times, it actively sought international cooperation 

 and exchange. Since Russian science was tradition- 

 ally in advance of Russian technology, the breakdown 

 of foreign contacts tended to intensify, in particu- 

 lar, Russia's technological lag. 23 Consequently, the 

 government would periodically rely upon heavy doses 

 of imported foreign technology to strengthen its mil- 

 itary power and to help overcome Russia's economic 

 and technological backwardness. From this perspec- 

 tive, Moscow's intensified efforts in the 1970s to 

 expand scientific cooperation and technology trans- 

 fer, especially with the nations of Western Europe 

 and the United States, should be seen as part of an 

 older tradition and development strategy. 



TWO SYSTEMS FOR GUIDING TECHNICAL PROGRESS 



As a result of the particular course followed by 

 the Soviet Union in science, technology, and economic 

 growth essentially two systems have evolved for guid- 

 ing technical progress. The primary line of influence 

 is the basic economic system. This structure was cre- 

 ated in the prewar years and evolved in response to 

 the demands of rapid industrialization. Science and 

 technology did not provide the principal motive force 

 for its operation. Bearing a strong ant i- innovation 

 bias, this system remains fundamentally oriented to 

 the expansion of existing patterns of production and 

 technology. A secondary line of influence is exer- 

 cised by a special set of structures and mechanisms 

 which began to take shape around the mid-1950s with 

 the burgeoning growth of the Soviet R&D effort. This 

 supplementary system attends to the problems of sci- 

 ence and technology policy and performance. Accel- 

 eration of the rate of innovation is one of its main 

 goals. Each system has its own plans, budgetary 

 practices, incentive schemes, and integrating admin- 

 istrative organs. Typically, however, there is lack 

 of coordination between the basic and supplementary 

 systems. Indeed, they frequently work at cross pur- 

 poses to each other. 



13 



