8.8 End of cold war

Ronald Reagan

40th U.S. President (1981–1989) who adopted a tough stance against the USSR ("evil empire"), increased military spending, and launched the SDI program, but later engaged in diplomacy with Gorbachev to reduce nuclear arms.

Mikhail Gorbachev

Progressive Soviet leader (1985–1991) who introduced the reforms of perestroika and glasnost to modernize the struggling Soviet economy and society, which ultimately led to the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Detente

A period of eased tensions and relaxed hostility between the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1970s, characterized by negotiations and treaties.

Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT)

Agreements between the U.S. and USSR designed to freeze or reduce the number of nuclear missiles, aiming to limit the arms race.

Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)

A proposed 1980s U.S. defense system nicknamed "Star Wars," designed to use space-based lasers to destroy Soviet nuclear missiles; it was costly and forced the USSR into an arms race they could not afford.

Perestroika

Gorbachev’s policy of economic "restructuring" that allowed some free-market reforms and reduced government control over businesses in the USSR.

Glasnost

Gorbachev’s policy of "openness" that allowed for greater freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and reduced censorship in the Soviet Union.

Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF)

A 1987 agreement between Reagan and Gorbachev that eliminated an entire class of nuclear missiles, marking a significant step in ending the Cold War.