Gorbachev tapped out when he implemented Perestroika and Glastnost. Geopolitically, those programs were a humiliation after decades of global cultural conflict. You don't concede a propaganda/culture war like that unless you know the end is near. Both programs happened during the Reagan admin.
Reagan had trapped the Soviets into a game of chicken with spending on the arms race. He used the Star Wars program as a boogeyman, and utilized US deficit spending as an advantage. The Soviet financial system did not allow deficit spending, so they went bankrupt. By the time Reagan left office, the Soviet Union was terminally ill and there was no saving it.
Gorbachev tapped out when he implemented Perestroika and Glastnost. Geopolitically, those programs were a humiliation after decades of global cultural conflict. You don't concede a propaganda/culture war like that unless you know the end is near. Both programs happened during the Reagan admin.
Reagan had trapped the Soviets into a game of chicken with spending on the arms race. He used the Star Wars program as a boogeyman, and utilized US deficit spending as an advantage. The Soviet financial system did not allow deficit spending, so they went bankrupt. By the time Reagan left office, the Soviet Union was terminally ill and there was no saving it.