“[I]n the West today, we see a free world that has achieved a level of prosperity and well-being unprecedented in all human history. In the Communist world, we see failure, technological backwardness, declining standards of health, even want of the most basic kind--too little food. Even today, the Soviet Union still cannot feed itself. After these four decades, then, there stands before the entire world one great and inescapable conclusion: Freedom leads to prosperity. Freedom replaces the ancient hatreds among the nations with comity and peace. Freedom is the victor. And now the Soviets themselves may, in a limited way, be coming to understand the importance of freedom. We hear much from Moscow about a new policy of reform and openness. Some political prisoners have been released. Certain foreign news broadcasts are no longer being jammed. Some economic enterprises have been permitted to operate with greater freedom from state control.
Are these the beginnings of profound changes in the Soviet state? Or are they token gestures, intended to raise false hopes in the West, or to strengthen the Soviet system without changing it? We welcome change and openness. . . .
General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!
- excerpts from Ronald Reagan’s speech in West Berlin, June 12, 1987

What was one way Reagan’s speech and his other foreign policy stances affected the Cold War?

A) Reagan helped end the Cold War by pointing out and exacerbating the weaknesses of the USSR’s economy.

B) Reagan helped end the Cold War by convincing USSR citizens to revolt against the aging communist government.

C) Reagan prolonged the Cold War by giving advice to USSR leaders that helped them maintain power for a longer period.

D) Reagan prolonged the Cold War by inciting USSR citizens, causing them to stay committed to communism for a longer time.