Historian A: John Lewis Gaddis – Political/Military Perspective

"Gaddis argues that Reagan's military build-up and firm stance towards the USSR were crucial in forcing the Soviets to negotiate and ultimately contributed significantly to the end of the Cold War. He emphasizes Reagan's strategic diplomacy, including the Reykjavik Summit, and credits military pressure for accelerating Soviet economic decline and political reforms. Gaddis views Reagan as a leader who effectively used both hard power and diplomacy to bring about peace, portraying his policies as pivotal in ending the Cold War."

Historian B: Melvyn P. Leffler – Social/Economic Perspective

"Leffler contends that the end of the Cold War was primarily due to internal factors within the Soviet Union, such as economic stagnation, political reforms under Gorbachev, and social changes. He argues that Reagan's rhetoric and military expansion played a role but were not the decisive factors. Instead, Leffler highlights the importance of Soviet reforms, glasnost, and perestroika in making negotiations possible, seeing Reagan’s policies as more reactive than instrumental in ending the Cold War."