As the Cold War drew to a close, other problems took its place. None was more threatening to American interests than Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait in early August 1990. The Joint Chiefs of Staff had long viewed the Middle East and Southwest Asia as potential trouble spots, and over the years they steadily became more mindful of the region’s difficulties. Indicative of the growing importance they attached to the Middle East was their decision in 1983 to create a regional planning organization, the U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM). While maintaining a limited U.S. presence in the area, USCENTCOM conducted combined training exercises with friendly countries, bolstered diplomatic support for U.S. interests, and coordinated multilateral protection of international shipping. Assuring unfettered access to the Persian Gulf oil fields was normally USCENTCOM’s top concern. But with the Soviet threat to Europe and an unstable situation on the Korean peninsula still claiming priority, the JCS had refused to allocate significant resources to the region on a permanent basis and had dealt with it in ad hoc fashion as the need arose

Reagan and Gorbachev met for the last time in New York City in December 1988. By then the two leaders had developed an easy collaboration that both hoped would carry over into the presidency of Reagan’s recently elected successor, George H.W. Bush. A former member of Congress, Director of Central Intelligence, ambassador to China, and Reagan’s vice president for 8 years, Bush came to the White House with more practical experience in national security affairs than any President since Eisenhower. As part of his agenda while in New York, Gorbachev addressed the UN General Assembly and used the occasion to announce that the Soviet Union would unilaterally reduce its armed forces by half a million men and withdraw 50,000 troops and 5,000 tanks from Eastern Europe over the next 2 years. Moscow, Gorbachev insisted, wanted military forces only for defensive purposes and would use them for nothing else. A dramatic, headline-grabbing gesture, Gorbachev’s announcement convinced Secretary of State George Shultz that the Cold War was more than drawing to a close. Indeed, Shultz insisted: "It was over.”

By the mid-1980s, as Ronald Reagan embarked on his second term, the military buildup launched at the outset of the decade was beginning to show results. Increasingly reassured, the Joint Chiefs believed that they had turned the corner and were now better poised to compete effectively in military power with the Soviet Union than at any time since the Vietnam War. Despite the re-imposition of congressionally mandated funding constraints, starting with the FY86 budget, they saw the balance of forces shifting back in their favor. As always, the JCS wanted more to be done than available money allowed and urged the President and Congress to be, if nothing else, consistent in their level of support for military programs. Yet, all things considered, the buildup seemed to be having the desired effect of restoring both a stronger defense posture and a renewed respect for the country’s Armed Forces. Not since the early 1950s had the Nation’s Military Establishment felt so assured.