Paul Gorbachev Research Paper

The end of the Cold War can be credited to the actions of Ronald Reagan, Mikhail Gorbachev, and George Bush, as well as the breakup of communist satellite nations. Ronald Reagan with his increased spending in the defense sector instigated an arms race with the Soviet Union in an attempt to overwhelm the Soviet Union through military influence. However, the Soviet Union was unable to keep up with the arms race due to a weak and stagnating economy since building new weapons was costly. Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985 also introduced two new policies, Glasnost and Perestroika which ended political censorship and restructured the economy respectively. Glasnost allowed for the actions of the Soviet Union’s government to be publicly displayed and further reduced the appeal of communism. George Bush and Gorbachev both signed the START I and START II treaties which further reduced the number of nuclear warheads on both sides. The breakup of satellite states also contributed to the end of the cold war as the Soviet Union stated that they would not provide military help to the various communist governments. This eventually lead to the falling out of Communist parties in several

Mikhail Gorbachev is a foreign leader who worked with Reagan and also wanted to eliminate communism. If the Soviet Union collapsed, then all influences of communism would stop, which is what Reagan and Gorbachev wanted (Marsico, 84). The nation as a whole agreed that they did not want communism to spread beyond the borders of East Germany and seep into their culture. During the span of 1985-1988 five meetings between the Americans and the Communists negotiated issues of diplomacy. By the early 1980’s the Soviets had built up weaponry which was almost comparable to America’s weaponry, but as the decade went on the Soviets were unable to keep up (Marsico, 84). This inferiority pleased the American people. By 1991 the cold war had concluded. on June 12, 1987, Reagan asked Gorbachev helped to eliminate the oppressive influence that communism had outside of the soviet union (Marsico 85-86). He wanted to stop the influences so that communism would not spread any further than it already had. Standing beside the berlin wall, which separated East and West Germany, Reagan gave a speech which reminded every one of the differences between the two sides. General Secretary Gorbachev” Reagan challenged him, “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!”

Despite the unsuccessful past during the Cold War years between the United States and the Soviet Union, President Ronald Reagan and his counterpart the general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev during the 1980s should have focused on bright future by reducing the nuclear arms, because having a partnership, friendship and the common goal will move two nations toward success. On 1985, in an effort to improve the international situation, the United States and the Soviet Union have decided to hold a meeting in Switzerland, Geneva. It was a first official meeting between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, to discuss reductions in nuclear weapons and talk about future partnerships. Geneva Summit led on to four further meetings in 1986 Reykjavik, in 1987 in Washington, Moscow in 1988, and the last one in New York Harbour in 1988.

In 1985, a new leader by the name of Mikhail Gorbachev came to the political forefront of the Soviet Union.  Reagan saw this as his final opportunity to completely destroy the threat of communism once and for all.  Reagan and Gorbachev met

In a political snafu the Reagan administration sold arms to Iran so that they could secure the release of US hostages and also generate enough money to support Contra. This became known as the Iran-Contra Affair and steeply affected Reagan’s popularity with the people. (Mayer, Jane and Doyle McManus) Reagan’s willingness to use violence alarmed many, especially when he took up the position of the Soviet Union being purely evil. After Gorbachev became a chairman representing many soviet political parties and took on a position of negotiator, Reagan became less militant and more open to discussion, seeing Gorbachev as a good man who came out of an evil system. A significant event during this period was Reagan’s speech at the berlin wall, which urged Gorbachev to bring down the wall and reunite berlin. As tensions rapidly declined the Soviets declared that they would no longer interfere in allied affairs.

In my view, Gorbachev’s trust on Reagan came to a point where he was ready to take the leap of faith and that ensured a peaceful outcome of the cold-war endgame. This all shows that how powerful impact the Summits can have on the psyche of a leader of a nation. By the time Reagan had gone, USSR unilaterally announced the cut in its defence arsenal in 1989, the Warsaw pact countries were moving towards democratization and finally in December 1991 saw the final enactment of the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

During the Cold War Ronald Reagan made a speech said in 1982 about the Soviet Union, saying, “We're approaching the end of a bloody century plagued by a terrible political invention, totalitarianism”, this meant that the Soviet Union used a political invention that takes control of public life (Ronald Reagan). At first, Ronald Reagan thought that the Soviet Union desired war, but when he talked to Sir Winston Churchill, Churchill said, “I do not believe that Soviet Russia desires war. What they desire is the fruits of war and the indefinite expansion of their power and doctrines, but what we have to consider here today while time remains is the permanent prevention of war and the establishment of conditions of freedom and democracy as rapidly as possible in all countries", this meant that the Soviet Union wanted to control the world and spread communism all around the world (Ronald Reagan, Sir Winston Churchill). Also, Reagan’s strategy was to do military build up then reduce Russia’s nuclear weapons (We The People.org). When Ronald Reagan met Gorbachev in a meeting, the first thing they did to stop the Cold War is by signing the INF treaty which reduced 50% nuclear weapons in Russia, but all of nuclear weapons in America were to be wiped out (Atomic Archive.com). In their other meeting in Reykjavik Summit in the Hofdi House, Reagan and Gorbachev talked about human rights until Reagan asked Gorbachev for his SDI (Strategic Defense Initiative), Gorbachev refused to give his SDI because of his fear of imbalance power (The Reagan Vision). This is how Gorbachev and Reagan reduced Cold War tensions to the point where communism and the Cold War was falling

