The Cold War in the 1980s was driven by Reagan’s policies and attitudes towards the Soviet Union. In this period the implications of his policies and attitudes had a major impact on the United States and Soviet relations and created the path to the ending the Cold War. <u>Reagan’s attitudes and policies were aggressive and there were fierce tensions but Mikhail Gorbachev sparked a turning point and Reagan’s attitudes and policies became less hawkish.</u> Through the policy of the Strategic Defence Initiative (SDI) and Reagan’s strong attitude against communism it heightened tensions between the two superpowers.
