So I just finished reading Tony Judt's Postwar (If anybody has any opinions on that, I'd be glad to read them). In it, Judt argues that although various Eastern European anti-communist movements provided the spur for dissolution, the primary reason behind it was Gorbachev's refusal to enforce the Brezhnev doctrine and intervene militarily, which Judt believes would crush any of the independence movements with ease. Should his argument considered accurate and/or valid?
Follow-up question:
What role did the US have in the fall of the Soviet Union?
Because i've heard some people claim that the United States intervention was the main cause for it's dissolution, by the use of covert operations and support of its internal opposition, and i would like to know if there is any truth in that statement.