Ronald Reagan Doctrine
Simon C. Martlock
Strayer University
Course: POL 300 / International Problems
Instructor:
05 February 2016
The purpose of the Reagan Doctrine was to “sponsor anticommunist guerrillas who are trying to overthrow pro-Soviet regimes” (Roskin, 2010). It was implemented in the mid-1980’s by President Reagan within his 1985 State of the Union Address and lasted less than a decade around the end of the Cold War in 1991. In this assignment, I will discuss the doctrine that President Reagan followed for his doctrine and what situation that caused the need for the doctrine. What were the effects of this diplomatic effort for the United States and countries it might have effected.
To begin we must understand the
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In addition, he inherited a military that was still struggling to overcome the damage inflicted by the Vietnam War. In spite of these obstacles, Reagan had a vision for America. He said; “It was time for something different” (Tygiel, 2006). He felt that previous administrations such as Nixon, Ford, and Carter had all done a poor job in growing the economy, and building a strong military defense, and he wanted to rectify the problem. He argued that fifty years of misguided policies had shattered the free market of much of its natural vitality by burdening it with too many government taxes, too much government spending, and too much government regulations. He promised to restore prosperity by getting the government off the backs of the American people, and strengthening our defense system. His faith in the free-market principles proved to be contagious, helping to restore confidence in the future of the American economy known as Reaganomics. In addition to igniting the economy, Reagan was focused on the Soviet Union, believing that only by building up American armed forces strong enough to defeat the Soviet Union could the United States deter the Communists from instigating World War …show more content…
Similar to other countries President Reagan was helping fight the Soviets by providing the guerrillas with an extensive amount of military assistance in their fight against the invading Soviets. In part due to the financial, weapons and military training support from America the Afghan rebels were able to eventually defeat the Soviet Union’s military. Some critics are criticizing President Reagans doctrine and claim that in no way did it help the situation in Afghanistan, many of them claim that it was an epic failure. Others believe the doctrine was instrumental in helping bring an end to communism. One specific advantage that has been credited to the doctrine was “the lack of direct involvement of American troops, which allowed the United States to confront Soviet allies without sustaining casualties” (Reagan Doctrine, 2014). In addition it has been argued that it was President Reagan’s pursuit of the Strategic Defense Initiative that bankrupted the Kremlin leadership, prompting a liberalization of the Soviet political economy that brought down the entire
Reaganomics was economics policies which were propelled by United States President, Ronald Reagan during 1980s. These policies were based on fours pillars namely; reduction of the growth of government spending, reduction of income and capital gains marginal tax rates, reduction of government regulation of economy, and controlling of the money in supply so as to reduce inflation. Their basic aims were to lower taxes and create a leaner government. According to Reagan his decision was informed on stimulation of the economy taxes, financed by borrowing. Lowering taxes was aimed at reviving the economy, which in turn would see the increased tax revenues being used to offset the debts incurred (Niskanen
Ronald Reagan, President of the United States from 1981 through 1989, created economic policies throughout his presidency that aimed to pull the United States out of a recession. His policies, called Reaganomics, reduced government spending and reduced tax rates in order to foster economic growth. Reagan also appointed many conservative judges to the Supreme Court and federal courts in order to shift ideologies to the right. Because of this, Reagan was both underrated and overrated as a president.
The Reagan Doctrine was the foreign policy in the United States, legislated by President Ronald Reagan. This doctrine was design to eliminate the communist governments in Africa, Asia, and Latin America that were indorsed and validated by the Soviet Union. This assignment will summarize how the United States provided open and private support to guerrilla and resistance movements during the Regan years. In addition, explicate the diplomatic doctrine specific events that occurred in Afghanistan when the Soviet Union invaded. Finally, this assignment will describe the advantages and disadvantages based on the Regan Doctrine. Summarize The Situation of U.S. Diplomatic of The Regan Doctrine Throughout the opening years of the Cold War, Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Jimmy Carter all sanctioned policies against communism in order to contain it. Ronald Regan rejected their détente policy in 1979, when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. This alone proved that policies that only contain communism were ineffective. Regan disapproved in the compromise policy when it came to any communist government. Instead, Reagan proposed the Rollback strategy. The making of the Reagan Doctrine shifted from containment and spreading to eliminating all current communist governments. Furthermore, the United States wanted to increase and encourage democracy and capitalism in replacement of ousted communistregimes (Conservapedia, 2012).Implementation of the Regan Doctrine was to provide
Although he was a generally controversial president, Ronald Reagan’s policy decisions to stimulate economic prosperity, known as Reaganomics, were legitimately beneficial to the United States of America. First, in order to substantiate the success of Reagan’s economic policy decisions one must first grasp the varying levels of importance for each aspect of his plan. As Reagan’s policies were substantial decisions that defined his presidency and alienated an entire population of more economically liberal people, it makes sense that an understanding of his emphasis on certain decisions would lead to a more persuasive argument. Next, the negation of well formed and logical criticisms of Reagan’s economic policies also lend to the support of their benefits and success. Acknowledging a sensible counterargument and addressing specific points of critical analysis serves to further enhance the argument for the success of Reagan’s decisions. Furthermore, strong economic growth and the curbing of federal domestic power reinforce the accomplishments of Reaganomics. Though the U.S. did see economic growth, Reaganomics was not purely an economic plan, as cuts in government power, not including the military, benefitted the average American citizen. Moreover, Ronald Reagan’s economic decisions regarding Soviet foreign policy were also extremely beneficial to the United States. The tough decisions to further the national deficit proved a worthy sacrifice in pressuring the collapse
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
In a time of political chaos, numerous approaches to contending with the USSR were offered by various politicians, yet “the man who got things right from the start was, at first glance, an unlikely statesman… Through a combination of vision, tenacity, patience, and improvisational skill, he produced what Henry Kissinger terms ‘the most stunning diplomatic feat of the modern era…’ As Margaret Thatcher put it, ‘Ronald Reagan won the Cold War without firing a shot’” (D’Souza). Henry Kissinger was an “old nemesis” of Reagan, yet even he “observed that while it was Bush who presided over the final disintegration of the Soviet empire, ‘it was Ronald Reagan's Presidency which marked the turning point.’ [Additionally,] Cardinal Casaroli, the Vatican secretary of state, remarked publicly that the Reagan military buildup, which he had opposed at the time, had led to the collapse of Communism” (D’Souza). The great quantity of figures who have acknowledged the intelligence Reagan’s actions validates these actions as such. Many democratic opponents argued that “the West should ingratiate itself with the Soviet Union by pursuing ‘the stuffed-goose option—that is, providing them with all the grain and consumer goods they need.’ If Reagan had taken this advice when it was offered in 1982, the Soviet empire
This was the president 's foreign policy in the 1980s of supporting anti-Communist revolutions through the Cold War.
