Sharing with Frenemies: Technology Sharing with Geopolitical Rival

• In Event: Alliances and War: Cooperation, Complication, and Conflict Among Allies

Abstract

When do states choose to share advanced military technology with their geopolitical rivals? Military technology – the capability to develop and produce weapons – is a key component of a state’s power. The United States seeks to maintain its dominant military position through continued technological innovation but also supports its friends with arms sales. Because some modern weapons are more difficult to “black box,” advanced weapons sales are becoming more likely to require sharing technology. Additionally, some advocate sharing U.S. technology with rising powers, like India, to enable them to better balance China. This paper argues that severe mutual threats can motivate otherwise antagonistic states to engage in limited technology sharing. Still because shared technology is difficult to claw back, states will be more willing to transfer finished arms to a likely future rival than to share technology. The willingness to share technology will decline as the mutual threat subsides. Using detailed archival research, the paper tests this theory by comparing the examining U.S. technology sharing with the Soviet Union over the course of the Second World War in comparison with its technology sharing with Britain.

Author

• Erik Sand, Naval War College