The Reagan administration believed that the Soviet Union's military strength was the greatest threat to the security of the United States (Fischer, 1997). Reagan refused to believe the Soviets would cut back on certain missiles if the U.S. would refrain from deploying immediate range missiles in Europe. Reagan would increase the number of weapons and revive military programs that had been previously cut. He would also propose to build better weapons that could disable nuclear weapons from space. Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative, or Star Wars, violated the 1972 ABM Treaty forbidding defensive systems capable of covering the entire U.S. or Soviet Union. Reagan was fully aware that the Soviet Union could not financially keep up with his aggressive increase in weapons. The Soviet Union seemed to be having further internal problems that made it difficult to maintain its empire, as the first independent labor …show more content…
Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, and Romania would all overthrow their communist regimes after their exposure to capitalism, Western popular culture, and less control by the Soviet Union. In November 1989, the Berlin Wall was torn down. And in 1990, more countries like, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, would proclaim their independence as well. The USSR no longer existed as the collapsed into a number of independent states. There were also other pro-democracy rallies in places like China in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. The Chinese government killed several hundred student activists, which damaged relations between the U.S. and China. In 1991, the Persian Gulf War began and ended becoming the first war to be televised
Ronald Reagan was one of the greatest Presidents in the history of this nation, and he accomplished great things that were of great beneficial to the nation. First off, The Cold War had raged since World War II and communism‘s quest for world domination remained an existential threat to the United States when President Reagan took office. Reagan reversed the policy of detente and stood firm against the Soviet Union, calling it the Evil Empire and telling Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down this wall” in Berlin. He was relentless in pushing his Strategic Defense Initiative and gave aid to rebels battling Soviet-backed Marxists from Nicaragua to Angola. Those efforts were critical in the ultimate collapse of the Soviet empire and essentially ended
Communism reign was defeated. He became close to Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, but not before he implemented his tactics for victory. Reagan said the United States would “neutralize” Soviet control over Europe and authorized any means to back up anti-Soviet groups. He planned to disrupt the Soviet economy by attacking their resources through financial means, technology, and natural gas. America intended to stop Soviet influence in every area possible.
Ronald Reagan (40th President, 1981-1989) Ronald Reagan's presidency from 1981 to 1989 was marked by a visionary approach that transformed American politics and foreign policy. With staunch conservatism at the forefront, he played an instrumental role in navigating America through a crucial period of the Cold War. At home, he advocated for limited government and free-market principles while pursuing significant initiatives such as the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) and military expansion. The INF Treaty signing was among notable events during his tenure alongside major controversies stemming from Iran-Contra Affair controversy outbursts. Reagan's legacy will forever be remembered due to his resolute determination which helped reshape both
Despite his vehement opposition to detente, President Reagan 's role in ending this phase of the Cold War was virtually non-existent. However, Reagan did play a larger role in the worsening of relations between the superpowers in the aftermath of detente 's failure. As a result, it can be argued that while he cannot be held responsible for ending detente; Reagan to some extent can be held responsible for starting the Second Cold War. First of all, it should be noted that the underlying cause of the end of detente was the USSR 's failure to honour her commitments to international peace and stability, not Reagan. For example, detente aimed to encourage nuclear disarmament while discouraging attempts to expand into the Third World.
forces should intervene. During Reagan’s first term of being Commander in Chief, he separated himself from the administrations that came before him by criticizing Carter, Nixon, and Kissinger for allowing the Soviet Union achieve arms and strategic superiority. (Ambrose 303). Reagan believed that the movement from containment to détente deeply put the U.S. in a disadvantage. Détente dominated U.S. foreign policy which concentrated on accommodating the Soviets in the hopes that it would lead to arms and peace talks.
After the first world war the Soviets quickly made moves against their previous allies in not leaving eastern Europe sparking a cold war like never seen before. This caused great fear and panic among the American populace, but Reagan shows that he is standing just as firm in opposing the Soviets as they do him. This is required because the citizens need a constant point to focus their hopes and loyalty on. A strong leader in the form of Reagan is exactly what they needed, a reaffirmation that their opposition to communism is not lost. A strong president is always aspired after, and few foot the bill, but the U.S hopes that among the many one will step forward and lead us through any tough times we may face.
