THE INDUSTRIAL ESPIONAGE, A STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE OF THE ROMANIAN COMMUNIST SYSTEM BETWEEN 1965 AND 1989
THE INDUSTRIAL ESPIONAGE, A STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE OF THE ROMANIAN COMMUNIST SYSTEM BETWEEN 1965 AND 1989

Summary/Abstract: During the Cold War, in the shadow of ideological confrontation, the attention of the academic literature on the small and medium countries within the confronted blocs was limited. This paper aims to redress, to a certain extent, the imbalance created by the significant amount of attention received by the great powers in the historiographical debate of the Cold War in comparison to other countries. Given the significant role and importance secret services and their labour had in the development of the ideological war, countries with relevant endeavours in this matter are worth a more careful attention. The activities of the Romanian secret services were well connected to the aims established by the communist system while using interesting methods and techniques. Analysing some of these would enrich significantly the historiographical collection of the Cold War. This paper is part of a study that aims to fill in a niche by trying to find out whether industrial espionage was a strategic aim for the second and last part of the Romanian communist system, namely between 1965 and 1989. This paper also highlights the contribution made by the Romanian secret services to the course and development of the Cold War and tries to give a specific and specialised context for the nowadays democratic Romania. The examination of the methods used by the Romanian secret services in connection to the established objectives gives a general perspective of the aims of the Romanian communist system during the Cold War and reveals the importance industrial espionage had on it. The limited resources available might interfere in the quality of the analysed research. However, it leaves an open door for further investigation that might eventually answer some of the questions rose in this paper.

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