This book examines the high technology trade beteen Britain, France, West Germany, Japan, and the oil-producing states of the Middle East. Claiming that the economies of the Middle East are undergoing transformations resulting in constantly changing technological needs, the authors argue that supplier states will have to be able to adapt to those needs if they hope to outdistance their competitors.

The dynamics of transatlantic relations in the twenty-first century have been shaped by an American preference for the exercise of its considerable 'hard power' capabilities while Europeans have preferred to draw upon the considerable 'soft power' resources that have grown from their enviable internal processes of integration. These diverging power preferences have differential impacts on the management of Atlantic security, economic, and social and cultural relations. The contributors, long-time observers and analysts of the Atlantic partnership, debate how problematic security relations are likely to continue to be, discuss how successfully economic affairs will be managed, and examine the continuing frictions in domestic politics of social and cultural matters that should be manageable if both European and American leaders work actively and responsibly to encourage policy convergence.