Reagan

Gorbachev

Political / Ideology

(An Example)

Mindset or Policies introduced:

• Reagan Doctrine.
• Foreign policy introduced to aid any country under the threat of communism.
• Involved in the Iran-Contra Affair as well as the Afghanistan War. Getting heavily involved through subvert and illegal methods such as the provision of aid and technologically superior weapons

• In particular to Afghanistan; Afghanistan. Involvement through investment of military weapons, anti-aircraft missiles and training; rebel fighter from Afghanistan and volunteers from the neighboring Islamic countries such as Saudi Arabia were also recruited by the hundreds to be sent to America to be trained in the CIA specialist academies. They were trained in bomb-making technology and the use of various types of chemical and biological weapons

• Highlighted the aggression and determination of US to act out the Reagan Doctrine and weaken USSR substantially such that it will fall as a Superpower.

Impact on USSR:

• Economic threat: Prolonged the conflict with the US involvement and moreover with superior weapons being supplied constantly
• Credibility threat: There is a need to compete to maintain the alliance of the communist bloc; but was called the “evil empire” as USSR were seen as offenders and aggressors
• Nationalism rose among the predominately Islamic populace of the central Soviet republics near Afghanistan such as Kazakhstan, Uzberkistan
• Combined with glasnost and demokratizatsiya it loosened authoritarian controls over the society and facilitated the airing of national grievances in the republics; arose first in Georgia in late 1988

Impact on CW:

• Afghanistan war supported by US thus became an underlying factor and an impetus for nationalism to develop and broke out in uncontrollably impact from 1988
• As republics within USSR fought for individual sovereignty, USSR was faced with the danger of the disintegration of the Union.
• By the Jun 1990, Russia had issued its declaration of sovereignty and by the end of Nov, 9 other republics followed. This forced Gorbachev to have to negotiate another form of union that would provide broad sovereignty to the individual republics. But it did not work ant by Dec 1991, all the republics had declared its independence and by 25 Dec 1991, the Soviet Union ceased to exist

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Economic

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Security

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