The interests and dividends of the West from the cooperation in the economic sphere with the socialist countries in the late 60s - 70s of the 20th century

The article attempts to uncover the deep-seated interests of the West in the development of economic cooperation with socialist countries in the years of «detente», as well as to reveal the dividends that Western countries received from the intensification of ties with socialist countries in the economic sphere. It is emphasized that the «pivot» in the West-East cooperation was predetermined by severe circumstances that arose in the global market economy in the first half of the 1960s. The resolution of West economic problems was possible only in the atmosphere of security and cooperation on the European continent and in the world in general. Having set out on the path of ‘détente’, political and economic cooperation with the Eastern bloc, Western countries showed the world and their own community their positive attitude to this cooperation both as a «charity» and as a necessity, allegedly stemming from the objective process of the integration of two economic models, as well as an instrument for strengthening peace and security...