Ronald Reagan Strategic Defense Initiative Essay

American Political Thought 4/27/2023 What principles did Ronald Reagan draw on for his Cold War strategy? How did this shape American Political Thought? The role that Ronald Reagan played in the Cold War was one of a puzzle solver. According to this week's lecture, from The Peacemaker, Reagan had three clear goals at the beginning of his presidency: the expansion of liberty in the world, the end of Soviet communism, the abolition of nuclear weapons, peace between the American and Russian people, and a world free of the Cold War.

In the early 1980s, the Soviet Union, already having threatened Western Europe with their superior military, created nuclear missiles that they plan to use to further terrorize western countries. The USSR’s imperialistic behavior towards weaker countries gives the U.S. and Europe reason to believe they want to use their growing military to expand their western border. Reagan supported the idea for the U.S. to install their own missiles, and even offered an alternative plan to the Soviets called the “Zero Option”. This plan required the USSR to remove all of their nuclear missiles from Europe, and in turn, the United States would not install any of their own (Fuller). On March 8, 1983, President Ronald Reagan gives the “Evil Empire” speech to

It became evident that the position of strength was achieved through the commencement of negotiations to reduce arms. For example, in 1988, Reagan and Gorbachev implemented the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty) which banned all land-based missiles with ranges between 500-1000km from both nations. This was a significant step in the ending of the cold war as it reduced the nuclear arsenal which enabled a period of relative peace afterwards. This treaty highlights the clear shift in Reagan’s policies between his first and second term, as the SDI (although defensive) increased the military strength of the US but only a few years later Reagan implemented treaties aiming to reduce this

President Ronald Reagan, who served as the 40th president of the United States of America, is renowned for his foreign policy efforts aimed at preventing a second Vietnam War. The Reagan Doctrine, his foreign policy approach, was centered on a singular objective: preventing the reoccurrence of a conflict similar to the Vietnam War. To achieve this policy objective, Reagan had two main components in his foreign policy efforts: the Kirkpatrick Doctrine and Support for Low-Intensity Conflicts. The first component of his doctrine, known as the Kirkpatrick Doctrine, establishes authoritarian regimes as the lesser of two evils when compared to communist governments.

Reagan didn’t encourage war, but his mission was to make America the strongest nation because the linked military strength to power. Reagan believed this would be achieved by making it the strongest country militarily. For years, the military had been neglected and he felt that it was a priority to rebuild it. The United States’ status of super power can be attributed to Reagan because of the emphasis he placed on building the military. This lead the United States to being the most respected country.

In 1979, there was an invasion of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and he failed to extract American hostages; they were eventually released the first day of Ronald Reagan’s presidency. Ronal Reagan’s presidency also saw it’s share of successes and failures. In 1983, Reagan sent soldiers to Lebanon, attempting to help reinstate command from an Israeli

The foreign policy of the Ronald Reagan administration was the foreign policy of the United States from 1981 to 1989. It was characterized by a strategy of "peace through strength" followed by a warming of relations with the Soviet Union. Reagan particularly wanted to redefine national policy toward the Soviet Union. He had supported the fundamental policy of containing the Soviet Union that President Harry Truman adopted in 1947 and was followed by all Presidents of both parties. But Reagan believed that the Soviets had taken advantage of détente, as practiced by Presidents Nixon, Ford, and Carter.

Ronald Reagan President Biography Ronald Reagan was the 40th President of the United States of America. His presidency lasted two terms, from 1981-1989. During his presidency he accomplished many things one of the main ones being the Reagan Revolution. Ronald Reagan's main concern during both of his terms was pledging to reinvigorate the american people and reduce reliance on the government. When Ronald Reagan took office january 20th, 1981, as a republican candidate, and was shot 69 days after he took office through an attempted assassination, but recovered and was released on April 11,1981.

Behind his accomplishments and accolades, lies a much opposing opinion of the president. From reducing the poverty rate by cutting taxes and increasing defense spending, to leading the nation in the biggest debt deficit in years, President Reagan has always been a favorite and an embarrassment in some fashion. Though credited with bringing a much quicker closer end to the Cold War, President Reagan struggled to make bureaucratic solutions with Iran during the Iran-Iraq War in 1985. Does President Reagan bring up a valid point or does he contradict himself with himself with his actions? The argument can be made from both sides as a politician or a citizen.

They noticed that there was an opportunity to formulate a capitalist favored government in the middle of the Nicaraguan Civil War. These contras took over a significant part of Nicaragua and began to gain some support from citizens. A huge controversy arose from the funding of the contra rebels called the Iran-Contra Affair. President Ronald Reagan and several top-level CIA officials were investigated for this Affair. The United States government was selling arms to Iranian rebels and using the money that was made for the funding of the Contra Rebels in Nicaragua(Iran-Contra Affair).

The Iran-Contra affair was a political scandal that rocked the United States in the late 1980s. It involved a secret and illegal scheme by the Reagan administration to sell weapons to Iran, which was under an arms embargo, and use the proceeds to fund the Contras, a rebel group fighting against the socialist government of Nicaragua. The affair exposed the abuse of power and the deception of the executive branch, and raised serious questions about the role of Congress and the public in overseeing foreign policy. The background of the affair can be traced back to two major events in the early 1980s:

The deception and secrecy of the Iran-Contra affair by the Reagan Administration illustrated the hypocrisy in U.S. Foreign policy. Beginning in the early 1980’s, the Reagan Administration orchestrated an elaborate plan to illegally fund a right-wing militant group in Nicaragua. Also during this period, the U.S. was entangled in a hostage crisis in Lebanon. As a result, of these two issues, Reagan and his administration would set up secret relations with Iran. Iran was publicly seen as one of America’s biggest enemies, but privately Iran would become a key trading partner.

Known as a true son of the U.S.A Reagan would use his gentle but outspoken ideas to rally a sense of patriotism and hope for the future. During his presidency the U.S. would see major drops in inflation, annual growth of GDP, cut federal regulations on trade, ending the cold war, challenging the then Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev to destroy the

The Reagan administration’s disobedience against the law resulted in war. In Nicaragua, the Somoza dynasty was overthrown by a popular Sandinista movement that intended to create a socialist economy. The Reagan administration believed that it was necessary to fight the Sandinista forces because their revolution was considered a communist threat. Consequently, the CIA organized a counter-revolutionary force called the contras to wage a secret war against the Sandinistas. Polls showed that the American public didn’t support United States involvement in Nicaragua, and later that year Congress “made it illegal for the United States to support ‘directly or indirectly, military or paramilitary operations in Nicaragua’”

Foreign Policies of Carter and Reagan Critical Thinking Assignment Overtime America has worked its way to becoming an important international power. The country upholds this position by establishing the proper systems to maintain being a strong country that is able to defend itself and protect its people’s needs. Both Presidential leaders Jimmy Carter and Ronald Regan would work to help America develop a good position on international affairs in a time where the country had faced conflict over it borders. During both of their presidential terms, the Cold War was going on where they would both adopt new measures to ease the tension between the United States and the Soviet Union.