'Imperial Overstretch', Mikhail Gorbachev, and the End of the Cold War

Abstract

This article takes as its point of departure Paul Kennedy's theory about 'imperial overstretch'. While the author criticizes Kennedy's emphasis on the decline of the United States, he argues that events in the Soviet Union fit the theory almost perfectly. The primary focus is, however, on the end of the Cold War, and the author argues that 'imperial overstretch' represents a powerful explanation for even this dramatic development. In this light the article synthesizes and discusses the rapidly growing literature on defence expeditures in the Soviet Union in the 1970s and 1980s, on Mikhail Gorbachev's foreign policy priorities, and on the end of the Cold War.