ABSTRACT
The concluding chapter summarises the results of the collective research while drawing the comparative analysis between the seven country cases. In particular, it brings to the fore national variations to common patterns and national approaches to the following issues: expectations with regard to East-West economic and political relations; national economic strategy; the desirability of exchanges with the capitalist neighbours and the ways to promote them; perception of Soviet control over their economic strategies; desirability of CMEA cooperation; appraisal of the impact of the EEC on national economy; and ways to deal with it. The chapter also comparatively highlights the existence of a plurality of voices besides the top party leadership in the policymaking process, and the agency and some autonomy of ministries and government organisations, the experts they employed or consulted, trade associations and their officials, and managers in key sectors involved in relations with Western Europe. Finally, it illustrates the book’s important contributions to current scholarship in the fields of the Cold War, the history of communism, international economic history, and European integration history.
