President Ronald Reagan 's Strategic Defense Initiative

After the war, the United States and the Soviet Union had very different ideas on how to rebuild. The United States, led

Although he seemed to be steering the Soviet Union in the right direction, his people and colleagues still viewed him critically. He had begun to realize that a state could not be run with a lot of "brain-washed helots". He shifted the economy as to raise the standard of living. This in turn began the development of individual thinkers, Soviets with a mind of their own. In order to allow this new wave

Reagan became president in 1981, which means that he was president of the U.S. during a time in which the Cold War began to draw to a close. (Fischer, 1997, p.477). Whereas his predecessors used détente, a more relaxed approach in order to reduce tension between the U.S. and USSR, Reagan and his advisers rejected this strategy (Authors, People and a Nation, p.833). This led to a turning point in the Cold War. Even though the Cold War ended in 1991, two years after Reagan’s presidency, Reagan is still known to have made a huge influence on ending the Cold War. This essay will investigate his actions and how they might have influenced the ending of the Cold War, by looking at how Reagan expressed his distrust toward the Soviet Union and communism, the ways in which Reagan expanded the arms race in order to bankrupt the USSR and other ways in which he tried to sabotage the Soviet economy, but also

He would argue back and forth with them. Reagan was so determined to end this Cold War that “when Reagan became President he had only one well-defined foreign policy goal: containing the Soviet Union, or the "evil empire" as he once referred to it.” (“Spark Notes”). Reagan's persistence with the Soviets didn't go to waste because “For the first time since the beginning of the Cold War, a Soviet leader approached the United States to seriously discuss a possible peace. This initiative took the Reagan administration completely by surprise, but Reagan quickly responded in kind” (“Spark Notes”). Finally after a long time of negotiating and dealing with the Soviets Reagan got his way, ¨Gorbachev and President Reagan themselves sat together in both Washington and Moscow on a number of occasions to hammer out agreements”. (“Spark Notes”). Reagan negotiating with the Soviets really was what brought the Cold War to an end. If Reagan was not as persistent as he was the Cold War could have lasted a lot longer then it had already

During the beginning of the Reagan presidency, Cold War pressure between the Soviet Union and the United States boosted. Reagan entered office deeply cautious of the Soviet Union. Reagan characterized the Soviet Union as "an evil empire" and called for a space-based missile defense system, battered by critics as "Star Wars."

Before he took office, the war was a major Communist threat to the United States. Reagan reversed the policy of détente and stood strong against the Soviet Union. His efforts were responsible for the fall of the Soviet empire that ended the Cold War. He had made the US military even stronger and established a smaller federal government. He was responsible for the Strategic Defense Initiative, which had the intent to develop an anti-ballistic missile system to prevent missile attacks from other countries, especially the Soviet Union. With the tension of the Cold War still around, the Strategic Defense Initiative was the Reagan’s response to possible nuclear attacks from afar. Although the program seemed to have no negative consequences, there were concerns brought up about the program which caused them to set it aside for a while. Reagan tranquilized the concerns by fabricating the Intermediate Range Nuclear Force Treaty (INF), which provided for the destruction of about 2500 Soviet and American missiles in Europe. It banned all intermediate-range nuclear missiles from Europe and marked a significant ending in the Cold

After World War II, Soviet Union expansionism in Eastern Europe fueled America’s fears of Russia controlling the world. The United States had been aware of Soviet communism and became concerned about the safety of the country. From then on, the USSR and the United States competed in an arms race, starting with military buildups. This became known as the Cold War and was an international power struggle for both nations. For about forty-five years, the Cold War between the United States of America and the Soviet Union took place. During this conflict, the two nations never directly confronted each other on the battlefield, but deadly threats were traded for years. The president at the time, Ronald Reagan, used U.S. policy and diplomacy to attempt

In the year 1981, the American, anti-communist Ronald Reagan became president of the United States (Doc 70, pg.426). During the first term of his presidency, Reagan expressed a great sense of danger and threat that was deeply embedded in his general convictions regarding the nature of communism, particularly, in the Soviet Union (Renshon and Larson, pg.15). However, Reagan eventually began to express alternative views in his second term of presidency. He significantly altered his perception of the Soviet threat and accepted the idea of possibly working together with the Soviet Union towards achieving peace (Doc 70, pg.427). This transformation is reflected though Reagan’s initial hatred towards the USSR, to his cooperation with Gorbachev at the Geneva Summit, their great attempts to negotiate at the Reykjavik Summit and finally their signing of the INF treaty. Ronald Reagan transformed from an essentialist who viewed the Soviet Union as “evil” and ruled by an ideology seeking world communism and absolute power, to an interactionist who viewed the tension between the United States and the Soviet Union in terms of mutual misinterpretation (Renshon and Larson, pg. 20). This change ultimately caused Soviet-American relations to significantly strengthen throughout the 1980’s as U.S President Reagan cooperatively worked together with USSR General Gorbachev, a leader who shared in the same goal of achieving a peaceful, non-nuclear world.

