ABSTRACT
US policy toward the Soviet Union during the Ronald Reagan years exhibited a sharp shift— from sweeping, systematic hostility at the start, to a sequence of hopeful summits and accords at the end. Given the available record of earlier comments by incoming President Reagan and some of his entourage, the dominant mind set in the new administration with regard to the Soviet Union can be sketched rather more clearly than would have been possible for a number of his predecessors. In the course of the 1980s administration paradigms regarding the Soviet Union underwent significant changes; they fit at least a minimalist definition of learning as reflected in verbal or behavioral change. The obvious implication for the Reagan policy makers was the priority objective of regaining a position of strength to deal with the Soviet Union, whether to intimidate, deter, or negotiate.
