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The Real Reason the Soviet Union Collapsed

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  • The Real Reason the Soviet Union Collapsed

    The Real Reason the Soviet Union Collapsed
    Ed.

  • #2
    Re: Read This

    Thanks for the link.

    I had read about this from the American perspective in this book:

    Victory: The Reagan Administration's Secret Strategy That Hastened the Collapse of the Soviet Union (Hardcover)
    by Peter Schweizer (Author)
    ISBN-10: 0871135671
    http://www.amazon.com/Victory-Admini...086642&sr=11-1

    Editorial Reviews

    From Publishers Weekly
    Beginning in 1982, according to the author, then President Ronald Reagan and his senior advisers mapped out a systematic strategy to hasten the demise of the Soviet Union by attacking its fundamental economic and political weaknesses. In a convincing, startling expose that reads like a spy thriller, Schweizer ( Friendly Spies ) draws on interviews with Caspar Weinberger, George Shultz, KGB generals, Politburo members, Reagan advisers and others to show how the Reagan administration used covert operations, hidden diplomacy, military build-up and policy maneuvers to exacerbate the Soviet crisis in natural resources, sow political discord and weaken the Soviet empire. The Reagan strategy, as revealed here, included restricting Soviet access to Western credit and technology, covert financial and logistical support to Poland's Solidarity movement and to the Czech underground, a campaign to slash Soviet hard currency earnings by driving down the price of oil with Saudi cooperation, and substantial covert aid to the Afghan resistance fighting the Soviet invasion.
    Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

    From Library Journal
    To exhaust the Soviet economy, the Reagan administration tightened technology export controls, launched SDI, funded Afghan resisters, and induced the Saudis to keep oil prices low. The unfolding of this not-so-secret strategy, in which CIA director William Casey took a leading role, is admiringly recounted by the author of Friendly Spies (Atlantic Monthly, 1993) with "re-created" dialogs and homey details of Casey's secret meetings with friendly despots like Pakistan's General Zia and the Saudi royal family. Specifics of the CIA's technology disinformation program and of its relationships with the Vatican, Solidarity, and the Voice of America make interesting reading. Otherwise, there's little new here other than the notion that Casey's maneuvers were key to the demise of the Soviet empire, which, as Schweitzer admits, was already in deep economic trouble by the end of the Carter administration. For general readers with a taste for tabloid history-Robert Decker, Palo Alto, Cal.
    Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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    • #3
      Re: Read This

      See also - http://www.aei.org/publications/pubI...pub_detail.asp

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      • #4
        Re: The Real Reason the Soviet Union Collapsed

        LMAO, the real reason over 80% of Russians believe the collapse of the USSR was an inside job and they were sold out and looted is that's exactly what happened. One only need look at the Russian Oligarchs to understand what happened. Great book on the subject is Godfather of the Kremlin by Paul Klebnikov who was Fortune magazines editor in Moscow, before the Oligarchs had him butchered at his home.

        From a historical perspective
        http://www.sandersresearch.com/index...252&Itemid=102
        Iran, Russia and Debt

        Tells how the European banksters looted and raped Russia before. "Uprisings, assasinations, revolts, secret societies, minorities agitating for independence, sounds very similar to today. 1870's is a major time period for the banksters which leads to a good understanding of what is going on today.
        "Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one."
        - Charles Mackay

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        • #5
          Re: Read This

          Originally posted by Sapiens View Post
          Thanks for the link.

          I had read about this from the American perspective in this book:
          This is one of those not-so-black-and-white questions. The Reagan admin undoubtedly played some role, but it may not be quite what the authors posit.

          It seems likely from the above link that collapsing commodity prices were more important than any spy-novel activities of the American executive branch. And in this Reagan likely contributed more by giving Paul Volcker the political cover he needed to act decisively on inflation.

          Now we see the opposite dynamic in action. Under Bush and Greenspan, the inflation genie has been let back out of the bottle, and the Russian economy is surging. This in spite of the Putin admin's regression towards command-and-control. If there ever was a lesson in the contrasts between the objectives upon which policy is formulated and their real, unintended consequences ...
          Finster
          ...

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