Assignment 1: The Cold War and U.S. Diplomacy

Aretha Allen

Dr. John R. Cronin

POL300

November 11, 2012

Assignment 1 - The Cold War and U.S. Diplomacy

"We must not break faith with those who are risking their lives on every continent from Afghanistan to Nicaragua to defy Soviet-supported aggression and secure rights which have been ours from birth . . . Support for freedom fighters is self-defense."

--President Reagan, in the State of the Union, February 1985

The Reagan Doctrine was a doctrine created by President Ronald Reagan to report the communist concerns and disputes in Africa, Asia and Latin America reinforced by the Soviet Union throughout the Cold War. For many years, Reagan’s Doctrine was the foreign policy for the United States. The doctrine was established to eradicate communist governments in its place of enlisting them in overpowering, which was the policy of the U.S beforehand. Also, The Reagan Doctrine was thought of like a development of the policies before Reagan even went into office. However, critics believed that Reagan’s doctrine did not hold up the primary goal and that was to discontinue the Cold War completely.

President Ronald Reagan officially entered oval office in 1981. The "Reagan Doctrine" was utilized to illustrate the Reagan government's plan of assisting anti-Communist insurrectionaries anywhere they reside. In his 1985 State of the Union address, President Ronald Reagan the all American people, including to congress, to rebel against the Soviet Union, which was named "Evil Empire" previously by President Reagan himself. Breaching from the doctrine of Containment recognized throughout the Truman direction. John Foster Dulles' "Roll-Back" strategy actually inspired the President Reagan and he based his foreign policy on it, thinking that the United States would aggressively drive back the Soviet Union guidance. However, Reagan's policy had his own twist in the sense that he relied primarily on the overt support of those fighting Soviet dominance.

During President Reagan’s time in office, he first worked on groundbreaking research into a national defense system that could make nuclear weapons obsolete, which took a vast amount of forms call Strategic Defense Initiative the SDI happened around March 1983. Primarily SDI was planned to a missile defense system that was spaced-bound to protect North America from a large scale attack, although many people were intimidated or rather critical against this plan. When the Soviet Union learn of this plan, they expressed their concerns of the United States directing this project and labeled it a hindrance the pursuit of future arms negotiations between the two powers. They created the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty and the Strategic Arms Reductions Talks to further stop unnecessary bloodshed. Reagan disapproved of this and delay process of the INF Treaty and START, However START was completed after Reagan resigned.

Reagan has been known for many events and Cold War. Reagan and the Soviet Union are recognized for their diplomatic relations and He was acknowledged for his forceful speech-making and his strong dealings with Gorbachev, the Soviet leader. He also used the budget of the United States to cripple the Soviet economy by increasing military spending, which may have helped us from the Soviet Union however had a very negative impact on the United States because it left the economy in debt and to suffer. This sudden rise in arms was tough for the Soviet's to follow, and strained their economy. This method for Cold War politics helped cause the fall of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics to some degree.

Reagan was an effective communicator of conservative ideas, but he was also an enormously practical politician who was committed to success. Reagan also succeeded in a principal goal of reducing the marginal income tax rate, which was 70 percent