Regan+and+Gorbachev



Hawks up should shut up.



In All Seriousness...... By the early 1980s, the USSR had built up a military arsenal and army surpassing that of the United States. Previously, the U.S. had relied on the qualitative superiority of its weapons to essentially frighten the Soviets, but the gap had been narrowed. After President Reagan's military build-up, the Soviet Union did not further dramatically build up its military; the enormous military expenses, in combination with [|collectivized agriculture] and inefficient [|palnned manufacturing], were a heavy burden for the [|Soviet economy]. At the same time, the Reagan Administration persuaded [|Saudi Arabia] to increase oil production, which resulted in a three times drop of oil prices in 1985; oil was the main source of Soviet export revenues. These factors gradually brought the Soviet economy to a stagnant state during Gorbachev's tenure. Ronald Reagan recognized the change in the direction of the Soviet leadership with Gorbachev, and shifted to diplomacy, with a view to encourage the Soviet Leader to pursue substantial arms agreements. Gorbachev agreed to meet Reagan in four summit conferences around the world: the first in [|Geneva, Switzerland], the second in [|Reykjavík, Iceland] , the third held in Washington, D.C., along with the fourth summit in [|Moscow, Russia]. Reagan believed that if he could persuade the Soviets to allow for more democracy and free speech, this would lead to reform and the end of Communism. Speaking at the [|Berlin Wall], on [|June 12] , [|1987] , Reagan [|challenged Gorbachev to go further] :
 * ** “ ** || General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, [|tear down this wall] ! || ** ” ** ||

Prior to Gorbachev visiting Washington, D.C. for the third summit in 1987, the Soviet Leader announced his intention to pursue significant arms agreements. The timing of the announcement led Western diplomats to state that Gorbachev was offering major concessions to the United States on the levels of conventional forces, nuclear weapons, and policy in Eastern Europe; however, Gorbachev denied ever doing so. He and Reagan signed the [|Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty] at the White House (they finalized it a year later), which eliminated an entire class of nuclear weapons. When Reagan visited Moscow for the fourth summit in 1988, he was viewed as a celebrity by Russians. A journalist asked the president if he still considered the Soviet Union the evil empire. "No," he replied, "I was talking about another time, another era." At Gorbachev’s request, Reagan gave a speech on free markets at the [|Moscow State University]. In his autobiography [|An American Life], Reagan expressed his optimism about the new direction that they charted, his warm feelings for Gorbachev, and his concern for Gorbachev's safety because he pushed reforms so hard: "I was concerned for his safety," Reagan wrote. "I've still worried about him. How hard and fast can he push reforms without risking his life?" The Berlin Wall was [|torn down starting in 1989] and two years later the Soviet Union collapsed.

...Notes liberated and discovered form Google searches and Wikipedia

Andrew Holmes

what a 'R' TARD...