THE RONALD REAGAN ADMINISTRATION AND OVERCOMING THE "LEGACY OF DETENTE": THE FACTOR OF TECHNOLOGICAL SUPERIORITY IN THE US POLICY TOWARDS THE USSR, 1981–1983
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17072/2219-3111-2026-2-45-56Keywords:
Soviet-American relations, Reagan, technology transfer, scientific and technical cooperation, the Cold War, sanctionsAbstract
The article reveals the circumstances of the development of the U.S. policy towards the USSR and its implementation in the first two years of the R. Reagan administration. During the 1980 election campaign, Reagan and his conservative wing of the Republican Party faced the inertia of détente, which required significant efforts to overcome. Based on the digitized materials of the Memorial Center of the US President R. Reagan, documents from the U.S. State Department and the CIA, as well as documents from Russian archives such as the Russian State Archive of Economics and the Russian State Archive of National History, the article attempts to clarify when and under what circumstances the Reagan administration formed the strategic approach towards the USSR and the socialist states. Using the method of historical-dynamic analysis as the main research tool, the author concludes that when determining the model of behavior in relations with the USSR in late 1981, Reagan and his team were guided not by a binary logic (politics vs economics), but by a "holistic strategic approach" that integrated political, economic, and technological aspects. Within this triad, the ability to generate cutting-edge technologies was seen as an advantage that could give the United States a chance to gain superiority in its rivalry with the USSR. The article also argues that the Reagan administration failed to fully overcome the inertia of détente and launch a “second edition of the Cold War” from scratch. Its aggressive rhetoric and repressive political practices were largely counterbalanced by the position of its European allies and the agreements and commitments that had been in place since the détente.
References
Батюк В.И. Холодная война между США и СССР (1945‒1991): очерки истории. М.: Весь мир, 2018. 337 с. ISBN: 978-5-7777-0751-2. EDN: ZAMHIT.
Бокарев Ю.П. Технологическая война и ее роль в геополитической конфронтации между США и СССР // Тр. Ин-та рос. истории РАН. 2009. № 8. С. 252–297. EDN: RWZASR.
Боровский Ю.В. Советский и российский ТЭК как объекты западных санкций: политиче-ское соперничество или экономическая конкуренция? // Вестник МГИМО-Университета. 2019. № 3(66). С. 42‒60. DOI: 10.24833/2071-8160-2019-3-66-42-60. EDN: VMQUIQ.
Гарбузов В.Н. «Рейгановская революция»: теория и практика американского консерватиз-ма, 1981‒1988. СПб.; Псков: Изд-во ПГПИ им. С.М. Кирова, 1999. 554 с. ISBN: 5-87854-103-3. EDN: XXOPHR.
Зубок В.М. Коллапс. Гибель Советского Союза. М.: АСТ: ОГИЗ, 2023. 656 с.
Левин М.И., Шевелева И.В. Воспоминания о будущем: трансфер технологий и опыт хо-лодной войны // Финансы и бизнес. 2017. № 2. С. 54‒65. EDN: YZMHIX.
Лидер на фоне эпохи. Традиции и новации современного политического лидерства в стра-нах Запада: монография к 80-летию факультета международных отношений / под ред. Л.С. Окуневой. М.: МГИМО-Университет, 2022. 660 с.
Лукьянов Ф.А. Борьба за мир через силу // Россия в глобальной политике. 2025. Т. 23, № 5. С. 5–8. DOI: 10.31278/1810-6439-2025-23-5-5-8. EDN: EBNSBE.
Печатнов В.О., Маныкин А.С. История внешней политики США. М.: Международные от-ношения, 2012. 669 с. EDN: PYICNR.
Рабуш Т.В. Санкции США против СССР, их итоги и последствия (на примере антисовет-ских санкций 1980 года) // Вестник Север. (Арктич.) федер. ун-та. Гуманитарные и соци-альные науки. 2016. № 6. С. 45‒53. DOI: 10.17238/issn2227-6564.2016.6.45. EDN: XDSGEZ.
Сафронов А. Большая советская экономика: 1917‒1991. М.: Individuum: Эксмо, 2025. 792 с.
Согрин В.В. США в ХХ‒ХХI веках. Либерализм. Демократия. Империя. М.: Весь Мир, 2015. 592 с.
Тимофеев И.Н. Экономические санкции как политическое понятие // Вестник МГИМО-Университета. 2018. № 2(59). С. 26‒42. DOI: 10.24833/2071-8160-2018-2-59-26-42. EDN: XPUCKL.