Although former nuclear arms control talks resumed the relationship between Washington and Moscow was tense throughout president Reagan's first term. In President Reagan's speech he spoke labeling the Soviet Union as an evil empire. This caused the Soviet Union to become threatened because President
Ronald Reagan was able to reduce tension between America and the Soviet Union but he is not the best leader because of the Iran Contra Affair in which it showed that he is easily influenced by other people. One of the foreign policies was military build up. Because the Soviet Union decided not to abide by the SALT II treaty which was to maintain nuclear equalness between two main superpowers, it was no surprise when Reagan also bagn defense building. The main objectives of the buildup were to strengthen military, encourage and gain trust from the European allies that US will not abandon them. The defense budget in 1981 was $171 million to $300 billion in 1985.
His response to an assassination attempt in 1981 was “Honey, I forgot to duck.”. During his presidency Reagan was able to make relationships with several world leaders, like mikhail Gorbatov and Margaret Thatcher. This is one of the things that Reagan did to help facilitate the end of the Cold War. Tensions created between the U.S. and the Soviet Union from World
In 1987 he forged a diplomatic relationship with Mikhail Gorbachev chairman of the Soviet Union. That same year the U.S. and the Soviet Union signed a historic agreement to eliminate intermediate range nuclear missiles. Later that year Reagan spoke at the Berlin wall a symbol of communism and challenged Gorbachev to tear down the wall “ Mr. Gorbachev tear down that wall”. 2 years later he allowed the people to dismantle the wall. This is considered a symbol of the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of communism.
Reagan’s strategy to overcome the Soviet Union was to initiate a military buildup (see Major Conflict) and implement the Reagan Doctrine (see Major Foreign Policies). Additionally, Reagan sought to lower taxes in order to stimulate the growth of the economy. Reagan accomplished this by passing the Economic Recovery Tax Act (see Major Domestic Happenings) and the Tax Reform Act (see Major Domestic Happenings). Another one of Reagan’s priorities was to fight the War on Drugs. Reagan was very active in speaking out about the issues of illegal drugs and even passed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act (see Major Domestic Happenings).
He implemented the Reagan Doctrine, under which America provided aid to anticommunist movements in other countries. In 1983, Reagan introduced the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). It was nicknamed “Star Wars” by the media and it was a plan to produce space-based weapons to protect America from attacks by Soviet nuclear missiles. SDI was one of Reagan’s most criticized ideas because at the time America had nowhere near the amount of money needed to construct the idea, but many historians believe that Reagan didn’t have any intentions of actually building the weapons, but he was instead using it to scare the Soviets.
Two years later after Reagan presented his challenged, the Berlin Wall came down, and the enslaved nations of the Soviet Empire gradually broke free, and the Soviet Union collapsed. Ronald Reagan seized the moment and instituted the right policies at the right time to bring about the collapse of the Soviet Union’s system and empire. The USSR was overly-focused on military build-up, neglecting domestic troubles that would play a major role in bringing down the USSR . This was largely due to the perceived need to keep pace with the massive U.S. military buildup. While trying to keep up the arms race, the Soviet Union’s economy initially weakened and the empire was on a decline in its
the Reagan years were extremely complex, in part, because of great confusion in the National Security Council and the State Department and in part, because there were many unique challenges to American hegemony. In his first year, President Reagan had to deal with a number of festering problems: a) the consolidation of Khomeini’s Islamic government in Iran; b) the occupation of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union in 1979; c) warfare between Iraq and Iran, 1980-1988; d) the cross-border raids of Israeli and Palestinian forces in Lebanon, 1980-82 and their aftermath with the occupation by Israel of Southern Lebanon. Furthermore, the marked rise of terrorism added a new dimension, especially because many states, including Israel, Libya and Iran, appeared
In March of 1983, Ronald Reagan and the United States are involved in a conflict with the USSR. The USSR was planting missiles in Europe and taking control of smaller countries around the USSR. Ronald Reagan and the United States felt threatened with the actions the USSR did. This would prove to be a crucial part in history, because the USSR was large enough to continue conquering smaller countries around them and building more missiles that would threaten the United States even more. On March 8, Ronald Reagan delivers a memorable speech to try and persuade the USSR to pull out the missiles they have in Europe and tell the USSR the United States is not afraid of the actions they are taking.