Why Movements Matter is a provocative account of how the Reagan administration relented to pressures created by international peace movements during one of the most dangerous episodes of the Cold War. Breyman provides the first systematic account of the West German anti-missile movement, among the most important citizen mobilizations of postwar Western history. Contrary to conventional wisdom Breyman offers compelling evidence that peace movements, rather than any escalation of Cold War spending or rhetorical belligerence, hastened the demise of the Cold War.

The product of extensive...