A center-periphery theory of exploitation and exchange: How it can help explain the fall of the Eastern Bloc

The hypothesis that the fall of the Soviet Empire in Eastern Europe was due more to imperative economic conditions in the Soviet Union than to socio-political demands of Eastern Europe is the central point of discussion in this thesis. It was concluded that the revolutions to remove communist governments launched by these countries would have been brutally crushed had the Soviet Union been in an economic position to do so. As secondary issues, the role of empires in the modern world, and whether the fall of the Eastern Bloc was a precursor to the Soviet collapse of 1991 were also discussed. The central hypothesis was supported with the construction of a center-periphery theory of exploitation and exchange, and an analysis of trade statistics, including export, import and budget data. Given the nature of available Soviet economic data, it is impossible to claim the hypothesis has been irrefutably proved. However, despite limited empirical evidence, the theoretical arguments contained in this study are supported.