The Fall of the USSR and the Debate over Russia

Twenty years ago, the world watched the Soviet Union fall. The regime that was “planted by bayonets,” as President Ronald Reagan once described it, did not take root, and ultimately the empire that once walled itself off from the West with an Iron Curtain could not shield its people from seeing the shining light of democracy.

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Next Tuesday, when the Republican presidential candidates come together to discuss foreign policy and national security in a debate presented by The Heritage Foundation and American Enterprise Institute on CNN, they should remember the lessons that the fall of the USSR taught us, but they should also look ahead to the challenges that remain in Russia and around the world today. Chief among those challenges are those brought about by the Obama Administration’s pursuit of a “reset” in relations with Russia. In his “Evil Empire” speech to the British House of Commons in 1982, President Reagan quoted Winston Churchill, who said, ”I do not believe that Soviet Russia desires war. What they desire is the fruits of war and the indefinite expansion of their power and doctrines. But what we have to consider here today while time remains is the permanent prevention of war and the establishment of conditions of freedom and democracy as rapidly as possible in all countries.” Reagan said, “Well, this is precisely our mission today: to preserve freedom as well as peace. It may not be easy to see; but I believe we live now at a turning point.”

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