Weapons workers: Ruin or revival?
- U.S. and Canada Studies Institute, Moscow (Russian Federation)
The formidable task of restructuring the former Soviet Union`s economic system depends largely on it success in converting a defense industry that once employed 11 million Soviet workers to peaceful pursuits, says Artiom Ustinov, a researcher in the U.S. and Canada Institute in Moscow. {open_quotes}Governments could convert defense facilities into those that develop and manufacture products that people desperately need and want,{close_quotes} says Ustinov. Unfortunately, such a transformation cannot happen quickly because the former Soviet Union lacks a high-tech sector into which former weapons workers can migrate. An even more serious problem stems from a traditional isolation from world markets. Civilian manufacturing in the former Soviet Union, which was never forced to meet international standards for quality and performance, has been marked by inferior products. {open_quotes}With financial support, a well-defined program, incentives, and retraining, the military research labs could find themselves in a better position to release their huge potential for creative rather than destructive purposes,{close_quotes} Ustinov concludes.
- OSTI ID:
- 111383
- Journal Information:
- Forum for Applied Research and Public Policy, Journal Name: Forum for Applied Research and Public Policy Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 10; ISSN FARPEL; ISSN 0887-8218
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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