Or they might be less inclined to strike first to pre-empt a strike. I&#x27;ve mentioned Able Archer 83 elsewhere: The Soviets appears to have gotten close to strike first because they believe the US was preparing to strike. Knowledge of a policy that appeared to indicate a distinct goal of deterring the President from launching a strike might have made the Soviets less nervous.<p>A while afterwards Reagan wrote that he long thought that the Soviet leadership, like the Americans, did not believe a US first strike was a serious possibility. But he eventually learned that this was a flawed assumption: The Soviet leadership saw the US as a possible - even likely - aggressor, and interpreted US actions accordingly. In that context, posturing was incredibly dangerous, and this realisation made him change tack and become determined to sit down and talk to them.