The Legacy of COMECON

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Recommended: The disintegration of the Soviet Union

The Legacy of COMECON The end of the Soviet Union as it were and the collapse of the

Communist System of governance in Eastern Europe inevitably led to the

demise of organizations like the Warsaw Pact and the Council of Mutual

Economic Assistance (CMEA or Comecon). What is uncertain is whether or

not the demise of the communistic answer to the Marshall Plan, i.e.:

the Comecon, was a move that was advantageous to its member states or

not.

During the course of this essay, I will attempt to argue that it was

indeed advantageous to these countries, inspite of the lingering

problems that these countries have in adapting to economic reform. I

will attempt to illustrate the problems faced by these countries

during the Comecon years, how and why these problems have changed in

the post Comecon era, what steps they have taken to lessen the impact

economic, social and political reformation has on their people, and

try to give a possible indication of the direction they are headed.

The Nature and "legacy" of Comecon

==================================

Comecon arose mainly out of Stalin's condemnation of the USA's

Marshall plan. Stalin noted the need to formulate an economic

organization for the Communist states to mirror that of the capitalist

Marshall Plan. By 1949, he had set up the Comecon and besides the

USSR, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, Rumania, Bulgaria, Albania, and

the GDF signed up. In 1962, Mongolia joined as well. Cuba joined later

on to emphasize the Russians view of Comecon as being a politically

fuelled economic organization Within the fra...

... middle of paper ...

...a, A Country Study - Comecon", Washington DC,

Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress, 1992

"Europe As An Open System"

Gleason, L; "Comecon and the Advantages of Joint Planning at

International Level", 2001

"Hungary - Comecon to the EU"

Koop, P; "Europe in the 20th Century: The Century of Socialist

Expansion in Europe", David Black Shaffer Publishers, 1997

Pipes, R; "Is Russia Still An Enemy?" Foreign Affairs, Sept/October

1997, pp 65-78

Roucek, L; "After the Bloc: The New International Relations in Eastern

Europe", RIAA Discussion Paper, no 4, 1992

Runge, C; "Eastern Europe: "Is Opportunity Knocking?" University of

Minnesota Press, Sept 1990

Tosovsky, J; "Ten Years on: Some Lessons from Transition - The Czech

Republic", Sept 2000

World History, "COMECON", KMLA, 2001

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