ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the size and scope of the build-up as well as the Ronald Reagan administration’s rationale for it. It discusses the impact of the build-up both within the USA and worldwide. Moscow to respond to the massive US build-up would place an intolerable burden on its already stagnating civilian economy. Many Reagan supporters argue that the size and scope of this build-up was necessary and did in fact hasten the reform and eventual collapse of the Soviet Empire and the Soviet Union. The collapse of the Soviet Union resulted primarily from the long-time faults of a command economy tied to a rigid bureaucracy. The Reagan administration was trying to compensate for a decade of neglect, not bring down the Soviet Union.
