How did Reagan describe the Soviet Union? In his opinion, was it strong? Why or why not?Ronald Reagan, Speech to the House of Commons (1982)

This speech is Reagan's "Evil Empire" speech.  Given the
fact that this is the subtitle, I would say that he saw it as rather strong.  In my
mind, it's a bit of a challenge to assess Reagan's words in light of what we now know
about how the Soviet Union ended up faring by the end of his term.  Some would point to
Reagan's genius of vision in the speech, as most of what he called for actually ended up
happening.  There was a certain prophecy in the ideas that the Soviet Union and the
Communist empire could not sustain its drive from both internal and external threats for
very long, and that the lure of "Western" ideas such as free press, open elections, and
economic competition would be too much to bear on the Soviets and their spheres of
influence.   Another side of the coin simply suggests that Reagan was doing a great job
of communicating to both the British and his own people what we wanted them to believe
in terms of committing to his vision and foregoing much in way of domestic challenges
such as urban renewal, education funding, and health care reform.  Reagan's description
of the Soviet Union was one of a lumbering giant that was destined to tip over under the
weight of the Western calls for freedom and the internal body politic heeding such
calls.  He cites the Polish Solidarity uprising as one of many such examples that will
spell the end of the Soviet Union.  Reagan described the Soviet resistance to the West
as futile because the call of freedom is too loud.  In addition to this, Reagan cited
that the state controlled economy of the Soviet Union is running out of steam, helping
to justify his own politics of deregulation in America.  Both of these components-
political and economic reality- will inevitably cause the death of the Soviet Union.
 Given such a focus, I would say that Reagan felt that this was a strong statement to
make at such an early call of his presidency.