4 THE END OF THE COLD WAR
world.^2 According to a rival school, however, it was really Reagan’s
anticommunist policies that dragged Gorbachëv to the negotiating
table. The President is said to have achieved his purposes by the firm
pursuit of American military modernization, and his Strategic Defense
Initiative is regarded as the straw that broke the camel’s back. He is
praised for striking up a rapport with the Soviet leader without com-
promising his national objectives.^3
Gorbachëv and Reagan were truly exceptional politicians working
in cooperation in extraordinary times.^4 But even when Gorbachëv’s
contribution is recognized, the question arises as to whether he
jumped or was pushed into reforming Soviet policy. And though
Reagan is increasingly regarded as having achieved a decisive impact
on the process, the need persists to assess the importance of his
nuclear disarmament programme. In his handling of Gorbachëv,
moreover, Bush by common consent was initially less nimble than his
predecessor. In fairness to him, however, Bush rose to the highest
office at a time of extraordinary change in Eastern Europe and else-
where.^5 It makes sense to ask how it was that the leaders interacted
and why they changed their minds about each other. This requires the
sharing of attention equally between the superpowers. General Sec-
retary and President in fact did nothing of importance in foreign
policy without thinking about the likely response of the other, and the
thread that holds together the events under scrutiny in this book is
the desirability of a genuinely bilateral analysis.
American and Soviet leaders brought much pragmatism and
improvisation to their dealings, and the stunning disintegration of
communist order in the USSR and Eastern Europe required them to
be hugely adaptive.^6 White House and Kremlin displayed this quality
in abundance. Reagan, Gorbachëv and Bush coped skilfully with
the unknown unknowns that arrived daily on their desks for rapid
decision.
The importance of ideas also demands some fresh consideration.
The Soviet reformers proclaimed their quest for a middle way between
authoritarian socialism and advanced capitalism. They saw them-
selves as a vanguard on active service in a clash of value systems. The
American administration displayed the same combative spirit when
advocating principles of democratic choice and the market economy
and defending what it regarded as the West’s interest.^7 Crusaders
fought on both sides, and Reagan and Gorbachëv were passionate
about the righteousness of their campaigns. It soon became clear that