ABSTRACT
The Soviet bloc continues to strive to protect its economies from the threatening volatility of market forces in the capitalist world. However, it is increasingly difficult to maintain this insulation in the 1980s. The Soviet Union and its allies have become dependent on western raw materials, western technology, and massive infusions of western credit. Now, paradoxically, the Soviet bloc seeks even greater involvement with the international economic system dominated by the West. The USSR appears ready to accept the substantial risk that greater international involvement will lead to even greater exposure to damaging world forces. In order to compensate for this risk, the Soviet Union has hardened its policy toward Eastern Europe. The USSR has signalled its position to the West and to its allies: it will exert greater control over its own bloc while it increases the bloc’s exposure to the uncertainties of the world economy.
