at brookings, he challenged the reagan military build-up as provocative and unnecessary. he was a frequent public commentator, including a televised debate against the leading neoconservative richard perle. he identified a tipping point in soviet strategy. from studying soviet military writings and identifying changes in soviet deployment of military forces, he identified 1966 as the start of a shift away from the 1950s soviet assumption that war would inevitably lead to an all-out nuclear exchange. by 1987, the threat of global war became downgraded and armed forces withdrew from eastern europe. at this point in time, prevention of global warfare became the primary aim in moscow, where gorbachev wanted to defuse tensions and downgrade military spending. in sum, mccgwire believed the end of the cold war was due to soviet initiatives rather than the manoeuvring of the western powers.