This topic addresses the final climactic ten years of the Cold war. Initially heightened tensions seemed to threaten imminent hot war but, against expectations, gave way to real engagement and the final ending of the Cold War. The significance of the specified developments should be understood. As in all these periods, an appreciation of the roles of the specified leaders is vital. Students understand the significance of economic issues in changing relations. The economic developments provided an essential context for diplomatic developments and students become aware of the massive economic problems facing Gorbachev 's Russia and also the technological advances carrying the USA further ahead of its erstwhile rival. The complex and rapid series of changes in the Soviet Union and the specified developments in Eastern Europe at the end of the decade is appreciated in order to understand the sudden finale of the saga of the Cold War.

Students will understand the roles of the specified personalities. Once again, with the exception of Mao, it was a new series of leaders who set the agenda and partially shaped developments in these years. Students will acquire an understanding of superpower relations and why and to what extent there was change. Students will understand stresses on the Soviet economy were indirectly referred to by the reference to the need for food imports, but will also be aware of the financial strains placed by the rapid expansion of the Soviet Navy and the cost of easing discontent in Eastern Europe.