The Eastern Dimension of COMECON: Review of the Documental Collection “Mongolia in Comecon: on the Way to Eurasian Economic Integration”

Abstract

The article is an extended review of the volume of archival evidences “Mongolia in Comecon: on the way to Eurasian economic integration. 1962—1991” published in 2023 by Russian and Mongolian archivists. The author explains peculiarity and significance of the Mongolian Peoples Republic for representation of the best achievements of the World socialist system’s project and gives a general historical framework for understanding the published documents. Analyzing evidences about the general economic staff and technical cooperation, the article shows on the example of published documents concrete backbone projects and transfers of knowledge and technologies typical for Comecon daily business. A special attention is paid to a number of sensational first published evidences from Mongolian and Russian archives that essentially deepen the existing historical mainstream on the fate of successful (1969—1971) and unsuccessful (1989—1991) reforms in Comecon. In the end, the author comes to conclusion about historical significance of Comecon and Mongolia as a country that represents extremely interesting, positive and educative example of integration of the countries with different level of development within the frames of global socialist project.