International Cryptography International Cryptography B. Schneier Information Security Magazine, September 1999. One of the stranger justifications of U.S. export controls is that they prevent the spread of cryptographic expertise. When several studies proved that there were hundreds of products designed, built, and marketed outside the U.S., the Administration changed its story. These products were all no good, they argued. Export controls prevent superior American products from getting into foreign hands, forcing them to use inferior non-U.S. products.
Cryptography is an international science.
There are more advanced degree programs in cryptography outside the U.S. than there are inside. Researchers outside the U.S. tend to be better funded, and there is more interest in their work. The U.S. not only does not have a lock on cryptographic research, it does not even have the majority. In 1997, NIST solicited algorithms for the Advanced Encryption Standard, to replace DES as a government encryption standard. Australia, Belgium, Canada, Costa Rica, England, France, Germany, Israel, Japan, Korea.