The SDI agreement between Bonn and Washington: Review of the first four years

Abstract

This article provides an evaluation of the significance of the memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by the US and West German governments in March 1986. The author examines the expectations and fears it created in the FRG and compares them with the reality of actual economic benefit and exchange of information derived: the FRG's influence on arms control; and the effects on its standing and trading relations. The author argues that the MOU has had a negligible effect in securing contracts for West German firms and increasing technological cooperation, while damaging the FRG's standing in the arms control arena.