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An expert on East European politics and economics analyzes and evaluates Western policies toward the new East European democracies as they struggle to build stable political orders and functioning market economies. He argues that the West must give higher priority to assisting the region and reorient its strategies so as to emphasize the political and administrative dimensions of economic reconstruction. He reviews the economic legacy of past Western policies and of Eastern Europe's previous dependency on the Soviet Union, and then examines in detail the changing East-West trade patterns, the prospect for Western investment and technology transfer, the questions of finance, debt, and foreign aid, and the dilemmas of market reform. Students, scholars, policy analysts, historians, and business people will find this fascinating reading. It is an excellent text for courses in U.S. foreign policy, comparative politics, international political economy, East European and Slavic studies, comparative economics, and international trade and finance.
List of contents
Foreword by Richard C. Leone
IntroductionThe Political Objectives of Economic Policy
Crisis and Opportunity: Eastern Europe Enters the Post-Communist Era
The Legacy of the Communist EraPostwar Western Economic Policies toward Eastern Europe: A Brief History
Soviet-East European Economic Relations: A Brief History
Dimensions of Economic PolicyEastern Europe and Economic Integration
Patterns of East-West Trade
Western Investment and the Transfer of Technology
Money, Credit, and Debt
Overcoming Obstacles to SuccessDilemmas of Reform
The Dangers of Divergence: The United States and the New Europe
ConclusionA Marshall Plan for Eastern Europe?
About the author
THOMAS A. BAYLIS, Professor of Political Science at the University of Texas at San Antonio, has written extensively on both East and West European politics and economics. His most recent books include Governing by Committee: Collegial Leadership in Advanced Societies (1989) and East Germany in Comparative Perspective (1989).
