ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes the economic elements in the developments just described, opening with a brief discussion of the productivity problem and some of its future implications, then examining past Russian involvement in the world economy. It describes a historical pattern of this involvement and its relation to the process of technical change, followed by an analysis of current and projected Soviet economic relations with the advanced nations and the possibility of the Soviets pursuing a more intensive and long-term involvement in international economic interrelationships. Erosion in the growth of total labor and capital productivity in the Soviet economy during the 1960s and 1970s is the key aspect of Soviet economic performance that dominates all others in its effect on Soviet foreign policy. The tension between ambition and ability led to the state’s assuming the role of initiator of economic development, applying pressure on the international economy to grow rapidly to be able to support Russia’s foreign policy aims.
