Why communism collapsed
From Oleg Gordievsky
Sir: Peregrine Worsthorne (Books, 19 November) claims that, ideologically, there were reduced dangers from post-Stalinist communism, ‘Yet under Reagan and Thatcher, instead of cooling down, there was a hotting up.’ It is true that in the 1970s the philosophical attraction of communism disappeared (though even now some bodies, like the universities, the BBC and the Guardian, are clearly missing intellectual guidance from the ideological department of the Central Committee).
However, in truth, Reagan and Thatcher were not afraid of communism as a teaching. They felt nervous about the rapidly growing nuclear threat from the USSR. In the 1970s the Kremlin started to achieve nuclear superiority over the USA, having 12,000 intercontinental ballistic missiles. In Eastern Europe it deployed 330 mediumrange SS-20 missiles with three nuclear warheads, each targeting Western Europe. Only eight warheads were needed to annihilate Great Britain.
Reagan (and later Bush senior) and Thatcher took extraordinary political measures to protect the West from that threat. As a result, the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.
Oleg Gordievsky London WC1
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