Re: “Reagan was committed not merely to containing the USSR, but to prevailing over the evil empire...and he did this without war.”
As much as I respect Reagan, I think historical accuracy demands that we point out that Reagan’s “adversary” was Mikhail Gorbachev.
I don’t think events would have progressed so favorably if Leonid Brezhnev or Vladimir Putin had been General Secretary between 1981-1989.