Two things that didn't end communism: Reagan and 'people power'

[Newsjock]

Source: The Globe and Mail

You will be seeing a lot of the Berlin Wall in the next two weeks, as the Nov. 9 anniversary of its 1989 collapse approaches.

... But this 20th anniversary offers an important chance to demolish some of the myths that have overtaken this historic rupture.

... The primary myth is the one that holds that the West, and particularly Ronald Reagan's United States, caused the Communist bloc to collapse through a Cold War policy of confrontation and isolation.

By this account, Mr. Reagan drove the Eastern Bloc into unconditional surrender by declaring the Soviet Union an “evil empire” in 1983, madly escalating the nuclear-arms count, launching “Star Wars” missile-defence networks and shouting, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall,” in Berlin in 1987.

... In fact, there is now a near-consensus among historians that Mr. Reagan's policies not only failed to end the Cold War, but probably prolonged it for several years beyond its likely end date, by propelling the most reactionary Communists into power.

Read more: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/two-things-that-didnt-end-communism/article1336048/

[bbinacan]

1. I love this song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7z6dxQVhE8o

[Rhiannon12866]

2. K&R! Excellent post... It was not Reagan, but Carter, who helped bring down the USSR.

Carter's grain embargo was responsible, not Reagan's refusal to negotiate with Gorbachev. Gorbachev's attempts to institute reforms were met by resistance from the Soviet hardliners who were afraid of Reagan. It is completely incorrect to credit Reagan... x(

I was in the USSR in 1986, and they were very welcoming to Americans, but Reagan was not a popular figure, while the Russians I met liked and admired President Carter. :patriot:

[bobbolink]

8. There are always a lot of people who believe that speeches have a lot of power.

Need I add the correlation to today?

[Rhiannon12866]

11. No, you sure don't.

The sound byte mentality has taken over our national consciousness, never more than right now. x(

It was almost a year later that Reagan made his "tear down this wall" speech, but his immovable stance when dealing with Gorbachev had already been a roadblock to much needed reform in the waning days of the USSR. Reagan was a man of words, while President Carter's actions accomplished so much more... :patriot:

[MajorChode]

12. Also what many don't know is that Republicans stacked the deck against Carter...

before he ever took office.

Carter knew the USSR had one foot in the toilet and their hand on the chain. He knew this because the CIA was telling him. A group called Team A prepared the National Intelligence Estimate which showed a dire future for the USSR and it also showed they had no first strike intention.

The Republicans also knew this before Carter took office and it scared the shit out of them. No USSR meant no cold war. No cold war meant no more gravy train for the defense industry. No more gravy train meant no more political contributions for the GOP. So what did they do? DCI George Bush (senior) commissioned Team B in 1976 to develop a competitive analysis to compete with Team A's analysis. He stocked Team B with outsiders and card carrying neocons. Naturally they painted a picture very different from Team A. They said the USSR was financially strong, had a strong military that was growing in strength, and a first strike mentality. All of these things we now know were complete bullshit.

Team B went on to leak classified information to the press which painted Carter as soft on the Soviets, undermined his presidency, and cost him the election to Raygun.

Team B was one of the greatest frauds ever perpetrated by the Republicans and most people have no idea what it is.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Team_b

[Ardent15]

3. The lie that Reagan won the Cold War is one of the greatest lies in American history

K and R.

[Joe the Liberal]

5. No, the lie that Reagan was a good president is one of the greatest lies in American history. n/t

[Ardent15]

9. Ah, of course.

One lie is part of the greater lie.

[xchrom]

4. ...

[MisterP]

6. another myth is that "the East" was both monolithic and doomed

each "revolution" in 1989 really went after something different: in East Germany and post-Jaruzelski, it WAS opposition to a police state; in Romania, it was a coup against a leader with horrific policies; in Czechoslovakia and Hungary it was against tiresome policies; in Yugoslavia it was Milosevic's autogolpe against the civil service; Yeltsin likewise shelled the Parliament, and the late 80s was full of clashes with the new, meatheaded riot police; Tienanmen was partially against free-market policies (this is a strictly nonprofessional analysis, mind you)

this interesting article can be added to the heap of "what caused it?"--financing problems, moves away from consumer goods, Chernobyl, internal fights, Afghanistan, etc., etc.

had the USSR kept Khrushchev-like rather than Brezhnev-like leadership, it may have been able to weather OPEC 1973 better and do more for progressive movements and forestall America's favored Rios Montts

[bbinacan]

7. To add context

Here is part of Reagan's speech.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjWDrTXMgF8

[Purveyor]

10. Thank you for posting. Great article. eom

[Itchinjim]

13. Rock and Roll won the Cold War.

Western popular culture and the dying off of the Stalinists killed the Soviet monolith. Reagan just happened to be president when it finally happened.

[StarfarerBill]

14. Ummm, hello?

Does anyone want to credit the man whose policies actually got the ball rolling in ending Leninism-Stalinism in the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact, Mikhail Gorbachev? Does anyone here think that the USSR might not still be creaking along to this day were it not for Mr. Gorbachev's instituting of glasnost and perestroika?

And finally: who said anything about winning the Cold War? We're still fighting it, with a bloated military, obscene budgets, a military-industrial complex fatter than ever on profits and, of course, millions dead abroad...we just call it the War of, er, on Terror, now.