Back in 1983 at a meeting of the National Association of Evangelicals in Orlando, Florida, US President Ronald Reagan made his famous
“Empire of Evil” speech. Considering its content and its audience, it was a clever and effective speech, and it hit the Russians harder than they realized at the time. In fact it sucker punched them.
The reason for its unexpected impact is that during the long-running stand-off between Russia and the West, dating back to “The Great Game” of the 19th-century, when Britain had played the main Occidental role, Russia had been perpetually playing “catch up.” This was, of course, in the natural state of things, as sea powers tend to be more mercurial and innovative than land powers.
As the West industrialized, so Russia had to industrialize; as the West moved into East Asia, so Russia had to make similar efforts; as the West developed (organically) a materialistic, democratic, scientific ethos, so Russia had to (ideologically) impose one. Western advances in weapons and technology were also matched, so that by the 1960s and 70s, Russia started to feel that maybe there was the chance of the roles being reversed and the West forced into the catch up position.
