Abstract : My paper "Some International Elements of Perestroika and U.S. National Security" addressed only two of Gorbachev's goals for entering the international economy: securing increased investment from the West and obtaining membership in the international financial institutions (IFIs). Gorbachev is counting on the third element increased trade as another way to ease the internal pressures in restructuring the Soviet economy. Trade can be commercial trade! it can include dual use items which have both commercial and strategic uses, or trade can be for strictly strategic items. Changes in any one of these three affect U.S. national security . Strategic trade clearly affects U.S. national security . Determining what constitutes strategic trade can be difficult , however, since many products have dual uses. Because the impact of commercial trade and dual use trade on U.S. security is less evident than that of strategic trade , an examination of these two is necessary to complete my analysis of the international economic aspects of perestroika and U.S. national security .