Presentation - Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

"The Peacemaker: Ronald Reagan, the Cold War, and the World on the Brink"

Scholars continue to debate the role that President Ronald Reagan played in the peaceful end of the Cold War. "The Peacemaker" by Dr. William Inboden argues that Reagan devised a comprehensive strategy to both win and end the Cold War, by pursuing the Soviet Union’s “negotiated surrender.”  He did so by combining force and diplomacy in a consistent campaign of both pressure and outreach to the Kremlin throughout his eight years in office.  In particular, he sought to induce the Kremlin to select a reformist leader with whom he could negotiate, and thus foreshadowed Gorbachev’s accession to power.