Case 293 - High Seas Satellite Launches: Paragon of Post-Cold War Cooperation or Unregulated Danger?

Kempton, Daniel and Susan Balc This case study is designed to highlight, on the one hand, the inevitable tradeoffs between the benefits of international trade and cooperation in high-technology industries; and on the other, the dangers of leaking dangerous, defense-related technology. It centers on a frustrating dilemma that confronted John D. Holum, the State Department’s acting under secretary of state for arms control and international security affairs. State’s Office of Defense Trade Control (ODTC), which Holum oversaw, had just completed an investigation of the Sea Launch satellite launching system that uncovered 207 violations of the U.S. Arms Export Control Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. The gist of these allegations was that through its Sea Launch program, Boeing had exported defense-related articles, technology, and services to Germany, Norway, Russia, and Ukraine. Aside from criminal penalties, which would be pursued by the Justice Department if warran