Хогселиус П. Красный газ: Россия и возникновение энергетической зависимости Европы. М.: Дело, 2024. 536 с.
Швейцер П. Тайная стратегия развала СССР. Роль администрации США. М.: Родина, 2021. 304 с.
Юнгблюд В.Т. Торговля и научно-техническое взаимодействие с СССР в повестке амери-канского руководства в годы разрядки (1969–1980) // Вестник МГИМО. 2024. № 17(6). С. 7–32. DOI: 10.24833/2071-8160-2024-6-99-7-32. EDN: ADAPMK.
Юнгблюд В.Т. Торговля и научно-техническое взаимодействие с США в повестке руковод-ства СССР в годы разрядки, 1969–1982 // Quaestio Rossica. 2025. Т. 13, № 2. С. 755–778. DOI: 10.15826/qr.2025.2.992. EDN: OUXRDD.
Якупов Р.А., Якупова Д.В. «Если газопровод будет построен, мы проиграем»: стенограмма встречи Р. Рейгана с Советом национальной безопасности по вопросу антисоветских санк-ций [Электронный ресурс] // Исторический журнал: научные исследования. 2021. № 4. URL: https://nbpublish.com/library_read_article.php?id=36124 (дата обращения: 29.09.2025). DOI: 10.7256/2454-0609.2021.4.36124. EDN: VONFTL.
Bailey N.A. The Cold War in Context // The grand strategy that won the Cold War: architecture of triumph / eds. by D.E. Streusand, N.A. Bailey [et al.]. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2016. Р. 25‒31.
Brands H.W. Reagan: The Life. New York: Doubleday, 2015. 805 p.
Brown S. The Faces of Power: Constancy and Change in United States Foreign Policy from Truman to Obama. N.Y.: Columbia Univ. Press, 2016. 844 p.
Garthoff R. The Great Transition: American-Soviet Relations and the End of the Cold War. Washington, D.C., The Brookings Institution, 1994. 798 p.
Irwin S.M. Technology Policy and America’s Future. N.Y.: St. Martin’s Press, 1993. 229 p.
La Barca G. International Trade under President Reagan US Trade Policy in the 1980s. L.: Bloomsbury ACADEMIC, 2023. 248 р.
Oreskes N., Krige J. Science and Technology in the Global Cold War. Cambridge (Mass.): Mas-sachusetts Institute of Technology, 2014. 456 p.
Paulauskas M.V. Reagan, the Soviet Union, and the Cold War, 1981–1985 // A Companion to Ronald Reagan / еd. by A.L. Johns. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2015. Р. 276–294.
Rabkin Ya.M. Science between Superpowers. N.Y.: Priority Press, 1988. 119 p.
Robinson R.W.-Jr. Reagan’s Soviet Economic Take-Down Strategy: Financial and Energy Ele-ments // The Grand Strategy That Won the Cold War: Architecture of Triumph / eds. by D.E. Streusand, N.A. Bailey, F.H. Marlo, P.D. Gelpi. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2016. Р. 159‒174.
Schweitzer G.E. Techno-diplomacy: US-Soviet Confrontations in Science and Technology. N.Y.: Plenum Press, 1989. 320 p.
Schweitzer G.E. Scientists, Engineers, and Track-Two Diplomacy: A Half-Century of U.S.-Russian Interacademy Cooperation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2004. 166 p.
Sher G.S. A Critical History of US-Soviet Scientific Cooperation. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 2019. 306 p.
Wolfe A.J. Competing with the Soviets: Science, Technology, and the State in Cold War America. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013. 176 р.
References
Bailey, N. A. (2016). The Cold War in context. In D. E. Streusand, N. A. Bailey, F. H. Marlo, & P. D. Gelpi (Eds.), The grand strategy that won the Cold War: Architecture of triumph (pp. 25–31). Lexington Books.
Batyuk, V. I. (2018). The Cold War between the USA and the USSR (1945–1991): Essays on the history. “Ves’ mir” Publishing.
Bokarev, Yu. P. (2009). Technological warfare and its role in the geopolitical confrontation between the USA and the USSR. Trudy Instituta rossiyskoy istorii RAN, 8, 252–297.
Borovsky, Y. V. (2019). The Soviet and Russian energy industry as objects of Western sanctions: Political rival-ry or economic competition? MGIMO Review of International Relations, 3(66), 42–60.
