[lbo-talk] Reagan, Arms Race and Collapse of Soviet Union

uvj at vsnl.com uvj at vsnl.com
Wed Mar 10 17:35:35 PST 2004


Thomas Seay wrote:


> Many on the American Right claim that it was Reagan's
> militaristic pressure, increased military spending
> (discussion of Star Wars etc), etc. that caused the
> collapse of the Soviet Union. The thinking goes that
> the Soviet Union had to spend more on military
> spending, couldnt afford it and this exacerbated
> contradictions in the Soviet Union, leading to its
> demise.

Gorbachov said very recently that the fSU spent 5 bn roubles per year on Afghan war. It is hard to believe that extra annual expenditure of 5 bn roubles was enough to destroy the fSU. What was the Soviet GDP in the 80s?

Ulhas



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