In 1984 , journalist Nicholas Lemann interviewed Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger and summarized the strategy of the Reagan administration to roll back the Soviet Union : Lemann noted that when he wrote that in 1984 , he thought the Reaganites were living in a fantasy world . But by 2016 , Lemann stated that the passage represents " a fairly uncontroversial description of what Reagan actually did . " Reagan and the United Kingdom 's prime minister Margaret Thatcher both denounced the Soviet Union in ideological terms . In a famous address on June 8 , 1982 , to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in the Royal Gallery of the Palace of Westminster , Reagan said , " the forward march of freedom and democracy will leave Marxism – Leninism on the ash heap of history . " On March 3 , 1983 , he predicted that communism would collapse , stating , " Communism is another sad , bizarre chapter in human history whose last pages even now are being written . " In a speech to the National Association of Evangelicals on March 8 , 1983 , Reagan called the Soviet Union " an evil empire . " After Soviet fighters downed Korean Air Lines Flight 007 near Moneron Island on September 1 , 1983 , carrying 269 people , including Georgia congressman Larry McDonald , Reagan labeled the act a " massacre " and declared that the Soviets had turned " against the world and the moral precepts which guide human relations among people everywhere . " The Reagan administration responded to the incident by suspending all Soviet passenger air service to the United States , and dropped several agreements being negotiated with the Soviets , wounding them financially . As a result of the shootdown , and the cause of KAL 007 's going astray thought to be inadequacies related to its navigational system , Reagan announced on September 16 , 1983 , that the Global Positioning System would be made available for civilian use , free of charge , once completed in order to avert similar navigational errors in future
Korean Air Lines Flight 007
Korean Air Lines Flight 007
Ronald Reagan