The collapse of communism and the end of the Cold War has often been attributed to the more aggressive stance of Ronald Reagan towards the Soviet Union and his escalation of the arms race in the 1980s. Philipp Ther offers a very different story in his book. What reasons does he offer for why communism collapsed so quickly in the Eastern Bloc in the period of 1989-91? What explanations does he offer to why these monumental changes happened relatively peacefully? Be careful in thinking about the timeline of events in the period when formulating your answer.
