ABSTRACT
Political developments in Eastern Europe made obsolete former assumptions of continuity in Eastern Europe as a comparatively reliable starting point to an analysis of East-West relations. Addressing the issue of the transformation of the Central- and East European economies into market economies we have in mind regime aspects as well as substantial, material aspects. In spite of the schematic gearing of contractual for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) prices to world market prices, the CMEA pricing mechanism became increasingly separated from external markets, to a degree that substantially exceeded similar phenomena in any other regional trade, for example, in trade between the USA and Canada. The widely different views and the varying readiness to begin with the implementation of essential measures imply a future scenario of the CMEA network transforming into a conglomerate of bilateral relations with different régimes.
