Author Suzanne Massie taught President Reagan the Russian rhyme doverai no proverai, which means “trust, but verify.” It was one of two slogans that guided his thinking in negotiations with the USSR: the two countries would have a basis of trust in their discussions and agreements, but this needed to be supplemented by some mechanism to ensure that each party was holding to its commitments. Alongside this was the concept of “peace through strength,” akin to Teddy Roosevelt’s “speak softly and carry a big stick.” It was a lot easier to fight for peace when one is prepared for the opposite. In
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