Quote:
Originally posted by Cowperson+Oct 1 2004, 03:40 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Cowperson @ Oct 1 2004, 03:40 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-FlamesAddiction@Oct 1 2004, 03:30 AM
Personally, I think the propaganda war played the biggest role in the fall of the Soviet Union. Not that economic factors, and military spending weren't important factors too, but I downplay their role.
The U.S. and west in general, promoted itself and convinced almost a whole generation of young Russians that "blue jeans and rock music" (American images in general) were good things. Gorbachev saw the writing on the wall and had to modernize, and I personally don't think the arms race was all that significant. If anything, it only made things worse for a while as it created and perpetuated the "good-guy/bad-guy" theme of the Cold War. Once Gorbachev made concessions to the liberal movement in Russia, it couldn't be controlled until communism fell.
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The U.S. and west in general, promoted itself and convinced almost a whole generation of young Russians that "blue jeans and rock music" (American images in general) were good things. Gorbachev saw the writing on the wall and had to modernize, and I personally don't think the arms race was all that significant.
The introduction of the desktop computer in the early 1980's, which helped breach the information barrier with a closed society, was probably significant as well in the downfall of the Soviet Union.
China is trying to control that by blocking access to tens of thousands of external websites but its a full time job requiring a gigantic bureacracy and its obviously a lost cause.
However, I do agree the arms race did eventually bankrupt the Soviet Union and agree the convincing myth of the Star Wars project pushed them over the edge.
But the free flow of information was critical.
Who can forget when the Berlin Wall went down and the ensuing days saw hordes of East Germans wandering stunned through glittering Berlin, realizing they had been lied to about their system and seeing the evidence in such an obvious and blunt manner?
Cowperson [/b][/quote]
I'm not so sure about that Cow. I'm not positive that the Personal Computer in the early 80's was the information conduit that it is now. IIRC the Personal computer didn't really enter into the Soviet Union (beyond the very favored) until the late 80's to early 90's.
I'm sure it had a factor due to BBS, but with the primitive phone systems at the time you have to wonder if most russians really had access to it.
I read a book about a Soviet Defector from 1985 and he thought the CIA was lying to him when they offered him a PC, this gentleman didn't believe that the average person could afford it.