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Did Reagan Make Gorbachev Possible?
Author(s) -
WILSON JAMES GRAHAM
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
presidential studies quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.337
H-Index - 5
eISSN - 1741-5705
pISSN - 0360-4918
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-5705.2008.02655.x
Subject(s) - reagan administration , presidential system , rhetoric , political science , administration (probate law) , public administration , law , political economy , law and economics , sociology , philosophy , politics , theology
This article examines how Soviet leaders responded to Ronald Reagan during his first presidential administration. It contests the notion that Reagan's tough rhetoric and arms buildup from 1981 to 1984 made Gorbachev possible. It draws on fresh evidence to argue that Reagan's words and deeds had precisely the opposite effect—they emboldened hard‐liners within the Kremlin and ultimately postponed “new thinking.”