In truth, there were many factors behind the fall of the Soviet Union — Ronald Reagan’s Star Wars program and other geopolitical provocations, the drop in oil prices, drastic leadership mistakes like the war in Afghanistan, a misguided alcohol policy, and [Mikhail] Gorbachev’s reforms.
—
Georg Szalai,
HollywoodReporter,
8 Nov. 2025
Returning to the status quo ante would signal that Beijing seeks to relax cross-strait tensions and will escalate only in response to new provocations.
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Share