old Cold War was coming to an end as Gorbachev in-
troduced liberalization into the Soviet Union in part
because of pressure from the United States.
Subsequent Events By the end of the decade the
whole system was on the verge of collapse, and on
December 31, 1991, after a failed last-ditch attempt
by communist hard-liners the previous summer to
overthrow Gorbachev, the Soviet Union dissolved
into its constituent republics.
Further Reading
Boyle, Peter G.American-Soviet Relations: From the Rus-
sian Revolution to the Fall of Communism. New York:
Routledge, 1993. A scholarly monograph by a re-
spected historian and specialist on international
relations. Bibliography.
Garthoff, Raymond L.The Great Transition: American-
Soviet Relations and the End of the Cold War. Washing-
ton, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 1994. A meticu-
lous documented analysis by a diplomat and author
of several important books on Soviet-American
relations.
Gorbachev, Mikhail.Perestroika and Soviet-American
Relations. Madison, Conn.: Sphinx Press, 1990. A
collection of Gorbachev’s speeches and inter-
views to Western audiences from late 1987
through 1989.
Halliday, Fred.From Kabul to Managua: Soviet-Ameri-
can Relations in the 1980’s. New York: Pantheon
Books, 1989. A critical analysis of the two super-
powers by a controversial socialist professor from
the London School of Economics.
Hill, Kenneth L.Cold War Chronology: Soviet-American
Relations, 1945-1991. Washington, D.C.: Congres-
sional Quarterly, 1993. An annotated chronology
of the events from World War II until the end of
the Soviet Union in 1991.
Ishaq, Mohammed.The Politics of Trade Pressure:
American-Soviet Relations, 1980-88. Brookfield, Vt.:
Ashgate, 1999. A monograph centering on eco-
nomic issues between Moscow and Washington.
LaFeber, Walter. “The Two—or Three?—Phases of
U.S.-Soviet Relations, 1981-1986.” InCrisis and
Confrontation: Ronald Reagan’s Foreign Policy,ed-
ited by Morris H. Morley. Totowa, N.J.: Rowman &
Littlefield, 1988. An examination of the policies
and changes in Soviet-U.S. relations in the first
half of the decade by one of America’s most dis-
tinguished historians of the country’s interna-
tional affairs.
Nossal, Kim Richard. “The Politics of Circumspec-
tion: Canadian Policy Towards the USSR, 1985-
1991.”International Journal of Canadian Studies 9
(Spring, 1994). A scholarly examination of Cana-
dian attitudes toward the Soviet Union after the
advent of Gorbachev.
Stein, Janice Gross.The Odd Couple: Analytical Perspec-
tives on Canada’s Relationship with the Soviet Union.
Toronto: Centre for Russian and East European
Studies, University of Toronto, 1986. A short aca-
demic analysis prepared for a conference on
Canadian-Soviet relations.
Trofimenko, G. A.Lessons of Peaceful Coexistence: Fifty-
Five Years of Soviet-American Diplomatic Relations.
Moscow: Novosti Press Agency, 1988. An analysis
by a leading Russian academic specializing in
American studies.
Frederick B. Char ySee also Berlin Wall; Cold War; Foreign policy of
Canada; Foreign policy of the United States; Good-
will Games of 1986; Intermediate-Range Nuclear
Forces (INF) Treaty; Miracle on Ice; Olympic boy-
cotts; Olympic Games of 1980; Olympic Games of
1984; Reagan’s “Evil Empire” speech; Reykjavik Sum-
mit; Smith, Samantha; Strategic Defense Initiative
(SDI).Space exploration
Definition Use of satellites and other spacecraft to
gather scientific information about space and
other planets
During the 1980’s, U.S. space vehicles frequently exceeded
all expectations, gathered a wealth of new information
about planets and distant astronomical phenomena, and
fulfilled the goal of visiting all the major planets in the solar
system.
The 1980’s witnessed a shift in emphasis in the U.S.
space program. The National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA) turned away from human
space flights of exploration, such as the moon voy-
ages that had dominated attention in the 1970’s, in
favor of unpiloted probes and satellites. Crewed
spaceflight, by contrast, was dedicated to delivery of
cargo, maintenance of satellites, and performance
of scientific experiments in low Earth orbit through
the Space Transportation System. This program’s in-894 Space exploration The Eighties in America