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By announcing a complete vaporware known as SDI, while making a good impression it was very real, Reagan hinted at the possibility of changing the balance of po

by maratc 2y ago

By announcing a complete vaporware known as SDI, while making a good impression it was very real, Reagan hinted at the possibility of changing the balance of power squarely to the American favor. The Soviets could not afford losing that balance, and they bought the Star Wars story -- hook, line and sinker -- so they went down the path of developing a similar system, and by doing so diverted even more money from the welfare of their citizens into the military-industrial complex. The citizens didn't like what was being left for them, so the system soon collapsed.

eesmith 2y ago
"developing a similar system"? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_Defense_Initiative#Response_from_the_Soviet_Union https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_Defense_Initiative#R... says: > In 2014, a declassified CIA paper stated that "In response to SDI, Moscow threatened a variety of military countermeasures in lieu of developing a parallel missile defense system". The Soviets had very capable scientists who could figure out - like Bethe in the US - that SDI was not feasible, and the easy work-around is to launch more missiles, not build their own SDI. Or for something more scholarly, from "Did Star Wars Help End the Cold War? Soviet Response to the SDI Program" at https://scienceandglobalsecurity.org/archive/sgs25podvig.pdf https://scienceandglobalsecurity.org/archive/sgs25podvig.pdf Science & Global Security, 2017, 25.1: 3-27. > The evidence on the Soviet response to SDI that emerges from the internal documents largely corroborates the view that the Soviet Union eventually realized that this program did not present a danger to its security because it could be relatively easily countered with simple and effective countermeasures.
- maratc 2y ago
  I’m sorry if I wasn’t clear: I’m not advocating for this viewpoint (nor against it, actually); I’m just explaining how this “line of thinking” usually goes, since that was a question from GP.
  - eesmith 2y ago
    To my understanding, the costs involved in the Soviet response to SDI were small, and had very little effect on national spending, so I don't see how that's important enough to mention. Surely the falling price of oil was more significant, yes? I'll bet the Soviet involvement in Afghanistan was also more expensive. Since gadders' comment is flagged, I don't know the fuller context.
    - maratc 2y ago
      https://old.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/8cnm73/did_reagans_star_wars_project_really_contribute/ https://old.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/8cnm73/did_r...
      - eesmith 2y ago
        Some commentary about why you gave that link would be nice. I think you meant as a way to say "looks like you are right"? That is, as far as I can tell, it agrees with me ("responses to SDI were not a major factor in either the collapse of the Soviet Union, nor in the end of the Cold War"), including by citing the same source I gave, the paper by Pavel Podvig.

by maratc 2y ago

eesmith 2y ago

"developing a similar system"? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_Defense_Initiative#Response_from_the_Soviet_Union https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_Defense_Initiative#R... says: > In 2014, a declassified CIA paper stated that "In response to SDI, Moscow threatened a variety of military countermeasures in lieu of developing a parallel missile defense system". The Soviets had very capable scientists who could figure out - like Bethe in the US - that SDI was not feasible, and the easy work-around is to launch more missiles, not build their own SDI. Or for something more scholarly, from "Did Star Wars Help End the Cold War? Soviet Response to the SDI Program" at https://scienceandglobalsecurity.org/archive/sgs25podvig.pdf https://scienceandglobalsecurity.org/archive/sgs25podvig.pdf Science & Global Security, 2017, 25.1: 3-27. > The evidence on the Soviet response to SDI that emerges from the internal documents largely corroborates the view that the Soviet Union eventually realized that this program did not present a danger to its security because it could be relatively easily countered with simple and effective countermeasures.

maratc 2y ago
I’m sorry if I wasn’t clear: I’m not advocating for this viewpoint (nor against it, actually); I’m just explaining how this “line of thinking” usually goes, since that was a question from GP.
- eesmith 2y ago
  To my understanding, the costs involved in the Soviet response to SDI were small, and had very little effect on national spending, so I don't see how that's important enough to mention. Surely the falling price of oil was more significant, yes? I'll bet the Soviet involvement in Afghanistan was also more expensive. Since gadders' comment is flagged, I don't know the fuller context.
  - maratc 2y ago
    https://old.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/8cnm73/did_reagans_star_wars_project_really_contribute/ https://old.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/8cnm73/did_r...
    - eesmith 2y ago
      Some commentary about why you gave that link would be nice. I think you meant as a way to say "looks like you are right"? That is, as far as I can tell, it agrees with me ("responses to SDI were not a major factor in either the collapse of the Soviet Union, nor in the end of the Cold War"), including by citing the same source I gave, the paper by Pavel Podvig.