The Political Economy of East-South Relations
| Author | Ruben Berrios |
| DOI | 10.1177/002234338302000305 |
| Published date | 01 September 1983 |
| Date | 01 September 1983 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
The
Political
Economy
of
East-South
Relations
RUBEN
BERRIOS*
The
discussion
and
overall
assessment
of
East-West
balance
has
ignored
the
economic
dimensions
of
East-South
relations.
This
paper
examines
the
political
and
economic
relations
between
the
industrialized
socialist
CMEA
countries
of
Eastern
Europe
and
the
Third
World,
focusing
on
the
dynamics
of
trade,
aid
and
technology
transfer.
It
attempts
to
achieve
a
greater
understanding
of
the
recent
evolution,
its
present
state
and
possible
developments
in
East-South
relations.
As
the
Soviet
and
East
European
stake
has
increased
in
the
international
order
they
have
become
an
alternative
source
of
trade,
credit
and
technology
for
the
South.
However,
their
active
involvement
in
the
South
still
leaves
much
to
be
desired
and
is
also
a
stark
illustration
of
the
handicaps
they
suffer
as
a
result
of
their
limited
international
capabilities.
Introduction
The
literature
concerning
development
has
tended
to
focus
almost
entirely
on
relations
between
the
rich
and
the
poor
nations
of
the
world
economy.
These
studies
have
focussed
attention
on
Western
advanced
capitalist
countries
and
the
developing
countries,
but
scant
attention
has
been
paid
to
economic
relations
between
the
industrialized
socialist
CMEA
countries
of
Eastern
Europel
and
the
Third
World.
Furthermore,
the
discussion
and
overall
assessment
of
the
impact
of
East-West
balance
has
ignored
the
economic
dimensions
of
East-South
relations.
The
North-South
dialogue
loses
much
of
its
economic
and
political
significance
if
the
Eastern
role
is
ignored.
It
is
also
disturbing
that
a
number
of
much
publicized
reports,
including
the
Brandt
Commission’s,
say
virtually
nothing
about
the
East.
During
the
course
of
the
last
25
years
the
East
European
socialist
countries
have
estab-
lished
economic
and
political
ties
with
the
vast
majority
of
countries
of
the
developing
world.
The
expansion
of
relations
with
most
countries
in
the
South
is
a
recent
phenomena,
particularly
due
to
detente
which
did
play a
large
role
in
eliminating
some
of
the
ideological
obstacles
to
acceptance
of
the
East
as
a
normal
trade
and
diplomatic
partner.
The
main
purpose
of
this
paper
is,
therefore,
to
provide
an
overview
of
some
of
the
im-
portant
issues in
the
changing
pattern
of
inter-
national
relations,
particularly
East-South
relations.
In
essence,
it
attempts
to
review
various
aspects
related
to
trade,
aid,
and
technology
flows
from
the
socialist
CMEA
countries
to
the
Third
World.2
2
In
order
to
assess
this
dimension,
the
most
significant
question
to
be
asked
is:
will
the
relationship
genuinely
extricate
the
countries
of
the
Third
World
from
historical
Western
dominance
of
an
exploitative
nature,
or
will
it
replace
integration
into
the
world
capitalist
system
with
an
equally
invidious
integration
into
an
alternative
system
of
exploitation?
The
optimistic
outlook
is
that
there
are
great
advantages.
In
the
political
sphere,
the
use
of
non-aligned
diplomacy
allows
a
developing
country
a
more
independent
position
in
the
world
scene.
In
the
economic
plane,
the
so-
cialist
economies
are
seen
as
possible
sources
of
trade,
credit
and
technology.
The
pessi-
mistic
outlook
is
that
many
critics
see
an
exploitative
tendency
under
the
facade
of
socialism,
which
in
the
end
could
be
con-
sidered,
in
certain
cases,
no
less
exploitative
than
capitalism.
*
Ruben
Berrios
is
Research
Associate
of
GRADE
(Grupo)
de
Analisis
para
el
Desarollo),
Lima,
Peru.
This
paper
was
written
while
the
author
was
Visiting
Research
Fellow
at
the
International
Peace
Research
Institute,
Oslo
and
completed
at
the
Development
Research
Institute,
Tilburg
University,
The
Nether-
lands,
in
1982.
Support
for
this
work
from
both
institutions
is
gratefully
acknowledged.
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