Existing comment:
What role could diplomacy play?
"We had to bargain with the Russians from strength not weakness. If you were going to approach the Russians with a dove of peace in one hand, you had to have a sword in the other."
-- Ronald Reagan
President Reagan believed he could make progress on issues that divided the United States and the Soviet Union if he could meet with Soviet leaders face to face. One goal of the US military buildup was to bring the Soviet Union to the negotiating table. President Reagan was convinced that the United States and the Soviet Union shared mutual interests, but he was interested only in agreements that benefited both parties and refused to compromise the safety of the US and its allies. |