Analyzes growing US-Soviet economic interdependence and the implications of economic pressure in their relationship. From a review of US-Soviet economic relations, the author concludes that US embargo strategies against the USSR in the past have been futile, at times even counterproductive.
For this study, a group of Russian authors were commissioned to describe and assess the arms trade policies and practices of Russia under new domestic and international conditions. The contributors, drawn from the government, industry, and academic communities, offer a wide range of reports on the political, military, economic, and industrial implications of Russian arms transfers, as well as specific case studies of key bilateral arms transfer relationships.
Reflecting Professor Holzman's important work, this book deals with major issues relating to both East-West and intra-bloc trade. Professor Holzman explores the transition in Soviet bloc economies over the past fifteen years from balanced hard-currency trade to large deficits with the West and the consequent development of a huge hard-currency debt. He compares the causes and treatments of deficits in planned economies with those in market economies and explores the dramatic differences in foreign trade behavior exhibited by Eastern and Western nations and the difficulties that arise when these conflicting systems interact in world markets. He also assesses the impact of Western economic warfare on the Soviet Union and makes recommendations for future U.S. trade policy. The author next turns to the issue of intra-bloc trade. In its early years the USSR economically exploited the smaller East European nations, but many argue that the Soviet Union now subsidizes trade with its partners in the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance in exchange for political, military, and ideological support-an argument that Professor Holzman strongly challenges. He also contends that CMEA, when viewed as a preferential trade group or customs union, has been markedly unsuccessful. On another level, Professor Holzman assesses the causes and possible cures for the serious, chronic problems related to currency inconvertibility, rigid bilateralism, and inability to use exchange rates as tools of economic adjustment. In an international economy growing ever more interdependent, the issues raised in these previously uncollected essays will continue to gain in importance as East and West meet in trade.
Very Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring The Cold War dominated international life from the end of World War II to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. But how did the conflict begin? Why did it move from its initial origins in Postwar Europe to encompass virtually every corner of the globe? And why, after lasting so long, did the war end so suddenly and unexpectedly? Robert McMahon considers these questions and more, as well as looking at the legacy of the Cold War and its impact on international relations today. The Cold War: A Very Short Introduction is a truly international history, not just of the Soviet-American struggle at its heart, but also of the waves of decolonization, revolutionary nationalism, and state formation that swept the non-Western world in the wake of World War II. McMahon places the 'Hot Wars' that cost millions of lives in Korea, Vietnam, and elsewhere within the larger framework of global superpower competition. He shows how the United States and the Soviet Union both became empires over the course of the Cold War, and argues that perceived security needs and fears shaped U.S. and Soviet decisions from the beginning—far more, in fact, than did their economic and territorial ambitions. He unpacks how these needs and fears were conditioned by the divergent cultures, ideologies, and historical experiences of the two principal contestants and their allies. Covering the years 1945-1990, this second edition uses recent scholarship and newly available documents to offer a fuller analysis of the Vietnam War, the changing global politics of the 1970s, and the end of the Cold War. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
The Soviet Union, in the aftermath of the Brezhnev era, may well stand at a crossroads in its history. According to the authors of this volume, the Chernenko administration and the new generation of political leaders now on the threshold of power must steer through a difficult period in the USSR's international relations, especially where the U.S. is concerned, continuing to assert what they regard as the legitimate Soviet role as a world superpower while coping with an inflexible and aging political system, a stagnant economy, and growing social problems. The contributors provide a careful consideration of the choices confronting the USSR as this new era begins and analyze the paths its leaders may take as they grapple with the challenges of the 1980s.
This book presents a comprehensive reassessment of Europe in the Cold War period, 1945-91. Contrary to popular belief, it shows that relations between East and West were based not only on confrontation and mutual distrust, but also on collaboration. The authors reveal that - despite opposing ideologies - there was in fact considerable interaction and exchange between different Eastern and Western actors (such states, enterprises, associations, organisations and individuals) irrespective of the Iron Curtain. This book challenges both the traditional understanding of the East-West juxtaposition and the relevancy of the Iron Curtain. Covering the full period, and taking into account a range of spheres including trade, scientific-technical co-operation, and cultural and social exchanges, it reveals how smaller countries and smaller actors in Europe were able to forge and implement their agendas within their own blocs. The books suggests that given these lower-level actors engaged in mutually beneficial cooperation, often running counter to the ambitions of the bloc-leaders, the rules of Cold War interaction were not, in fact, exclusively dictated by the superpowers.