Why Neither Reagan Nor the United States Won the Cold War

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For whatever real reason the Soviet Union collapsed, I think that most of us can be grateful that it did. It's too bad that it took so long for the Russian people to recover (and they are still recovering, somewhat)and there have been, and there will still be, some "growing pains" for this "born again" Russia. But in the long-term industry is reviving, agriculture is flourishing, democratic principles are taking root, the Church is back in people's lives and Russia wants its rightful place in the world order. So what's wrong with that? It's not important who may have won or may have lost in the past: what's important is to make the present situation win/win - now and for the future.

George Yurieff 8:31AM March 16, 2010

The Soviet Union collapsed because of internal contradictions primarily economic. It was a society which was totally dominated by a grossly inefficient economic system overwhelmingly oriented to mulitary production. Over 85% of Leningrad's industry was military-industrial. Many other cities had virtually 100% of their industry military-oriented. [Interestingly compare this to China whose industry was NOT dominated by the military-industrial complex]. The culture of secrecy and lack of any competitive interaction among civilian economic enterprises led to a great backwardness in the economy and its total ineffectivness in providing a reasonable life for the people of the USSR. To the extent that Reagan's Star War's plans appeared to require a Soviet respoinse from a country that had already tightened its belt to the snapping point was, in part, what forced a zero-based review of Soviet foreign and domestic policy at the begiining of the Gorbachov era.
Imperfect as the market economy is from time to time, it was immensely superior to the economics of Soviet central planning as the Chinese have fully recognized and demonstrated. Similarly, the ability of people to speak and assemble freely and exercise basic human rights makes such a society far superior in terms of creativity and human satisfaction compared to one that is a greater or lesser police state.
As someone who among other things was a negotiator in the US-Soviet Nuclear Arms and Space Talks, a person who has spent extensive periods of time in the Soviet Union/Russia/Eastern Europe since the 1960s and worked for the private American company thorugh which at one time 90% of all Soviet-American trade passed, I can say that it is preposterous to fail to recognize that - to borrow a phrase - our system buried them.
Unfortunately, certain cultural-historical tendencies in post-Soviet time are still retarding real growth in much of the former USSR. The lack of a mordern, globally-competitive manufacturing sector is a tragedy as it the lack of an vibrant service sector that builds on the creativity and brilliance of many Russian and other former Soviet peoples. Instead it remains a "petro-state" riding the sheep's back of extractive industries - as it did back in the 1960s and 1970s when I first bought these same products. At least, then there were some manufactures such as Lada cars, Belarus tractors, textiles and various chemicals that found their way to Western markets - now even those are mostly gone. I know this because I sold them.

Frank A Orban of DC 9:24AM February 03, 2010

I remember freezing cold nights siting near the Fulda gap on alert waiting for the thousand or more T72's to come pouring over the border on their way to Frankfurt and the Rhine river.
I remember the mud of Grafenvehr, Hornsfels, and Wildflecken, the endless training. I rememeber going to OPFOR school to learn Soviet equipment and tatics so that I could teach my squad how to fight and survive.
I especially remember the border between East and West Germany and the encounter I had face to face with a East German Border guard. I remember the Guard Towers, fences, and landmined areas of the border. And I also remember the fear that one day the balloon would go up and it would all be for real.
I also remember the pride I felt when the Berlin wall went down. I felt that my service to my county and its ideals in a small way played a part in that event. Yes, I felt as if we did win. To this day I beleive we did win.
How dare you try and take that away from the Cold War veterans who were there and know that it was a Victory, nothing less. If former East Bloc counties want to join NATO let them. To heck with Russia.
Today I worry more about China. Most everything I buy or use is not made in Russia but "Made in China"

John P. Cooper of PA 12:55PM January 27, 2010

It is impossible to be a leader all the time. All around us is changing rapidly. Americans believe that "defeated" the Soviet Union? Perhaps this is so. But after that you can offer yourself and the rest of the world? The fact that you create around the world, obviously not world peace.
A whole decade after the Soviet collapse, Russia with admiration and hope looked to the west, freedom, opportunity, envision all sorts of benefits of Western civilization. I have received for their open defiance of a second-class citizens, condescension and handouts.
We thank God all of us in the order, there are certainly problems but solved. No revenge sentiments we do not, calm down, but if you had the chance, get us to kick. But this possibility is probably already close, thanks to your Nobel peace dove.
Keep America, soon you will be hated even in Europe!

stalgrad2 3:03AM January 25, 2010

But some victories are better than othes
We were on the winning side in WWI. However, the victory was mishandles (mostly by the British and the French but the U.S. did little to stop it) and the way the losers were handled played a huge role in setting the stage for WWII
Now consider how matters were handled after WWII. A huge effort was taken to help rebuild and establish democracies in the nations that lost WWII ( at least those that did not end up under Communism). Now, 60 years later Germany, Japan, and a variety of countries that were enemies at that time are our allies.
The U.S. and its allies won the Cold War. Winning the peace has been another matter entirely. Our handling of matters since then has not been what it needed to be; sometimes too agressive and sometimes not agressive enough.

Scott of MN 2:16AM January 24, 2010

that "hot" wars are won or lost. The partial de-escalation of an arms race and the decision of one side to modify its totalitarian government is not something for which the other side should be claiming "victory". Rather it is something for which the American side should be congratulating and thanking the Russian side for its progress. I wonder if we did enough of this in the last two decades.
I'm not talking about giving away the strategic store, but rather capitalizing on opportunities to enhance mutual trust. Reagan's old saw of "trust, but verify" is appropriate----going both ways. The first word is trust, and that comes out of respect.
The modern reality is we NEED good relations with huge nations like Russia, India, China, and even smaller Islamic states like Iran. Likewise, they all NEED good relations with the USA. Getting all parties to agree on that is the trick.

Muser of NM 3:46PM January 22, 2010