From 1950, until this book's publication in 1980, the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) has been the regional institution overseeing East European economic integration. This book examines the history and attempts to assess the probable future of economic integration within the CMEA. The author pursues three main themes in analyzing the sluggish pace of East European integration on trade during the last thirty years, the role of East-West relations in the integration process, and the future of integration in the 1980s. Firstly he maintains that the integration process was delayed because of the confused postwar situation and disagreement among leaders of the region over a common economic programme for reconstruction and sustained growth. Secondly, he argues that the post war development strategy and central planning of the economies inhibited regional cooperation. Finally the author contends that the organization and policy guidelines of the CMEA have fallen far short of what would seem to be need to further integration.