East-West Relations and the Future of Eastern Europe

Both domestic and foreign policy considerations led Eastern European nations in the 1970s to involve their economies more deeply with the West. This increased economic interdependence encompassed trade, technology transfer through industrial cooperation, and international credit. These growing links came as a mixed blessing as Western economic problems – inflation, recession, unemployment, energy – began to affect the economic development and political stability in Eastern Europe.

First published in 1981, East–West Relations and the Future of Eastern Europe examines the implications of these problems for East–West relations and the domestic scene in Eastern Europe. The authors analyze the interaction of economic and political forces at three interlocking levels – international, regional, and national. The first part deals with the evolution of East–West political and economic relations in the 1970s and the prospects for the 1980s and considers the implications of developments in East–West relations for Soviet and East European regional, economic, political, and military ties. Thereafter, experts from East and West offer their perspectives on political economic strategies for individual East European countries, in the context of their regional and international relations. This book will be of interest to students of comparative economics, international trade, and international relations.

Morris Bornstein was Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Michigan, USA. Dr. Bornstein’s scholarly publications on comparative economic systems, the economies of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, and the economics of transition included seven books (some translated into Italian, Spanish, Chinese or French) and sixty journal articles and chapters in collective volumes.

Zvi Gitelman is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Michigan, USA. He studies ethnicity and politics, especially in former Communist countries, as well as Israeli politics, East European politics, and Jewish political thought and behavior.

William Zimmerman is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Michigan, USA. Professor Zimmerman taught at the University of Michigan throughout his academic career while occasionally teaching at institutions such as Harvard University and European University in St. Petersburg, Russia. His primary research areas are Soviet and Russian foreign and domestic policy, Eastern Europe, and comparative elites.