... in 1987 and 1991 but only arms control agreements was the fact that there was an enlightened leader which was Gorbachev. Gorbachev realized that by the 1980s the USSR was approaching a crisis. Its economy was in decline, a process exacerbated by the enormous demands of the military sector (40% of R&D, between 15% and 18% of GNP) Compared with the west, it was technologically backward and faced severe problems such as alcoholism, absenteeism and falling life expectancy. It was this realization that led to Gorbachev's "New political thinking" and he realized that one of the major way to relieve pressure on the Soviet economy was through arms reduction agreements and thus he took the initiative by firstly reevaluating military doctrine, introducing the concept of "reasonable sufficiency" 9meaning that a smaller number of nuclear weapons would be required) Hence, he called for an eventual abolition of all nuclear weapons in ...

See this essay or coursework document in full right now