By the early 1980s the Soviet Union was overwhelmed by domestic and foreign policy crises. Its economy was in decline, which was aggravated further by falling oil prices. It suffered from “imperial overstretch.” The Soviet intervention in Afghanistan increasingly resembled the U.S. adventure in Vietnam and turned into a costly quagmire. Moscow’s allies in Eastern Europe were ailing too and needed billions worth of economic aid. In Poland the “Solidarity” labor movement challenged the power of the Communist Party. U.S. President Ronald Reagan and the Polish Pope John Paul II clandestinely supported Solidarity.
In response Polish state leader General Wojciech Jaruzelski instituted martial law in December 1981. The Kremlin at this time also suffered from a serious crisis of leadership. Chairman Brezhnev was ailing and died in 1982. His successors Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko quickly passed, too, in 1983 and 1984. The quick succession of Kremlin leaders did not allow the West
to build trust with stable negotiating partners.