Innovative Behaviour, R&D Development Activities and Technology Policies in Countries in Transition: The Case of Central Europe

In the early 80s Professor Zbigniew Brzezinski, former President Jimmy Carter’s National Security adviser prophesized that the decade would either result in a war between the superpowers, or lead to the demise of the communist system and of the Soviet dominance in Eastern Europe. His main argument was that the Soviet socio-economic system was unable to meet the challenge of the new wave of innovations in communications and computers, based on research and development in microelectronics and related fields. This wave of innovations had already started to reshape the way business was done and the way society and its communication channels were controlled. It rewrote the military-defence framework and accelerated the pace of change in societal arrangements. It also made the information-control mechanisms used by the totalitarian communist regimes increasingly inefficient and irrelevant, so that they would become untenable. Brzezinski’s fear of a major confrontation between the superpowers stemmed from his belief that the Soviet generals had been aware of the innovation weaknesses and deficits inherent in their system, and could have been tempted to launch a surprise preemptive strike, before the free-market technological superiority established itself.