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SECOND COLD WAR = CAUSED BY THE WEST - Coggle Diagram
SECOND COLD WAR = CAUSED BY THE WEST
YES
Reagan anti-Communist rhetoric - 'evil empire'
arms build-up
SDI undermined M.A.D.
Reagan huge increase in defence spending - $1.6 trillion from 1981-86 target
wanted to establish strategic superiority
US placement of Pershing II and Tomahawk cruise missiles in FRG
Afghan response ended détente
active retraction of diplomacy
grain embargo and cut trade
abandoned SALT II
Carter Doctrine
NO
USSR invasion of Afghanistan undermined détente principles of 'peaceful coexistence' and ability for proxy wars to at least pretend that
USSR had already placed SS-20 missiles in Eastern Europe in 1976
USSR pulled out of START talks in 1983 - first time not in talks for 15 years
Solidarity crisis 1980 - imposition of martial law and banning of Solidarity went against human rights agreements of Helsinki
USSR human rights infringements obliged US to respond
NATO didn't impose sanctions that US did - not all of West
CONCLUSIONS
Despite the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan evidently being the catalyst for a re-emergence of Cold War tensions, the initial US reaction to almost completely abandon détente with economic sanctions and increased military shows that they were not afraid to reignite the Cold War, and were even willing to provoke one to reverse the perceived decline of US power
Although USSR showed flashpoints of military aggression, the US' dismantling of M.A.D. and subsequent reinvigoration of the arms race ensured that Soviet paranoia would continue to feed their military machine