The Downside of Impeachment

[Anomalocaris]

Despite the mythology Reagan was only peripheral to the USSR's collapse.

Spot on.  If anyone other than the tides of history deserve credit for the USSR's crumbling, it's probably Lech Walesa and John Paul II.  Reagan was little more than a cheerleader.

Boru

No, reagan’s Build up materially worsened Soviet union’s dire fiscal outlook.  There is no doubt the Reagan build up was a signifant driver behind gorbechev’s I’ll considered economic policies aimed to sharpen soviet union’s economic productivity.

Soviet Union had chronically underinvested in all sectors of its economy outside space since the mid 1960s, because the Cuban missile crisis convinced soviet hardliners that achieving the ability to match American military capabilities in all areas must be the absolute first national priority.   By early 1980s, even hardliners are aware that Soviet Union is now far in arrears with necessary investment in domestic economy.  So it was necessary to seek an accommodation with the US to achieve a lure in the arms race so the Soviet Union can invest in and improve the productivity of its domestic economy.   Reagan’s build up was seen as more threatening by the USSR than perhaps it deserved.  So it created a crisis in soviet economy that made necessary shift of investment from military to domestic sectors difficult.

It was into this crisis that Gorbachev stepped in with his ill-informed, ill considered, somewhat idealistic program that immediately crashed the soviet economy.

So Reagan build up worked in the all is well that ends well sense. However, I don’t think it was a praise worthy move a priori. The risk of the move was largely unmitigated.