Energy and the Soviet bloc

In this book William M. Reisinger explores the complexity that, we now begin to realize, has characterized relations between Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union since the death of Stalin. He concentrates on energy politics to clarify the nature of Soviet-East European dealings and to show how the Soviet Union has operated politically to control the countries of what has been (inaccurately) termed its empire. Reisinger assumes that members of the Warsaw Pact have long enjoyed some degree of independence--he believes direct rule from Moscow ceased in the 1950s--and he defends the assumption by demonstrating separate interests and sources of influence among different pact members. His main goal, however, is to use this plausible position to generate interesting new analyses of the postwar politics of Eastern Europe. In particular he applies the current Western literature on asymmetrical interstate bargaining and alliance management thus contributing methodologically to the "normalization" of our understanding of international politics outside the advanced industrial countries. Beginning with a brief outline of post Stalinist politics between the USSR and Eastern Europe, Reisinger sketches the general advantages and limitations of formal analytic techniques. He then constructs a summary periodization of energy relations among Warsaw Pact members, provides statistical analyses of Soviet energy exports to the region from 1960 to 1989, and describes in detail two cases of energy politics: Polish-Soviet bargaining in 1971, and East European-Soviet bargaining over the price formula for their mutual trade in 1975. His concluding discussion sums up what energy politics has to tell us about the evolution of relations between Moscow and the capitals of Eastern Europe.