Those were tumultuous times. Those of us who lived through it all were no doubt glad to see the Cold War go. Looking back at history and mulling over formerly classified information, some have questioned how much of the worst parts of the Cold War could have been avoided. I have long concluded had the Soviet Union maintained it's large defense posture and expenditure within it's own borders or neighboring states who voluntarily wanted to be under their defensive umbrella, then perhaps things could have been kept at a lower level so to speak. But that was never the CPSU's intention from the beginning. They did everything they could to spread Communism and their outreaching tentacles around the world. The invasions and brutal authoritarian crackdowns the Soviets imposed on the people and countries of Easter Europe was horrific. Without exception, there were the satellite programs in Africa, Asia, and Latin/Central America where aid was given to some pretty awful governments and movements which committed many human rights atrocities as well as installed dictatorships. There were plenty of covert and direct means done to thwart these outreaching efforts by the Soviets, many were successful, some were not. In the end, the Soviet's plans failed but the debris and damage left over and human cost will last for decades to come.
At the end of the day, there were some Soviets/Russians who were brave enough to roll back or outright terminate many of those goals and programs and not to mention change the way things where done in the Soviet Union towards the end. I have nothing but admiration for Mikhail Gorbachev. I think he was the right leader at the right time in both to Soviet Union and in the World. He is a good and brave man and he deserves credit for helping to turn back the tide of the Cold War shoulder to shoulder with other great World Leaders of the time.
