May 29, 1988
US President Ronald Reagan arrived in the USSR on a visit. Several years earlier, he had called the Soviet Union an "evil empire." Asked whether he still considered it that way, Reagan replied:
No. I was talking about a different time. A different era.
The meeting took place in a friendly atmosphere. At the request of the Soviet General Secretary, Reagan gave a lecture on free markets at Moscow State University. He visited the St. Daniel Monastery and met with dissidents. But most importantly, the leaders of the USSR and the United States exchanged instruments of ratification for the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.
The signing of the INF Treaty marked a turning point in the relationship between the two powers. The Cold War confrontation began to subside. It had escalated during Reagan's first term, when his policies were staunchly anti-communist, urging the use of all non-military means to halt the advance of communism:
The march to freedom and democracy will leave Marxism-Leninism in the dustbin of history.
Under Reagan, military spending grew, reaching $282 billion by 1987. By comparison, his predecessor, Carter, had budgeted only $160 billion. On September 1, 1983, Soviet aircraft shot down a South Korean Boeing over Moneron Island, 43 kilometers from Sakhalin. There were 269 passengers on board, including US Congressman McDonald. Reagan declared that the USSR had "turned against peace and moral precepts" and imposed crippling sanctions against the Union.
A shift in foreign policy occurred during Reagan's second term and Gorbachev's rise to power. Reagan declared his goal to be "a world free of nuclear weapons." Negotiations on nuclear disarmament with Gorbachev began. Between 1985 and 1988, the two leaders met four times. In 1987, at the Berlin Wall, Reagan declared:
If you seek liberalization, come here, to these gates. Mr. Gorbachev, open these gates! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!
In 1989, the wall was torn down. A little later, the Union itself ceased to exist. But the ideas of Marxism-Leninism remain undefeated.