nations that national autonomy was being preserved in 

 dealings with other countries. 



EPILOGUE 



All of these initiatives represent approaches to 

 improving developing nations' access to and use of 

 technology in the industrialization process. While 

 these initiatives do not represent a full U.S. response 

 to the philosophical issues and positions regarding the 

 transfer and use of technology raised by the Group of 

 7 7, they do represent an effort to respond to problems 

 posed by developing country leaders. Three 

 observations are pertinent: 



First, as has been emphasized throughout this 

 chapter, the industrialization process in developing 

 nations is both complex and not fully understood. The 

 initiatives proposed here do not individually or 

 collectively constitute a solution to developing 

 nations' problems, but rather they represent ways in 

 which the U.S. government could help. Should the 

 United states decide to advance any or all of the 

 initiatives at the 1979 U.N. Conference, it would do 

 well to keep their limited nature in mind. 



Second, we have been mindful of the importance for 

 the United states of not allowing itself to take a 

 posture in this field in which it could seem to be 

 trying to tell the developing nations what is good for 

 them. Hence the proposed initiatives are designed to 

 represent constructive responses to problems that are 

 already recognized by developing nations themselves. 

 Should an initiative offered by the United states not 

 be seen as useful by the developing nations, it should 

 be dropped. In the same spirit, the United states 

 should be prepared to listen to proposals put forward 

 by the developing nations. The overall U.S. position 

 should reflect the fact that the United States 

 possesses technologies and technical and managerial 

 capabilities which would be useful to developing 

 nations and that the U.S. government is willing to 

 support certain programs which might help these nations 

 acquire and use those resources. With respect to what 

 these programs might be, the United states has ideas, 

 but it is flexible and willing to consider other 

 possibilities. 



Third, while the United States is generally 

 supportive of an open world economy, including an open 

 international trading system and open transfer of 

 technology, it should be prepared to speak frankly 

 about the growing concern within this country that some 

 technology transfers may have negative impacts on the 



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