Star Wars and Strategic Defense Initiative
- The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) - also knows as "Star Wars"; wanted to have a defensive umbrella over the US to shoot down incoming missiles from space
- Soviets could not afford to keep up with this kind of science
- The arms race would not fizzle out until Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in the USSr in 1985
summary
Ronald Reagan wanted a defensive umbrella over the US in space to shoot down incoming missiles (like in Star Wars). Soviets couldn't afford to keep up with this kind of science because of their poor economy. Reagan's idea seemed crazy but turned out to be brilliant, because the Soviets felt they needed to make as much progress as the US, but they didn't have enough money to.