Brands, H. W. (2015). Reagan: The life. Doubleday.
Brown, S. (2016). The faces of power: Constancy and change in United States foreign policy from Truman to Obama. Columbia Univ. Press.
Garbuzov, V. N. (1999). The Reagan Revolution: Theory and practice of American conservatism, 1981–1988. PGPI im. S.M. Kirova Publishing.
Garthoff, R. (1994). The great transition: American Soviet relations and the end of the Cold War. The Brook-ings Institution.
Högselius, P. (n.d.). Red gas: Russia and the origins of European energy dependence. Delo Publishing.
Irwin, S. M. (1993). Technology policy and America’s future. St. Martin’s Press.
La Barca, G. (2023). International trade under President Reagan US trade policy in the 1980s. Bloomsbury Academic.
Levin, M. I., & Sheveleva, I. V. (2017). Memories of the future: Technology transfer and the experience of the Cold War. Finansy i biznes, 2, 54–65.
Lukyanov, F. A. (2025). Fighting for peace through strength. Russia in Global Affairs, 23(5), 5–8. https://doi.org/10.31278/1810-6439-2025-23-5-5-8
Okuneva, L. S. (Ed.). (2022). A leader against the background of an era. Traditions and innovations of modern political leadership in Western countries: A monograph dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Faculty of International Relations. MGIMO Universitet.
Oreskes, N., & Krige, J. (Eds.). (2014). Science and technology in the global cold war. Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Paulauskas, M. V. (2015). Reagan, the Soviet Union, and the Cold War, 1981–1985. In A. L. Johns (Ed.), A Companion to Ronald Reagan (pp. 276–294). Wiley Blackwell.
Pechatnov, V. O., & Manykin, A. S. (2012). The history of US foreign policy. Mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya.
Rabkin, Ya. M. (1988). Science between superpowers. Priority Press.
Rabush, T. V. (2016). US sanctions against the USSR, their results and consequences (using the example of the anti Soviet sanctions of 1980). Vestnik of Northern (Arctic) Federal University Series “Humanitarian and So-cial Sciences”, (6), 45–53.
Robinson, R. W., Jr. (n.d.). Reagan’s Soviet economic take down strategy: Financial and energy elements. In D. E. Streusand, N. A. Bailey, F. H. Marlo, & P. D. Gelpi (Eds.), The grand strategy that won the Cold War: Archi-tecture of triumph (pp. 159–174). Lexington Books.
Safronov, A. (2025). The great Soviet economy: 1917–1991. Individuum, Eksmo.
Schweitzer, G. E. (1989). Techno diplomacy: US Soviet confrontations in science and technology. Plenum Press.
Schweitzer, G. E. (2004). Scientists, engineers, and track two diplomacy: A half century of U.S.–Russian inter-academy cooperation. The National Academies Press.
Schweitzer, P. (2021). The secret strategy of the collapse of the USSR. The role of the US administration. Rodi-na.
Sher, G. S. (2019). A critical history of US Soviet scientific cooperation. Indiana University Press.
Sogrin, V. V. (2015). USA in the 20th–21st centuries. Liberalism. Democracy. Empire. “Ves’ mir” Publishing.
Timofeev, I. N. (2018). Economic sanctions as a concept of power politics. MGIMO Review of International Relations, 2(59), 26–42. https://doi.org/10.24833/2071-8160-2018-2-59-26-42
Wolfe, A. J. (2013). Competing with the Soviets: Science, technology, and the state in Cold War America. The Johns Hopkins University Press.
Yakupov, R. A., & Yakupova, D. V. (2021). “If the gas pipeline would be built, we lose”: Transcript of Reagan’s speech at the US National Security Council Meeting on the sanctions against Soviet Union. History magazine – researches, (4). https://doi.org/10.7256/2454-0609.2021.4.36124
Yungblyud, V. T. (2024). Trade and scientific technical cooperation with the USSR on the U.S. leadership’s agenda during the era of détente (1969–1980). MGIMO Review of International Relations, 17(6), 7–32. https://doi.org/10.24833/2071-8160-2024-6-99-7-32
Yungblyud, V. T. (2025). Trade and scientific and technical cooperation with the USA on the agenda of the USSR leadership in the years of détente, 1969–1982. Quaestio Rossica, 13(2), 755–778. https://doi.org/10.15826/qr.2025.2.992
Zubok, V. M. (2023). Collapse. The demise of the Soviet Union. AST.
