Melvin P. Leffler gave a one hour overview of his new book For the Soul of Mankind: The United States, the Soviet Union, and the Cold War. IMO, it is well worth downloading and watching the video. Leffler looks at US and Soviet leaders, in terms of international forces, domestic politics, and belief systems is revealing. Even from start, leaders on both sides recognized that the Cold War worked against their national interests. He asks why the cold war could not be ended until Reagan and Gorbachev.
In answer to a question at the very end, he places exercise Able Archer 83 and the “war scare” in context. The Soviets perceived Able Archer in the context of expectation of a preemptive nuclear attack. While no one knows how close we really came to a nuclear war, the incident clearly influenced Reagan and Gorbachev. Leffler views it as important, but apparently not a turning point. For my own view, see my June 2004 posting on How Carter Helped Reagan End the Cold War
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