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September 17, 2026Journal of Global HistoryOpen Access

Between disconnection and connection: The paradoxes of Cold War export controls

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LLLili Li

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Overview

Historical analysis reveals how Cold War export control regimes fostered unintended technological connections, highlighting the paradox of regulatory disconnectivity.

Key Points

  • Investigate how Cold War multilateral export controls designed to restrict technology transfers paradoxically facilitated new forms of transnational connection and circulation.
  • Historical policy analysis of West German trade interactions under ChinCom in the 1950s and CoCom in the 1980s.
  • Case study evaluation of aerospace firm Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm to trace technological circulation under regulatory restrictions.
  • Embargo enforcement in the 1950s led directly to alternative transnational re-export pathways and unintended commercial links.
  • Regulatory negotiations within CoCom during the 1980s transformed export controls into mechanisms that enabled, redirected, and politically obscured strategic technological flows.

Cite This Study

Lili Li (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6aabb6725f706d05830e4e15https://doi.org/10.1017/s1740022826100680
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