The U.S. Defense Export Control Process:

Issues and Solutions

An Atlantic Council panel lifted the veil on the little-known U.S.-UK Defense Trade Cooperation Treaty that was signed by President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair shortly before Blair left office this summer. The treaty is a unique agreement between the U.S. and the UK that will simplify defense trade and technology transfers between the two allies. The panel featured Dr. Jacques Gansler of the University of Maryland and Former Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Pierre Chao, director of the Defense Industrial Initiatives at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and Al Volkman, Director of International Cooperation in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense on Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics. 

Pierre Chao opened the panel with a discussion of the growing focus on the export control process, including questions of differentiation between actors and technologies and of how effective the current processes are in accomplishing both national security and trade goals.  He noted that leaked versions of the U.S.-U.K. Defense Trade Cooperation Treaty highlighted certain elements of the defense exports process but that details on the text were lacking.  

Dr. Jacques Gansler followed with a presentation on the effects of globalization on defense, reminding the audience that, “There’s not a single weapon system today that you can take apart and not find foreign parts in it.  We are dependent.  We are not necessarily vulnerable though.”  Dr. Gansler noted that the current barriers to globalization in the defense export process are inhibiting effective, affordable, and quick military response for the needs of the 21^st century. 

Al Volkman concluded with remarks on the United States’ “moral prerogative” to develop, as quickly as possible, cooperative defense arrangements with its allies and the impediments posed by the current export control system.  He cautioned, however, that although the treaty is a powerful statement of the cooperative relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom, it is not particularly detailed, and many of the questions raised in response to it will only be addressed during the treaty’s implementation. 

Further Information and  Media Coverage: