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2. What are the relative advantages and disadvantages of bilateral 

 multilateral cooperative arrangements? 



Bilateral agreements are generally: 



a) easier to negotiate; 



b) easier to implement; 



c) easier to approach equity in the activity; 



d) easier to control; 



e) well suited for activities with strong foreign policy 



considerations; 



Multilateral activities, on the other hand, 



a) may be the most efficient and economical approach when several 



countries have reasonably similar goals and programs and are 

 Interested in collaborating; 



b) can attract more political support and International prestige; and 



c) provide an efficient means of assisting a number of smaller 



countries. 



In summary, when considering programmatic benefits, including complexity, 

 cost, control, balance and other related Issues, bilateral relations are 

 generally, but not always, favored. DOE has several times as many 

 bilateral R&D agreements as multilateral. However, there are specific 

 instances where multilateral approaches are favored. 



Some projects naturally require a multilateral arrangement. An example Is 

 the lEA Large Coll Project In which three US made large superconducting 



