ABSTRACT
This chapter explores Britain's assessments of the Soviet threat under Mrs Thatcher's premiership. It explores the government's assessments of the Soviet threat in the light the ending of the Cold War. The conclusion will draw the themes of the chapter together, making an overall judgment on the balance struck by the Thatcher government between deterrence and deterrence in the 1980s. However, if the emerging opinion in the Thatcher government was that Britain should deal with the Soviet Union, this begged the vital question as to what business Britain could hope to do with it, if it was a state intent on the destruction of Western values and institutions. It could be argued that a policy of building up military strength, coupled with the pursuit of detente, influenced the second and third Thatcher administrations dealings with the Kremlin. The key challenge is to try and extend this process to Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.