During the cold war era, President Reagan’s strong anti-Soviet feelings and rhetorical “attack” style was an approach that his own administration saw as extreme and even dangerous (Rowland, p 23). And unlike many American leaders before him, who avoided the strained relations between the United States and Soviet Union, President Reagan set out to exploit and end communist tyranny. President Reagan’s devotion to ending tyranny was stronger than any other leader during the time period. For example, he criticized the Carter administration for their failure to deal with "the adventurousness of the Soviet Union" (Fisher, p 303). He believed that their foreign policy enabled the Soviet Union to view the United States in a weak and vulnerable state. President Reagan 's staunch opposition to communism and his willingness to confront the Soviet Union during a time when it was not popular, played a key role in the failure of the Soviet Union. Aiding him in his lone stand against tyranny was his rhetoric style of "ideological and moral clarity." A rhetoric style that he utilized to demonstrate a strong moral position towards the Soviet Union, while reducing the risk of conflict. In doing so he was able to set the stage for successful negotiation between the two nations (Rowland, p 24). This essay will examine Ronald Reagan 's June 12, 1987, address at the Brandenburg Gate. Mainly, the rhetoric style of "ideological and moral clarity", he utilized to exploit the Soviet Union, while

. President Reagan had an agenda regarding the USSR and the Cold War; he developed a strategy that the Soviet Union could not keep up with. (Shultz, 2104). He used the media to spread his view of the Soviet Union; furthermore, he reinstated the production of the military’s arsenals and expanded missile productions. Financially, the Soviet Union did not the resources to keep pace with America’s developing defense. In conclusion, the Cold War ended with rather high costs for all parties involved. America’s economic struggles continued, the Soviet Union pulling out of Afghanistan allowed the immergence of the Taliban, and the discovery of American weapons being sold to our enemy became the main

The heart of Reagan 's foreign policy was to prevent the expansion of communism and at the heart of communism was the Soviet Union. Reagan often referred to the Soviet Union as the “evil empire.” Reagan believed that the United States should negotiate with the Soviet Union from a position of strength. The administration embarked on a modernization program which included the production of intercontinental missiles and the Strategic Defense Initiative. He increased military spending and forces, while holding negotiations with Mikhail Gorbachev- the General Secretary of the Soviet Union. After a number of meetings between Reagan and Gorbachev, the two men signed an Intermediate

After World War II, a state of tension between the United States and the Soviet Union took place from 1945 to 1991. Although these two nations had previously fought as allies their relationship quickly took a turn for the worst when the argument had risen over whether communism or democracy was the right way of government. The Soviet Union was determined to spread communism all over the world but The United States did everything in their power to try and stop it. Over the course of the Cold War the US gained much potential and power due to their efforts to dominate over the USSR. One of the main reasons the US gained power was because of the Marshall Plan that was signed off by president Truman in 1948. This Plan was devised as a way

This also meant that America now not only entered an arms race against the USSR, but also had to become the dominent military power to keep its side of the protection bargain with OPEC. The U.S also had to halt the spread of

The many long-term internal causes of the collapse of the Soviet Union centralized around weaknesses in their economy. They had an inflexible central planning system, the inability to modernize, and the inefficiency in their agriculture production. Sometime around the 1970's the computer and automation revolution had emerged. This revolution took over the West, but practically missed the Soviet Union, except in the military sector (Baylis & Smith, 2001.) Gorbachev's goal in economic restructuring was to create a separation between the economic and the political. The major changes began with the legalization of private farming and business co-operatives, and the allowing of foreign company ownership over Soviet enterprises (Baylis &Smith, 2001) All of Gorbachev's ideas on economic restructuring backfired on him since the price levels were inconsistent, and a sense of social confusion about the future of their state was created.

Several hundred Soviet, nuclear tipped, ballistic missiles streak towards the United States without any form of opposition or challenge to their impeding destruction. The result of a situation like this would be no doubt disastrous, but it is a situation that could very well take place if the United States does not install a national ballistic missile defense program. An anti-ballistic missile (ABM) system is a precaution that the American government must pursue with all of its resources in order to protect and preserve our society as we know it.