U.S.-SOVIET RELATIONS
In relations with the Soviet Union, President Reagan’s declared policy was one of peace through strength . He was determined to stand firm against the country he would in 1983 call an “evil empire .” Two early events increased U .S .-Soviet tensions: the suppression of the Soli- darity labor movement in Poland in December 1981, and the destruction with 269 fatalities of an off-course civilian airliner, Korean Airlines Flight 007, by a Soviet jet fighter on September 1, 1983 . The United States also condemned the continuing So- viet occupation of Afghanistan and continued aid begun by the Carter administration to the mujahedeen resistance there .
During Reagan’s first term, the United States spent unprecedented sums for a massive defense build- up, including the placement of in- termediate-range nuclear missiles in Europe to counter Soviet deploy- ments of similar missiles . And on March 23, 1983, in one of the most hotly debated policy decisions of his
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presidency, Reagan announced the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) re- search program to explore advanced technologies, such as lasers and high-energy projectiles, to defend against intercontinental ballistic missiles . Although many scientists questioned the technological feasi- bility of SDI and economists pointed to the extraordinary sums of money involved, the administration pressed ahead with the project .
After re-election in 1984, Rea- gan softened his position on arms control . Moscow was amenable to agreement, in part because its econ- omy already expended a far greater proportion of national output on its military than did the United States . Further increases, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev felt, would crip- ple his plans to liberalize the Soviet economy .
In November 1985, Reagan and Gorbachev agreed in principle to seek 50-percent reductions in stra- tegic offensive nuclear arms as well as an interim agreement on inter- mediate-range nuclear forces . In December 1987, they signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty providing for the de- struction of that entire category of nuclear weapons . By then, the So- viet Union seemed a less menac- ing adversary . Reagan could take much of the credit for a greatly di- minished Cold War, but as his ad- ministration ended, almost no one realized just how shaky the USSR had become .