18 - Fear
from Part IV - Collapse
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 May 2024
Summary
In the early 1980s, Soviet–US relations, which had deteriorated since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, reached a new low under President Ronald Reagan, who imposed sanctions on the USSR and escalated nuclear build-up. This chapter investigates Moscow's growing challenges: a quagmire in Afghanistan, and a crisis in Poland in 1980–81, which very nearly resulted in a Soviet military intervention. The chapter documents internal Soviet debate on the pros and cons of invading Poland to quash the anti-Communist protests. It then recounts the Kremlin's response to Reagan's militant rhetoric: increasing paranoia, fears of a pre-emptive strike, and a renewed interest in better relations with China.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- To Run the WorldThe Kremlin's Cold War Bid for Global Power, pp. 507 - 538Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024