The Role of the West European and Japanese Governments in East-West Economic Relations: The View from Eastern Europe

It is widely believed that East-West economic relations have always been heavily influenced by political factors. However, Western governments, even those following otherwise liberal and non-interventionist foreign economic policy, have tried to control the sphere of economic contacts with socialist countries, using various economic and non-economic tools. This tendency has been particularly visible in the case of the United States, although other Western countries have closely followed American political guidelines.