The following article explains the rationale of United States' International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). It argues that the current Australian effort to procure waivers or relaxations of ITAR requirements is misplaced. The best way to facilitate Australian access to advanced U.S. military technology is for Australia to tighten its regulatory and contractual measures to reduce the perceived risk of unauthorized intangible transfers of sensitive data.

Australia is one of the U.S. most dependable and capable allies. Hence, any significant regulatory obstacle to interoperability of Australian and U.S. forces does not serve the interests of either party. But there is a ...