Swords into Market Shares : Technology, Economics, and Security in the New Russia

by SCHWEITZER GLENN E.

• ISBN13: 9780309068413
• ISBN10: 030906841X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-11-01
• Publisher: Natl Academy Pr

Summary

While researching this book, Glenn Schweitzer met four Moscow physicists who were trying to license Russian technology to western firms for product manufacture. During the worst times, they were reduced to driving taxis to keep things afloat. He asked them, will technological innovation have a discernible impact on the Russian economy in the coming decade? No, was the immediate reply. Are they right? In Swords into Market Shares, Schweitzer examines the roots of such pessimism and the prospects for Russia to prosper from its technology in the post-Soviet world. He explores the different visions of prosperity held by entrepreneurs, technologists, and government officials and goes on to examine the barriers to progress as Russia struggles to build a viable technology industry on its own terms. In accessible language, this book talks about technology's place within Russia's economy and its research and development infrastructure. Schweitzer looks at the impact of the Soviet legacy--central planning, lack of priorities, scant incentives for personal initiative--and the aftermath of the Russian financial meltdown of 1998. He also reviews the experiences of American companies that have invested in Russian technology and examines the results of pressure to reform according to the economic model of the West. Schweitzer goes on to document the problems of economic crime and government corruption, which plague activities designed to generate income in Russia. He discusses the lack of protection for intellectual property and taxation issues that stand in the way of technological innovation. The book looks at the impact of the "brain drain" as Russian experts seek greener pastures--not only the ominous recruitment of Russian biological weapons experts and the acquisition of military technology by "rogue" nations--but also Russia's own program to sell military technology for badly needed funds. Schweitzer's use of case studies and examples puts a human face on these issues. He also discusses Russia's 60 "science cities"--sites of state research centers--with close-ups of three "nuclear cities." Can the technical strengths of the Soviet military complex find a place in civilian Russia? How can this vast country sustain even a minimal standard of living? Swords into Market Sharesaddresses these and other key questions and explores fundamental policy issues confronting both Russia and the United States as Russia struggles for an economic foothold.

Author Biography

Glenn E. Schweitzer is director of the Office for Central Europe and Eurasia at the National Academy of Sciences and the National Research Council. In 1992 he led the combined efforts of the United States, the European Union, Japan, and Russia to establish the International Science and Technology Center in Moscow, and served as first executive director

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Prologue	xi
Dismal Economics Holds Back Technological Innovation	1	(32)
Implosion of the Economy	5	(4)
The Economy and Innovation	9	(3)
Barter Replaces Cash Transactions	12	(3)
Role of Small Business	15	(2)
Technology at the Regional Level	17	(8)
The Long and Uncertain Road to Prosperity	25	(4)
Notes	29	(4)
Struggling To Embrace Modern Technologies	33	(28)
Living with the Soviet Legacy	37	(4)
Russian Enterprises and Innovation	41	(4)
Preferential Treatment for Oversized Scientific Centers	45	(3)
Innovation at the Micro-level	48	(3)
New Ways to Turn a Profit	51	(4)
The Future Outlook	55	(2)
Notes	57	(4)
Profiting From Investments In Military Technology	61	(26)
Declining Market Niche for Russian Armaments	64	(6)
The Dual-Use Issue	70	(4)
Realities of Industrial Conversion	74	(5)
Controlling Leakage of Sensitive Items	79	(3)
Whither Russian Military Technologies?	82	(2)
Notes	84	(3)
The Money Trail: Finders Keepers	87	(26)
Sources of Finance	91	(4)
Protecting Income Streams Flowing from the West	95	(4)
Roofs for Businesses in Russia	99	(2)
Privatization and the Enterprise Managers	101	(3)
Bankers and the Flow of Money	104	(6)
Multiple Challenges	110	(1)
Notes	111	(2)
Long-Term Patent Protection and Short-Term Tax Relief	113	(27)
Patents, Copyrights, and Hope for Brighter Days	117	(6)
International Sharing of Intellectual Property Rights	123	(3)
The Tax Man Cometh	126	(5)
Taxation and Technical Assistance from Abroad	131	(2)
Other Hurdles in Carrying Out International Programs	133	(2)
A Legal Environment to Facilitate Innovation	135	(1)
Notes	136	(4)
Redirection and Erosion of Russian Brainpower	140	(29)
New Income Streams for 60,000 Weaponeers	144	(3)
Growing Pressure on Weaponeers	147	(4)
An Aging Manpower Base for Space Exploration	151	(2)
Widespread Decline of the Research and Development Workforce	153	(1)
External Bran Drain	154	(5)
Role of Russian Technical Universities	159	(6)
Future of the Russian Manpower Base	165	(1)
Notes	166	(3)
Sixty-Five Science Cities With Three Million People	169	(26)
Innovating for Profit in Siberia	172	(4)
Science Cities Encircling Moscow	176	(10)
Ten Nuclear Cities	186	(3)
Cities that Supported Biological Defense Activities	189	(2)
Future of the Science Cities	191	(2)
Notes	193	(2)
Three Nuclear Cities With An Abundance of Technologies	195	(28)
An Experimental Science City under Market Conditions: Obninsk	197	(8)
Astride the Transiberian Railway: Zarechny	205	(6)
Diversification of Research in the Southern Urals: Snezhinsk	211	(8)
Outlook for the Three Cities	219	(1)
Notes	220	(3)
U.S. Efforts to Contain Dangerous Technologies While Promoting Foreign Investments	223	(26)
DOE's Support of Technology Commercialization	227	(5)
DOD's Programs to Redirect Russian Technologies	232	(2)
The International Space Station and the Aerospace Complex	234	(2)
Promoting Interests of U.S. Companies	236	(6)
Whither Cooperation?	242	(3)
Notes	245	(4)
The Revival Of Russian Technology	249	(23)
Political and Economic Challenges	254	(4)
Implementing a Realistic Technology Policy	258	(6)
Showstoppers: Increasing Corruption and Declining Health	264	(3)
Disproving the Hypotheses	267	(3)
Notes	270	(2)
EPILOGUE	272	(21)
APPENDIXES
A Characterization and Sources of Russian Research and Development	277	(2)
B Scientific Organizations with the Status of State Scientific Centers of the Russian Federation	279	(4)
C Science Cities of Russia	283	(3)
D Commercialized Technologies at Russian Institutions	286	(2)
E Technology-Intensive Projects of Priority Interest to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs	288	(2)
F Next Steps to the Market Program of the U.S. Civilian Research and Development Foundation	290	(3)
Index	293