Changes in Eastern Bloc
The crumbling of the Berlin Wall seems to have spawned the occasional suggestion that the Cold War’s apparent end is due to Ronald Reagan. Might I interject that the myriad changes in Eastern Europe are not due to Reagan, but rather in spite of him.
The credit clearly goes to Mikhail Gorbachev. For with the incremental changes brought about by perestroika and his subsequent removal of the Soviet right wing, the snowball of freedom began its slow but (so far) unstoppable descent.
Yes, the changes technically began to occur on Reagan’s watch, but God knows he wasn’t winding it.
WILLIAM P. BEKKALA
West Hollywood
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