The Communist States and Western Integration

In discussing the process of integration in western Europe, communist writings invariably put the word in quotation marks, and often preface it with “so-called,” to drive home the central point that, while technological progress does create a tendency toward international economic activity, the capitalist system is inherently incapable of an effective response to this necessity. What is involved is not so much the broad, undefined movement toward an Atlantic Community, which Soviet strategists tend to discount, as the specific and practical development of the European Common Market. With or without quotation marks, the movement toward European integration has become a major factor in the evolution of Soviet ideology and policy. Despite its ups and downs, the Common Market has resulted in profound modifications in Soviet ideas concerning contemporary capitalism and the present configuration of power; it has led to a radical revision of the Council of Mutual Economic Assistant (COMECON)—the Soviet counterpart organization for eastern Europe; and it has greatly complicated Moscow's leadership of the world communist movement. Over the long run, if the non-communist nations are able to sustain a movement toward growth and integration, this development gives promise of leading to fundamental transformations in Soviet policies and in the Soviet system itself.