From 1957 through 1961, Khrushchev openly and repeatedly threatened the West with nuclear annihilation. He claimed that Soviet missile capabilities were far superior to those of the United States, capable of wiping out any American or European city. According to John Lewis Gaddis, Khrushchev rejected Stalin's "belief in the inevitability of war," however. The new leader declared his ultimate goal was "peaceful coexistence". In Khrushchev's formulation, peace would allow capitalism to collapse on its own, as well as giving the Soviets time to boost their military capabilities, which remained for decades until Gorbachev's later "new thinking" envisioning peaceful coexistence as an end in itself rather than a form of class struggle.
Explain the difference of position against the Western Bloc among the Soviet leaders cited in the text.
Stalin believed that war against the Western Bloc was inevitable.
Krushchev instead believed the two blocs could avoid war because the war was not necessary to establish the Eastern Bloc's superiority; the Western Bloc would fail systemically.
On the other hand, Gorbachev truly believed in peaceful coexistence between the two blocs.