Changes

Considered by many as the second or third most critical single incident of the Cold War, after the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]] of 1962 and [[Able Archer 83]], the shooting down of [[Korean Airlines Flight 007]] on Sept. 1, 1983 would signal a change in the relations between the U.S. and the Soviet Union prompted by the subsequent deployment of Pershing and cruise missiles in West Germany just 6 minutes from launch to Moscow. This precipitated the era of confrontation of 1983 and 1984 between the two nations. The world would once again witness what it saw as the blatent barbarity of what President Reagan had termed the "Evil Empire". Though the world had accepted that KAL 007 had exploded and crashed with no survivors of the 269 passengers and crew, there has most recently surfaced evidence to the contrary [http://www.rescue007.org/]. Democratic congressman from Georgia [[Larry McDonald]], a passenger aboard KAL 007, was the only member of Congress to have been reported killed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

Considered by many as the second or third most critical single incident of the Cold War, after the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]] of 1962 and [[Able Archer 83]], the shooting down of [[Korean Airlines Flight 007]] on Sept. 1, 1983 would signal a change in the relations between the U.S. and the Soviet Union prompted by the subsequent deployment of Pershing and cruise missiles in West Germany just 6 minutes from launch to Moscow. This precipitated the era of confrontation of 1983 and 1984 between the two nations. The world would once again witness what it saw as the blatent barbarity of what President Reagan had termed the "Evil Empire". Though the world had accepted that KAL 007 had exploded and crashed with no survivors of the 269 passengers and crew, there has most recently surfaced evidence to the contrary [http://www.rescue007.org/]. Democratic congressman from Georgia [[Larry McDonald]], a passenger aboard KAL 007, was the only member of Congress to have been reported killed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

==Breakup of the Soviet Union and American Victory==

==Breakup of the Soviet Union and "Wars" End==

The Western democracies, under the leadership of the United States under President [[Ronald Reagan]] won the Cold War with a policy that rejected detente and containment and instead relied on [[Rollback]].  An important element of this victory  was Reagan's decision to commit to increased military spending, such as the  "[[Strategic Defense Initiative|Star Wars]]" program.  Reagan's decisions to intervene in Afghanistan while pursuing an arms race exacerbated structural weaknesses in the Soviet economy and pushed the USSR into an early decline.

The Western democracies, under the leadership of the United States under President [[Ronald Reagan]] won the Cold War with a policy that rejected detente and containment and instead relied on [[Rollback]].  An important element of this victory  was Reagan's decision to commit to increased military spending, such as the  "[[Strategic Defense Initiative|Star Wars]]" program.  Reagan's decisions to intervene in Afghanistan while pursuing an arms race exacerbated structural weaknesses in the Soviet economy and pushed the USSR into an early decline.