From Embargo to Ostpolitik: The Political Economy of West German-Soviet Relations, 1955-1980
By Angela Stent
Cambridge University Press, 1982, 328 pp.
A timely study of the role of trade in West German-Soviet relations since 1955. The book is of importance both in regard to method-the careful delineation of the many factions that shaped West German and Soviet economic policies, including pressure groups and rival political actors-and in regard to substance, i.e., the course of relations between the two countries. The author, a young American political scientist, presents a balanced view of the importance of economic factors in shaping political relations; she sees that economic carrots and sticks have limited effect.
