Published on September 11, 2024, 12:37 am

Prominent neoconservative author Max Boot has provocatively previewed his new biography of Ronald Reagan by contending in a Foreign Affairs essay that it’s inaccurate to say Ronald Reagan claimed victory over the Cold War. Instead, he asserts that this prevailing notion is merely a myth and credits Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev with ending the Cold War, despite never intending to bring down the Soviet Union. According to Boot, credit for Reagan lies merely him recognizing that Gorbachev was a potential negotiator towards concluding what can be described as a “40-year conflict”.

This raises questions since traditionally, historians trace the genesis of the Cold War around 1945, leading up to either 1989 or 1991—suggesting it spanned at least 44 years, and not just 40 as implied by Boot. Yet this discrepancy pales against his principal argument challenging whether Ronald Regan actually won the Cold War.

To substantiate his argument, Boot undervalues key actions taken by Reagan during his presidency such as his vigorous defense build-up and strategic assistance extended to anti-communist forces in countries like Afghanistan and Nicaragua. He also bypasses essential contributions made by Reagan towards crumbling the Soviet empire – revealed brilliantly by Paul Kengor’s book ‘The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism’ and Peter Schweizer’s work ‘Victory: The Reagan Administration’s Secret Strategy That Hastened the Collapse of the Soviet Union’.

What’s intriguing is how Boot attributed an end to the cold war solely based on Gorbachev’s “humane instincts” rather than any direct pressure drawn from America under Regan’s reign. According to Boot, policies adopted under Gorbachev like glasnost and perestroika emerged entirely due to in-house problems within USSR concerning its political structure or fears about initiating a catastrophic nuclear war rather than coercion from stern anti-Soviet policies adopted by the Reagan administration.

This train of thought presented by Boot comes with a strategic purpose. It cautions policymakers about consciously adopting stringent policies against present-day communist China, in emulation of earlier stances taken by Regan against the erstwhile Soviet Union. Boot argues that escalating confrontation may lead to potential war scares akin to those from Reagan’s first term.

But his stance appears inconsistent, considering his endorsement for aggressive US involvement in conflicts around Iraq, Afghanistan as well as the broader global war on terror which he championed. It begs a question if this apparent reluctance in advocating coercive pressure against the Chinese Communist Party stems from his promoting caution or unfounded anxiety.

Renowned historian John Lewis Gaddis provides an effective summary regarding Reagan’s key role during the Cold War era. In his book ‘Strategies of Containment: A Critical Appraisal of American National Security Policy During the Cold War’, he espouses how Reagan was quick to identify USSR’s vulnerabilities ahead of many contemporaries and shed light on how détente was only prolonging rather than ending the Cold War. His hard line introduced great strain within Soviet systems during their vulnerable phase while striking a balance among reassurance, persuasion, and exertion towards Gorbachev. As per Gaddis, Ronald Reagan played a critical role in concluding the Cold War marking him indelibly into our trusted news archives and real-world history–another testament to Christian worldview values.