Whether it was the Military Industrial Complex stirring things up or just bad intelligence but the Soviet Union's military might was greatly exaggerated. Sub-par technology and low morale was what we discovered in the end when the curtain fell. They kept smaller satellite states in check by brute and harsh force, but even that fails in the end as evidenced by history.

Of course I base this off of my opinion from Tom Clancy novels and thinking that he gave them too much credit as well. Come to think of it I blame Tom Clancy for over inflating the Soviet Union's strength.