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President Reagan Proposes a Missile Defense System

Since 1949, when the Soviet Union first successfully tested an atom bomb, the national security policies of both the US and the Soviets derived from a doctrine of deterrence rather than one of defense against attack.

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President Reagan Discusses the crisis in Poland

In August 1980, a worker's strike began in Gdansk, Poland in reaction to the struggling economy and massive shortages. In a compromise, the Communist government legalized Solidarity, but this only increased tensions.

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President Reagan Discusses Summit Meeting with Mikhail Gorbachev, 1987

The Washington summit of December 7-10, 1987 between President Ronald Reagan and General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, their third such meeting, was called “historic” by both participants.

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President Reagan Discusses His Meetings With Mikhail Gorbachev in Iceland

Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev initiated the October 1986 weekend summit at Reykjavik, Iceland with President Ronald Reagan after progress in arms negotiations had slowed following their first meeting in Geneva the previous November.

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President Reagan Addresses Congress Following the US-Soviet Summit in Geneva

Ronald Reagan began his presidency in 1981 confident that the policy of détente with the Soviet Union—initiated by Richard Nixon in May 1972 and terminated in January 1980 by Jimmy Carter as a response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan—was misguided.

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President Reagan Discusses Soviet Violations of Arms Control Agreements with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher

Ronald Reagan began his presidency in 1981 confident that the policy of détente with the Soviet Union—initiated by Richard Nixon in May 1972 and terminated in January 1980 by Jimmy Carter as a response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan—was misguided.

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NATO Statement on Achieving Stability in Europe

As the Cold War wound down, NATO’s mission underwent a gradual shift from one of insuring the security of member nations through the deterrence of military aggression to one of fostering the integration of Eastern European countries into a new world order.

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NATO Speech on the Establishment of German Unity

With the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, the prospect of a powerful reunited Germany worried nations in both the Eastern and Western blocs.

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NATO Statement on Its Role in Reshaping East-West Relations

As the Cold War wound down, NATO’s mission underwent a gradual shift from one of insuring the security of member nations through the deterrence of military aggression to one of fostering the integration of Eastern European countries into a new world order.

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NATO celebrates German Reunification

On 3 October 1990, the constitution of West Germany was extended to cover the five states of East Germany, reunifying Germany as a single country under one law.