The Human Factor: Gorbachev, Reagan, and Thatcher, and the End of the Cold War

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What brought about an end to the Cold War has long been a subject of speculation and mythology. One prominent argument is that the United States simply bankrupted the Soviet Union, outspending the Soviets on the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI, or "Star Wars") and forcing a reckoning. Archie Brown's latest work rejects any simple answers. The Human Factor focuses on the human element, and in particular on the main figures involved--Mikhail Gorbachev, Ronald Reagan, and Margaret Thatcher. His book looks at them both as individuals and as engaged in a dynamic that between 1985, when Gorbachev came to power and 1989, when Reagan left office, brought about not only an easing of East-West tensions but a great deal more. Brown argues that the Cold War ended at an ideological level with Mikhail Gorbachev's speech at the United Nations in December 1988, when he announced that the people of every country had the right to choose their own government. The Cold War ended on the ground when the peoples of Eastern Europe took Gorbachev at his word in 1989 and Soviet troops were ordered to stay in their barracks. The standard narrative of the end of the Cold War--that it was won by the threat of Western (especially American) military power and spending--has underpinned support for the use of force in the Middle East (including the invasion of Iraq in 2003), the expansion of NATO, and advocacy of a hard line toward contemporary Russia. On the other side of the divide, the view that the United States set out to break up the Soviet Union and undermine Russia is widely accepted in Russia today and has led to a hardening of both domestic and foreign policy. Vladimir Putin's high popularity ratings owe much to his being perceived as the leader who restored Russian pride and great power status. Brown ultimately confronts standard, monocausal explanations for the end of the Cold War and does so by offering a nuanced and deeply personal account of the three individuals most responsible for bringing it about. Cover The Human Factor Copyright Contents ILLUSTRATIONS ABBREVIATIONS AND GLOSSARY NOTE ON TERMS AND TRANSLITERATION INTRODUCTION Part I 1: THE COLD WAR AND ITS DANGERS The Communist Takeover of Eastern Europe The Asian Battleground Change and Unrest in Eastern and Central Europe On the Verge of Catastrophe 2: THE MAKING OF MIKHAIL GORBACHEV The 1940s Moscow University Back to Stavropol 3: GORBACHEV’S WIDENING HORIZONS New Vistas Five Hours with ‘the Iron Lady’ Gorbachev’s Thinking on the Eve of Perestroika 4: THE RISE OF RONALD REAGAN Hollywood Politics Beckons 5: REAGAN’S FIRST TERM New Broom at the State Department ‘Evil Empire’ and SDI A Shift of Personnel and of Priorities Mixed Signals 6: MARGARET THATCHER: The Moulding of the ‘Iron Lady’ Foreign Policy Influences Early Years of the Thatcher Premiership Falklands War and Relations with Reagan 7: THATCHER AND THE TURN TO ENGAGEMENT WITH COMMUNIST EUROPE A ‘New Policy’ Ups and Downs of the Relationship with Reagan Part II 8: BREAKING THE ICE (1985) Stereotypes and Realities Tensions within the Three Governments Approaches to the Summit Geneva, November 1985 9: NUCLEAR FALLOUT: Chernobyl and Reykjavik (1986) New People and New Thinking in Moscow Chernobyl and its Impact Reagan Administration Wrangles over Soviet Policy Reykjavik Reaction to Reykjavik in Moscow, Washington, and London 10: BUILDING TRUST (1987) Putting Political Reform on the Soviet Agenda Thatcher and the Puzzle of Perestroika Thatcher’s ‘Most Fascinating and Most Important Foreign Visit’ Shultz’s Battles in Washington and Progress in Moscow Shoring up the Domestic Base—Gorbachev and Reagan The Washington Summit 11: THE END OF THE IDEOLOGICAL DIVIDE (1988) Intra-Elite Differences in Moscow Harmonizing Western Approaches Reagan in Moscow Gorbachev and Radicalization of the Programme for Change Margaret Thatcher’s Diplomacy The New Thinking Comes to New York 12: THE END OF THE COLD WAR (1989) The Bush Administration’s Soviet Policy: A Sluggish and Uncertain Start Gorbachev and the Pluralization of the Soviet Political System Gorbachev–Thatcher Diplomacy Deepened Gorbachev’s Activism at Home and Abroad Baker’s First Visit to Moscow Head of Government Diplomacy in Europe The Transformation of Central and Eastern Europe The Malta Summit 13: WHY THE COLD WAR ENDED WHEN IT DID Leadership, Power, and Ideas The Military and the Economy Western Power and Western Influence Part III 14: UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES (1990) The Soviet Domestic Context The German Question Margaret Thatcher and German Unification Diplomacy or War in the Middle East? Departure of Thatcher and Shevardnadze 15: FINAL YEAR—OF THE USSR AND OF GORBACHEV’S POWER (1991) The National Question in the USSR International Politics before the Coup Crisis of the Party and the State The August Coup From Coup to Collapse 16: POLITICAL LEADERSHIP AND THE END OF THE COLD WAR: Concluding Reflections The Importance of Engagement Leaders, Alternatives, and Outcomes Achievements and Failures The Turn to Triumphalism Drawing Lessons NOTES ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS PICTURE CREDITS INDEX