President Ronald Reagan, the man who is accredited with ended the forty six year cold war was elected on Nov. 4, 1980. Reagan won his election with fifty percent of the popular vote over former President Jimmy Carter who had forty one percent. While Reagan as a president is praised for such successes as strengthening the national defense, stimulating growth in the U.S. economically, and as mentioned before he is considered the President who ended the Cold War. President Reagan had achieved many things by the end of his administration, but just as he had many successes his presidency was plagued with shortcomings and a handful of what could be considered flat out failures. The purpose of this writing is to establish and identify the ‘cons’ or failures of the Reagan administration, and provide a brief description of each different aspect of the administration.
In the 1980s, the Soviet Union was plagued with a stagnant economy – it had no incentive to promote communism in Central America. Ignoring the USSR’s economic weakness, Reagan asserted squashing the Salvadoran rebels would stem the spread of communism and would reestablish American preeminence in Central America. Reagan believed that enforcing anti-communist ideology would protect American national security interests by protecting the United States from its Bolshevik enemies.
Reagan revolution has developed over time and it continues to resonate today. Reagan inherited an economy that was ailing and characterized by high unemployment rate, budget deficits, and a small trade surplus. Reagan engaged in major tax cuts and also increased armament-spending factors that contributed to the turnaround of America’s economic situation. This turnaround significantly contributed to the current shape of the economy. However, Reagan’s economic policies of tax cuts, monetarism, retrenchment, and budget deficits have had several negative
There are many opinions on who started the Cold War, whether it be the USSR’s fault or the United States. With old trust issues rising up again, the next forty years resulted in constant tension and aggression between the two rival powers. But, when it’s time to place the blame for this tedious conflict, it is clear the United States can be blamed, for they were constantly imposing their greater power, and led the USSR to lose their trust due to international acts of aggression from the US. From 1945-1991 the US took action abroad to stop the USSR from gaining more global power, they misinterpreted Soviet motives, and threatened the USSR with acts of aggression through major bomb threats. With both nations having different motives after WWII,
As President, Ronald Reagan encountered many significant events; from surviving an assassination attempt, to the space shuttle Challenger disaster. Perhaps the most significant event was the economic downturn. He came to office (much like President Obama) in the midst of an economic crisis; however, President Reagan was able to turn the economy around. How did he do this? In order to answer this question, you must first ask what the economy was like when he was sworn into office, how his policy changed from the prior administration’s policy, and how it contrasts our present economic policy.
This essay will focus on the Reagan Administration which spanned from January 1981 to January 1989. When Reagan became President, he had only one clear, defined foreign policy goal – containment of the Soviet Union, or the “evil empire” as he referred to it. He primarily wanted to stop the USSR from growing larger and to keep other non-Communist countries from becoming Communist. In the past, American presidents had used a theory called the “Domino Theory” to justify the need for intervention around
Reagan believed that the world could attain peace through military preparedness, antithetical to Jimmy Carter’s beliefs. During Ronald Reagan’s presidency, he focused on economic growth as he believed that it allowed for national freedom. His nationalist perspective proposes that the United States’ national interest should be above others. The focus of economics to benefit only America contradicts with Jimmy Carter’s foundations because Ronald Reagan does not recognize the citizens in need. His lack of acknowledgment for global human rights and foreign interests caused a dispute in the nation because economic gains do not secure a sustained quality of life.
“The Cold War became a dominant influence on many aspects of American society for much of the second half of the twentieth century. It escalated due to antagonist values between the United States, representing capitalism and democracy, and the Soviet Union, representing communism and authoritarianism” (Tradshad, par. 1). This long lasting war had a lot of negative effects on the American people, but also helped many in a positive way of becoming free citizens. Although most people had feelings of hatred toward the Soviet Union, a sense of fear swept over the United States and many actions had to be taken to keep the enemy and their influences out. 4 done.