Even as Reagan clashed Marxism in Central America but, the USSR was crumbling. In reaction to severe economic difficulties and rising political uproar in the Russia, the Premier ‘Mikhail Gorbachev’ took office in 1985 and then announced two strategies that redefined Russian’s association to the rest of the realm: ‘glasnost’ or political honesty, and ‘restructuring’ or economic development. Soviet impact in Eastern Europe diminished. In 1989 every former communist government in the county swapped its government with a non-communist any. In November of that year the “Berlin Wall” the utmost evident sign of the decades long Cold War was to end with demolished, just done two years after Reagan had defied the Russian premier in an address at Brandenburg

No era of Summitry was as eventful as that of Reagan and Gorbachev’s. Both the leaders held four summits between 1985 and 1988, which eventually changed the course of the history. The personal rapport that the two leaders established between themselves ultimately led to the end of the cold war, without a shot being fired. This was no mean feat, considering that in the preceding four decades, both the countries spared no effort to outdo each other from space exploration to making the most lethal weapons that the mankind had ever known. The 80’s saw the climax of one of the most intriguing rivalries between the two super-powers of the time. This decade also proved the huge importance of

Glasnost, also known as “openness”, was an ideal instituted by Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985. Gorbachev wanted for transparency in government actions in order to better inform the Soviet people. These actions looked to limit government censorship,

And this thesis can be supported even in 1976 when the Soviet leader - Leonid Brezhnev states that “We Communists have to string along with the capitalists for a while. We need their agriculture and their technology.” Revisionist theories give big credit to Gorbachev, the leader of the Soviet Union, for ending the Cold War, or in other peacefully ending the Cold War with foreign relationships. When Gorbachev came into power, unlike other leaders before him, he proclaimed a new way of thinking based on glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restricting). This meant greater political freedoms and less Soviet interception in the press and society as a whole. It also meant changes in the economy such as allowing for a greater market and allowing greater foreign interactions . Under Gorbachev the Soviets signed the INF treaty, SALT, and declared the goal to eliminate all nuclear weapons by 2000. Gorbachev withdrew it forces from Afghanistan, and did not intervene in any East European countries. Gorbachev pushed to end of the Cold War by not acting in any threatening manner that would have stress the crisis and opened up to good international relationships. Revisionist also give credit to the peace movements that the Americans and Europeans by constraining Reagan 's hard-line policies. The peace movements were attempt to find a common ground in which both sides could collaborate peacefully. There was also influences around the

He followed Vladimir Lenin as Soviet leader, and was the USSR’s first General Secretary of the Central Committee.

observed Reagan and Gorbachev: How the Cold War Ended, the White House speechwriters finally found the right balance between candor about problems and encouragement for healthy change. The speeches were upbeat and avoided crowing about American victories even as they gave a push for causes on the American agenda. Reagan spoke to prominent writers, artists, and musicians at the writer’s clubs and praised the achievements of glasnost and pressed for publication of some still banned works. Each of Reagan’s public appearances were before an important group, but his address to the student and faculty at Moscow University was the centerpiece of his trip. His theme was freedom, which electrified his audience. The prolonged standing ovation was a testament to his appeal to the Russian audience. Reagan thus exuded that positive, forward looking, and optimistic outlook which made the Russian populace look at the US from an entirely different angle. But it took a question from a reporter to make his optimism shine through; as he and Gorbachev were walking through the red square, a Journalist asked the inevitable question: do you still consider this an Evil Empire? Reagan replied, ’no… That was another time, another era.’ Thus just in that particular moment, Ronald Reagan transformed himself from an enemy to a friend. Here, it would be unjust to deny Gorbachev his due share of credit, as without his eagerness to greet Reagan with open arms, the world would not have seen the flags of freedom that were spreading its colors throughout the USSR. In his memoir, Gorbachev showed his happiness over Reagan’s comments when he said that Gorbachev deserved most of the credit for changes in the Soviet Union. The idea that ordinary people everywhere have the same aspirations was the bedrock of Reagan’s ideals, and that those ideals prevailed finally shows the strength of Ronald Reagan’s convictions. Reagan was a rock star, and he made the Russian people feel that he

Mikhail Gorbachev believed a less irritating Soviet-American relationship would permit a change of money and valuable supplies away from the Soviet military toward the suffering economy. In November 1985, Reagan and Gorbachev met for the first time in Geneva; they held added/more summits in each of Ronald Reagans years in presidency. Reagan and Gorbachev argued freely but also developed a mutual relationship that had its advantages. “In December 1988, at the very end of Reagan's presidency, Gorbachev announced in an address to the United Nations in Washington that he would unilaterally reduce Soviet military forces in Eastern Europe by 500,000 soldiers and 10,000 tanks over the next two years.” Reagans association with Mikhail Gorbachev made it less demanding for both the Soviet Union and the United States to put a conclusion to the Cold war. Regan endeavored getting on the Soviet Union's good side, so he can crumple the Soviets without them even knowing. Early in President Reagan's second term, a reform-minded pioneer, Mikhail Gorbachev, accepted power in the Soviet Union. Like past presidents, Ronald Reagan decided to meet the new Soviet

When Lenin was in his young age, he went to school for law. Lenin was expelled for his radical policies. Lenin completed his law degree in 1891 and then moved to St. Petersburg to become a professional revolutionary. His contemporaries got him arrested and exile to Siberia when he married his now wife Nadezhda Krupskaya.