Victory : The Reagan Administration's Secret Strategy That Hastened the Collapse of the Soviet Union

Victory tells the story of a secret U.S. strategy developed in the Reagan White House in early 1982 that hastened the demise of the Soviet Union. In this explosive book, Peter Schweizer provides the riveting details of how the Reagan administration undermined the Soviet economy and its dwindling resource base while subverting the Kremlin's hold on its global empire. Using secret diplomacy, the administration dramatically reduced Soviet income while at the same time driving Moscow to expend an increasing amount of precious assets. On another level, the administration provided covert aid to indigenous forces in Poland and Afghanistan to roll back Soviet power.

The development and execution of these policies was limited to a few members of the Reagan inner circle. Based on exclusive interviews with key participants, including Caspar Weinberger, George Shultz, John Poindexter, Robert McFarlane, William Clark, and others, Victory chronicles the drama as it unfolded. From the secret trips of CIA director Bill Casey to National Security Council plans to damage the Soviet economy, the complete American strategy is revealed for the first time. Interviews with senior Soviet officials from the KGB, Politburo, and Communist Party Central Committee offer Kremlin perspectives on these American initiatives, and secret government documents-both Soviet and American-offer a conclusive paper trail on this world-turning period.

For the first time, read about the plan from several top-secret National Security Decision Directives (NSDDs) signed by President Reagan early in his administration:

NSDD-32, which stated that it was U.S. policy to "neutralize" Soviet power in Eastern Europe

NSDD-56, the first shot in the economic war that helped bankrupt the Kremlin

NSDD-75, which declared that it was U.S. strategy to attack Soviet weakness and "roll back" Soviet power

No singular event of policy pushed the Kremlin over the brink. The power of the Reagan administration's strategy was in its cumulative effect on the Soviet system. Learn why and how Ronald Reagan helped bring down the Soviet Union.

"Americans need evaluations of their country's Cold War strategy that go beyond sloganeering.... This is exactly what Peter Schweizer's Victory provides."--The New York Times Book Review

"This extensively researched study is fast-moving, exciting, and accurate."--Forbes

"Victory is the result of exhaustive interviews with key strategists and leading chaos masters of the Cold War's endgame. It chronicles the fascinating details of how one of the greatest empires on Earth was brought down almost exclusively by peaceful means."--The Washington Times

Peter Schweizer is a best-selling author who completed this book as a media fellow at the Hoover Institution of War, Revolution and Peace, Stanford University. He lives with his wife in McLean, Virginia. His written work has appeared in the New York Times and the Washington Post.