US President Reagan pushed through his policy against the wishes of those who did not want an end to the Cold War ‘because the Russians could not be trusted’. Insider Jack Matlock, US ambassador.

We are in this war because we have not created a peaceful European order since the end of the Cold War. Putin has not broken any agreements. For decades I have always warned about NATO expansion and the dangers it would bring.

Matlock speaks about the great opposition that had to be countered within the US as it was believed that Moscow could not be trusted, and military pressure was the only approach. Working against war hawks on both sides, disarmament became the skeleton structure to develop mutual trust and end the Cold War. The Cold War eventually ended through negotiations in 1989 that produced a common peace. However, the Soviet Union collapsed two years later, and the neocons hijacked the narrative by claiming the Cold War was won. Peace was believed to have been created through military dominance, which lent support to the policy of NATO expansionism that destroyed the post-Cold War peace. Ambassador Matlock explains how we have, yet again, ended up in a situation where dangerous war narratives are elevated above reality, and military pressure is yet again believed to be the only path to peace.

https://glenndiesen.substack.com/p/negotiating-the-end-to-the-cold-war