Soviet High-Technology Restructuring Drive: the MNTK Network
Abstract
The recent establishment of a network of interbranch science and technology complexes, known as MNTKs in Soviet parlance, represents the latest and strongest attempt to overcome the chronic Soviet lag in advanced technologies. The new organizations have been created within the framework of the current drive the restructure the Soviet economy, as a means of integrating science and industry. The MNTKs are impressive in the speed of their introduction, their size, and the uprecedented nature of their charter. The promise of the MNTK network as the principal instrument for solving the problem of advanced technologies is threatened by the considerable cleavage between the government's plans and decrees, and their realization in practice. In contrast to the speed of their formal establishment, further steps toward practical implementation of the MNTKs have been quite slow. Bureaucratic resistance has been eroding the effectiveness of the new organizations, particularly the power to enforce their new rights and privileges. As a result, Soviet observers question the potential of the MNTKs, and some critics already call them paper tigers. In balance is Soviet capability for technological and military competition with the West.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 1987
- Accession Number
- ADA188138
Entities
People
- Simon Kassel
Organizations
- RAND Corporation