FURTHER READING.

• Author: Magnuson, Stew

Improved Export Controls Enforcement Technology Needed for U.S. National Security By Gregory C. Allen, Emily Benson and William Alan Reinsch, Center for Strategic and International Studies

* The U.S. government spends a great deal of time, money and effort trying to ensure that sensitive technologies developed in the United States are exclusively used by the military or its allies.

Yet, when Russian- and Iranian-made drones were shot down over the skies of Ukraine this past year, out spilled a plethora of controlled U.S.-made parts.

"As every street corner narcotics dealer knows, there is a major difference between a business transaction being illegal and it being impossible," said this 16-page CSIS report on the current state of export controls.

The Commerce, State and Defense Departments all have a role in deciding what does and doesn't receive export licenses. Reports on export controls in the past have concentrated on what should and shouldn't be protected, and the red tape that prevents U.S. companies from profiting on their goods overseas.

But these recent examples of sensitive technologies not only falling into the wrong hands but being used to kill an ally's warfighters and civilians has put the focus on enforcement.

"There are a variety of tactics that illicit actors can use to gain access to U.S. technology in defiance of export controls, ranging from outright theft and smuggling to the use of shell companies that hide the identity of an unlawful end user behind a front company...