Jimmy Carter, Afghanistan, and the Olympic boycott: The last crisis of the Cold War

This study examines the contributions made by the Carter administration to the end of the Cold War. Beginning with the invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979, the Carter administration took a much harder line in its relations with the Soviet Union. Washington set about to punish Moscow for its aggressive behavior in Afghanistan by drawing international criticism and economic hardship on the Soviet Union. President Carter triggered condemnation by initiating an international boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympic Games scheduled for Moscow. The administration attempted to damage the USSR economically by halting delivery of 17 million tons of grain purchased by Moscow. Finally, it began a significant campaign within CoCom to limit technology transfers and international credits to the Soviet Union, believing this would stifle the Soviet economy.; This examination traces the implementation of the Olympic boycott and argues that, contrary to traditional opinions, the boycott represented the beginning of Washington's return to containment policy and offered a starting point for Ronald Reagan's “peace through strength” program. It suggests that, over the course of the 1980s, the policies that Jimmy Carter instituted in response to the invasion of Afghanistan, including international economic sanctions and cultural isolation, contributed to the collapse of the Cold War. I contend that while none of Carter's policies succeeded independently, collectively they created an environment in which tougher, more successful policies against Moscow could be implemented.; While many historians and political scientists have debated the causes of the Cold War's end, few have extended their research beyond the Reagan administration. Some argue that the Cold War came to an end because of Mikhail Gorbachev's willingness to abandon international communism. Others contend that the Reagan's reinvigoration of containment policies created an environment in which the Soviet Union could no longer compete with the United States economically or militarily. These scholars conclude, therefore, that Reagan “won the Cold War.” Although I acknowledge the impact of both Gorbachev and Reagan, I argue that one must look to the Carter administration's policies to see the beginning cracks in the Cold War world order.