uhmump95 Wrote:What was his role? Please do not give me the "By spending money on the US's defense programs, he caused the Soviet Union to bankrupt themselves to keep up ...."
So, you don't want the facts then? That's about like me saying, "What was Abraham Lincoln's role in freeing the slaves, and please don't give me the "emancipation proclimation and fighting to win the civil war."
The policy on the Soviet Union had been one of containment for decades. A policy that failed miserably as communism took over country after country from WWII well into the 70's. Reagan had a policy of defeating them, not containing them. You can read about that in several books on the subject.
Reagan felt the USSR couldn't keep up with us in an arms race and he was right. His military build up was key to their fall regardless if you want to hear it. They had to divert resources and money to try and keep up which in turn meant they couldn't funnel money to their existing client states or create more through support for communists in other countries.
Part of the strategy also entailed slowing the flow of hard currency to the USSR. This was accomplished by delaying the Soviet gas pipeline to western Europe, facilitating a drop in oil prices, and limiting technology to the soviet block. He also supported guerillas in soviet client states.
You also can't under estimate his rhetoric during his 8 years. More than a few specials on Biography, A&E etc. talked about how Reagan's rhetoric was demoralizing to the soviets and as a result helped create unrest among the people.
Reagan does not deserve sole credit to be sure. Margaret Thatcher and the Pope deserve credit as well. But only blind partisanship drives someone to try and say Reagan doesn't deserve credit for the downfall of the Soviet Union. The facts of history fly in the face of that kind of thinking. I know it's the liberal way to hate Reagan and portray him as a dunce who was just lucky. This is crap and anyone with a shred of intellectual honesty knows that.
I'll sum up with this from Margaret Thatcher. I'd say she's far more qualified to speak on it than you or I.
Quote:And surely it is hard to deny that Ronald Reagan's life was providential, when we look at what he achieved in the eight years that followed.
Others prophesied the decline of the West; he inspired America and its allies with renewed faith in their mission of freedom.
Others saw only limits to growth; he transformed a stagnant economy into an engine of opportunity.
Others hoped, at best, for an uneasy cohabitation with the Soviet Union; he won the Cold War - not only without firing a shot, but also by inviting enemies out of their fortress and turning them into friends.