vu. Put most simply, much of the recent US angst over the eroding defence industrial base is attributable to the decreased insulation of the American economy from global competitive pressures. In their own ways, the two episodes are symptomatic of a contemporary problem in American defence policy, the health of the country’s defence industrial base. The roots of the problem of techno-nationalism can be found in the broader dilemma of American industrial performance in the late 20th century. Whether the Pentagon’s current official predisposition toward greater economic interdependence will prevail over the Congress’s tendency to envision a defence-industrial-base approach that concedes more to import restrictiveness must remain a matter of conjecture.