ABSTRACT
Gorbachev’s first priority was to accelerate Soviet economic growth.He was aware that the existing order was inefficient. There were over100 situation papers on the economy on his desk when he took over, the product of an endeavour initiated by Andropov. The major goals of reform were to strengthen the Communist Party and the country. He was aware that the military burden was too onerous (it proved impossible to quantify it accurately) and warned that if reform did not succeed the Soviet Union might lose its superpower status by 2000. The Russians thought the Americans were unlikely to sustain their rises in defence spending due to the huge rise in the budget deficits. Gorbachev thought that reforming the existing Soviet system would suffice and only realised in 1989 that the country was in systemic crisis. In order to save money on defence, he needed a meeting with Reagan to wean him away from SDI and to initiate arms negotiations which would halt and, eventually, reverse the arms race. Since the superpowers could destroy one another many times over, there was no point in making more nuclear weapons.
