Outline of the Cold War
End of the Cold War – While many observers state the 1989 Malta Summit was the end of the Cold War, it was December 1991 before the Presidents of the United States and the Soviet Union formally recognised the conflict's end, with the Soviet Union also being dissolved at that time. Some key events leading up to the end include:
Ronald Reagan
Reagan's major achievement was that the USSR and Soviet Communism collapsed, causing the U.S. to become the world's only superpower. His admirers say he won the Cold War. After 40 years of high tension, the USSR pulled back in the last years of Reagan's second term. In 1989 the Kremlin lost control of all its East European satellites. In 1991, Communism was overthrown in the USSR, and on December 25, 1991, the Soviet Union ceased to exist. The resulting states were no threat to the U.S. Reagan's exact role is debated, with many believing that Reagan's defense policies, economic policies, military policies and hard line rhetoric against the Soviet Union and Communism, as well as summits with General Secretary Gorbachev played a significant part in ending the Cold War.