> That's a different point. Starting with the Reagan buildup, the Soviet
> elite worried about falling technologically behind the U.S. in the
> arms race. That was one of the prods to "reform."
Sure, it was a prod to "reform," but not system-changing reform. It was a prod to the traditional sort of "let's find new bright ideas to improve our technology" type of reform. That doesn't threaten the system. The reforms that really threatened the system were the relaxation of restrictions on speech, the expansion of elections and public debates, etc. That's what eventually made the elite lose control of the process (including the process of economic reform). But that's not the type of reform that SDI encouraged - if anything the opposite. It made them more wary of loosening up.
SA