This book makes an important theoretical contribution to our understanding of international institutions by exploring conceptually and empirically the impact of technology on the governance of international economic activities. Technology, Governance and Political Conflict in International Industries addresses the current intense interest among scholars in the ways that knowledge can shape the development of international institutions by examining a particularly important type of knowledge - technology. In doing so the book makes a novel contribution to the 'constructivist' approaches that have become popular in the study of International Relations. Moreover, Porter's innovative approach treats the international economy not as a novel and constantly expanding highly competitive market composed of individual firms, but rather as a highly institutionalized set of industries, often dominated by leading firms, in which remarkable centuries-long patterns of continuity and repetition can be identified.