The Soviet Union and Eastern Europe in the Global Economy: (International Council for Central and East European Studies)

The Soviet Union and Eastern Europe are moving away from a centrally planned economy toward integration within the global economy. How did this transition begin? Is this an aim which all the countries can afford? What conditions are to be met so that the countries will achieve a level of development comparable with the average level of their industrial partners? In this timely volume, leading international political economists from both the East and West provide an in-depth analysis of these questions. In doing so they explore the three main challenges that currently face the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. First, the contributors analyze how the Communist bloc is redirecting its economic relations away from the political privileges of trade and cooperation with the CMEA and the Third World toward the West, in particular Western Europe. Secondly, they examine how the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe are eager to overcome their development lag and implement a restructuring policy, which implies increasing involvement of Western capital. Finally, the authors assess how the transition to the market requires liberalizing foreign trade, introducing convertibility, transforming property structures, all of which are also part of the ongoing domestic reform. The Soviet Union and Eastern Europe in the Global Economy provides a comprehensive understanding of the international dimensions and will be widely read by students and specialists of Soviet and East European studies, economics, and political science.

Table of Contents:
List of figures; List of tables; Introduction: the USSR and Eastern Europe opening to the world Marie Lavigne; Part I. Integration: The East in the World Economy: 1. East–West European integration Harriet Matejka; 2. East–West trade: what is it good for? Heinrich Vogel; 3. US interests in granting most favored nation status to the Soviet Union Joseph Pelzman; 4. New developments in economic relations between Japan and CMEA countries Wojciech Bienkowski and Masumi Hakogi; 5. Perestroika and its implications for Soviet foreign aid W. Donald Bowles; 6. Features and trends of East Germany's aid and trade with the Third World Siefried Schulz; Part II. Growth, Technology Transfers and Joint Ventures: 7. East–West technology transfer and Soviet regional development: continuity and change Michael J. Bradshaw and Denis J. B. Shaw; 8. East–West technology flows: recent developments and perspectives Jan Maciejewicz; 9. The opening of the USSR to foreign capital: from concessions during NEP to joint ventures under perestroika Patrick Gutman; 10. Current joint venture law and its impact on the Polish economy Jozef Misala; 11. Joint ventures in Poland: interests and experiences of western firms Horst Brezinski; Part III. Liberalization: Entry into the International Markets: 12. Perestroika and the new international economy Erik P. Hoffman; 13. From decentralization to liberalization of foreign trade: the experience of Poland Krystyna Szymkiewicz; 14. Between two firs? Foreign economic relations of Eastern Europe: past, present, and future(s) Istvan Salgo; Index.