> The reduction in threat of nuclear annihilation of the world He also walked away from what would have been the most monumental nuclear reductions agreement,

> The reduction in threat of nuclear annihilation of the world He also walked away from what would have been the most monumental nuclear reductions agreement, including the elimination of all ICBMs and possibly all strategic nuclear weapons in both countries, because he refused to give up the pipe dream of the Star Wars program. [1] > the freeing of half of Europe from tyranny. While Reagan’s foreign policy did play a part, the fall of the USSR was more a culmination of decades of economic stagnation, decades of costly arms race military spending, and an incredibly costly and unpopular war in Afghanistan (that sounds familiar). Also Mikhail Gorbachev and his radical policy shifts with Glasnost and Perestroika played a massive part in setting the stage for the collapse. It could also be argued that Bush Sr’s policy shift to a lighter touch in Europe to allow for the revolutions to proceed organically, as opposed to Reagan pushing them with American support, allowed Gorbachev to avoid coups and stay in power to oversee a peaceful collapse, rather than a violent last spasm that many hardliners wanted. Reagan absolutely had a part to play, but he was by no means the architect of the end of the USSR. [1] https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/01/ronald-reagans-disarmament-dream/422244/ https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/01/ronald-...