Editing Ronald Reagan (section)

===Soviet decline and thaw in relations===
{{Further|Cold War (1985–1991)}}
[[File:Reagan and Gorbachev signing.jpg|thumb|alt=Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan signing the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in the East Room, December 1987|Mikhail Gorbachev and Reagan signing the [[INF Treaty]], 1987]]

Although the Soviets did not accelerate military spending in response to Reagan's military buildup,{{sfn|Fischer|2019|p=8}} their enormous military expenses, in combination with [[Collectivization in the Soviet Union|collectivized agriculture]] and inefficient [[planned economy|planned manufacturing]], were a heavy burden for the [[Soviet economy]]. At the same time, the prices of oil, the primary source of Soviet export revenues, fell to one third of the previous level in 1985. These factors contributed to a stagnant economy during the tenure of [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] as Soviet leader.<ref name="Gaidar">{{Cite book|last=Gaidar|first=Yegor|title=Collapse of an Empire: Lessons for Modern Russia|publisher=Brookings Institution Press|year=2007|pages=190–205}}</ref>
[[File:President Ronald Reagan giving a speech at Moscow State University in the USSR.jpg|left|thumb|President Ronald Reagan giving a speech at [[Moscow State University]] in the [[USSR]], 1988]]
Reagan's foreign policy towards the Soviets wavered between [[brinkmanship]] and cooperation.<ref>{{Citation|last=Miles|first=Simon|title=Peace Through Strength and Quiet Diplomacy|year=2021|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/before-and-after-the-fall/peace-through-strength-and-quiet-diplomacy/1F3C268659B85F9A905828845EB582A0|work=Before and After the Fall: World Politics and the End of the Cold War|pages=62–77|editor-last=Bartel|editor-first=Fritz|publisher=Cambridge University Press|doi=10.1017/9781108910194.005|isbn=978-1-108-90677-7|s2cid=244861159|editor2-last=Monteiro|editor2-first=Nuno P.}}</ref> Reagan appreciated Gorbachev's revolutionary change in the direction of the Soviet policy and shifted to diplomacy, intending to encourage him to pursue substantial arms agreements.<ref name="Knopf">{{Cite journal |last=Knopf |first=Jeffery W. |year=2004 |title=Did Reagan Win the Cold War? |url=https://www.hsdl.org/?view&did=444565 |journal=Strategic Insights |volume=III |issue=8 |access-date=August 10, 2019}}</ref> They held [[List of Soviet Union–United States summits#Cold War (1985–1991)|four summit conferences between 1985 and 1988]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Lawrence|first=Mark Atwood|year=2008|title=The Era of Epic Summitry|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/255737|journal=Reviews in American History|volume=36|issue=4|pages=616–623|doi=10.1353/rah.0.0047|s2cid=144382902|issn=1080-6628}}</ref> Reagan believed that if he could persuade the Soviets to allow for more democracy and free speech, this would lead to reform and the end of communism.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1982reagan1.html|title=Modern History Sourcebook: Ronald Reagan: Evil Empire Speech, June 8, 1982|access-date=November 15, 2007|publisher=Fordham University|date=May 1998}}</ref> The critical summit was in [[Reykjavík Summit|Reykjavík in 1986]], where they agreed to abolish all nuclear weapons. However, Gorbachev added the condition that SDI research must be confined to laboratories during the ten-year period when disarmament would take place. Reagan refused, stating that it was defensive only and that he would share the secrets with the Soviets, thus failing to reach a deal.<ref>{{cite book|author=John Lewis Gaddis|title=The Cold War: A New History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=62VjS6A6-q0C&pg=PA31|year=2006|page=31|publisher=Penguin |isbn=9781440684500}}</ref>

In June 1987, Reagan addressed Gorbachev during a speech at the [[Berlin Wall]], demanding that he "[[tear down this wall]]". The remark was ignored at the time, but after the wall [[Fall of the Berlin Wall|fell in November 1989]], it was retroactively recast as a soaring achievement.<ref>{{cite news |last=Fisher |first=Marc |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/06/12/tear-down-this-wall-how-reagans-forgotten-line-became-a-defining-presidential-moment/ |title='Tear down this wall': How Reagan's forgotten line became a defining moment |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=June 2017 |access-date=November 7, 2022}}</ref><ref>[[Andreas Daum]], ''Kennedy in Berlin'' (2008), pp. 207‒13.</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-myths-berlin-wall-fall-reagan-east-west-perspec-1102-20141031-story.html |title= Untangling 5 myths about the Berlin Wall |work= [[Chicago Tribune]] |date= October 31, 2014 |access-date= January 2, 2022}}</ref> In December, Reagan and Gorbachev met again at [[Washington Summit (1987)|the Washington Summit]]<ref>Rossinow, pp. 234–235</ref> to sign the [[Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty]], committing to the total abolition of their respective short-range and medium-range missile stockpiles.<ref>Patterson, p. 215</ref> The treaty established an inspections regime designed to ensure that both parties honored the agreement.<ref>Rossinow, p. 236</ref> In May 1988, the U.S. Senate overwhelmingly voted in favor of ratifying the treaty,<ref>Patterson, p. 216</ref> providing a major boost to Reagan's popularity in the aftermath of the Iran–Contra affair. A new era of trade and openness between the two powers commenced, and the United States and Soviet Union cooperated on international issues such as the Iran–Iraq War.<ref>Herring, pp. 897–898</ref>