What was the big idea in the cold war?

It is difficult for people who are not old enough to have lived through the early years of it to truly understand the Cold War. By the early 1970's, the Cold War had become a very tiresome chess match that had ended long ago in a "stalemate", but neither player was willing to call it. But for those of us who's memory goes back to the early fifties, the Cold War was a brand-new game full of thrills, chills and spills called "Brinksmanship", largely invented by John Foster Dulles. The game was simple: The United States and Russia both put on their most threatening faces, stood nose-to-nose and stared. If either blinked, the whole world exploded. The ultimate peak of the game was probably the Cuban Missile Crisis. After that, (Russia blinked) the yawning stalemate developed rapidly. Many are fond of saying that "Ronnie Reagan brought about the end of the Cold War!". No, he didn't. Ronald Reagan did indeed preside over the funeral of the Cold War, yes - but it was already dead before he put his hand on The Bible and said "So help me God". It's just that no one had called the coroner yet. Mikael Gorbachov finally called the coroner.