Reagan/Gorbachev: Reykjavik, 1986

In Reykjavik, on October 11 and 13 1986, the last president of the USSR president and future Nobel Prize Mikhaïl Gorbachev met America’s Commander-In-Chief Ronald Reagan to discuss the future of their respective nuclear arsenals. In his newest book Reagan/Gorbatchev, Reykjavik 1986, Le Sommet de tous les espoirs, Guillaume Serina reveals the poker game played by the two most powerful men on the planet over the course of two days that could have changed the face of history.

Over the course of this evening, Guillaume Serina and David A. Andelman will comment on the Reykjavik summit,which came close to ending the nuclear competition between the East and the West, and discusses how this historical meeting — which remains curiously unknown — revealed the political climate, the strengths, and the weaknesses of both leaders. The two most powerful men of their time ended up steeling their wits against each other: does Reagan really want to share the SDI technology with the USSR? Can Gorbachev ignore the USA’s strategy? Guillaume Serina tells the story of this fascinating chess match, and ponders whether a world free of nuclear weapons is still possible today.

In English. Free and open to the public. No RSVP necessary.