This article discusses President Reagan's strategy during the Cold War and how he led America towards ending the war. It explores his anti-communist policies and military expansion in the 1980s.
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Running head: REAGAN’S STRATEGY DURING COLD WAR President Reagan’s Win on the Cold War Name Professor Course Date
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REAGAN’S STRATEGY DURING COLD WAR1 How President Ronald Reagan Concluded the Cold War After the WWII (World War II), a cold war developed between the US and theUSSR (union of soviet socialist republic) as well as their allies. This cold war involved using propaganda, political and economic, fronts with limited use of weapons. The war shaped foreign policy and domestic affairs in the U.S. It lasted for about forty-five years and it led to massive loss of lives and properties even though it did not involve military wars1. However, in 1989, the Berlin wall fell and the East Berlin’s communist party spokesman announced that there were changes in how US related with western nations and thus citizens had the freedom of crossing the borders. In this paper therefore, we discuss how the US president during the time Ronald Reagan outdid the others in cold war through his anti-communist policies and military expansion in the 1980’s2. During his reign as president, Ronald Reagan directed American soldiers to attack Grenada to set the island free from its Marxist dictator and ruler. The liberation was a historic event as it was an indication of that the Brezhnev doctrine could end and thus ushering in a series of occurrences that led to the fall of the empire of Soviet. This doctrine was a daunting reality when Reagan was elected president in 19803. In essence, the doctrine confirmed that countries thatbecamecommunistswouldremainthatway.However,thatchangedafterGrenada liberation. President Reagan had sophisticated knowledge of communism.He supported the anti- communist forces in Angola, Afghanistan and Cambodia. He predicted that people would 1Rowland, Robert C., and John M. Jones.Reagan at Westminster: Foreshadowing the end of the Cold War. Texas A&M University Press, 2010, p. 57. 2Mann, Jim.The Rebellion of Ronald Reagan: A History of the End of the Cold War. Penguin, 2009, p. 3-6. 3Saltoun-Ebin, Jason.The Reagan Files: The Untold Story of Reagan's Top-Secret Efforts to Win the Cold War. The Reagan Files, 2012, p. 31.
REAGAN’S STRATEGY DURING COLD WAR2 experience some democracy and freedom if the western alliances remained strong. His critics however dismissed this as rhetoric questioning how he knew the soviet communism was facing an impending collapse. To him, the USSR was struggling and he wondered when it was collapsing not whether it would collapse. He supported anti-communist technique to better deal with these soviets4. USSR was not in a good situation as Reagan was assuming office. They had managed to advance rapidly in Africa, South America, and Asia after invading Afghanistan. However, besides Reagan’s acting to these serious issues, he formulated a counter offensive technique which was broad. Reagan began a $1.5 trillion development of his military which was the biggest across the American history5. The initiative was meant to draw the USSR into a race of armies it was not anywhere near winning. Reagan had also the determination of leading the alliances from western side to deploy cruise missiles in Europe. He suggested reduction of nuclear stockpiles by the two superpowers. Additionally, he also had a policy concerning material and military help to the resisting movements who were in the struggle of overthrowing tyrannical leaders supported by the USSR. The doctrine was cost-effective and was one of the politically successful doctrines in thecoldwar’shistory.However,thedovesandtheUSSRwereopposedtoReagan’s counteroffensive strategies. The USSR however was stunned by the pace made by Reagan and scale of his military buildup. Actually, since President Reagan became a leaders, no other territory had been captured by Moscow6. 4Hoffman, David.The Dead Hand: The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and Its Dangerous Legacy. Anchor, 2009, p. 47. 5Wilson, James.The triumph of improvisation: Gorbachev's adaptability, Reagan's engagement, and the end of the Cold War. Cornell University Press, 2014, p. 79. 6Marlo, Francis H.Planning Reagan's war: conservative strategists and America's Cold War victory. Potomac Books, Inc., 2012, p. 39.
REAGAN’S STRATEGY DURING COLD WAR3 The president made an escalation of the war within the USSR. This strategy meant that he was departing from the détente policy that had been used by the various predecessors such as Jimmy Carter, Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. He made his administration implement a new policy that involved confrontation. He directed it to the Soviet Union using the national security decision directive or the NSDD-32 which helped in confronting the USSR in three ways7. These ways included decreasing the access of the soviets to the better technology and having all their resources diminished, depressing the soviet commodity value in the global market and having the Americandefenseexpenditureincreasedtohavethenationalpositionofnegotiation strengthened. It also involved forcing the Soviet Union to have much of its resources devoted towards defending the nation. The outcome of this policy of confrontation included the building up of the American military becoming as massive as ever. His administration had to revive the B-1 program of bombers that was cancelled during the carter administration. He then initiated the MX peacekeeper missile production. By responding to the use of missile SS-20, the US president led the development of a missile (pershing II) by NATO in Germany’s west as a way of gaining a stronger power of bargaining position that would later see the entire group of nuclear weaponry eliminated8. Reagan’s perception was that the failure of the soviets of removing their weapons without being conceded by the Americans, the US needed to introduce their own missiles to gain the higher position of bargaining 7Van Dijk, Ruud, William Glenn Gray, Svetlana Savranskaya, Jeremi Suri, and Qiang Zhai.Encyclopedia of the Cold War. Routledge, 2013, p. 98. 8Melanson, Richard A.American foreign policy since the Vietnam War: the search for consensus from Nixon to Clinton. Routledge, 2015, p. 23-67.
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REAGAN’S STRATEGY DURING COLD WAR4 Gorbachev a media celebrity was tasked to deal with economic problems the country was facing as well as finding ways of coping with reversals of the empires globally. Gorbachev was admired widely by pundits and intellectuals because of his attempts to achieve hope for western intellects. He was a tough negotiator and Reagan confronted him and threatened him that he won’t allow them maintain weapon superiority over them9. Reagan proposed reduced arms or continued armsrace. On the other hand, Reagan refused Gorbachev’s condition of not deploying missile defenses. Finally, both the US and USSR agreed to clear away nuclear weapons. Reagan knew it was the end of the war as Gorbachev went to Washington. Finally, Gorbachev was ousted from power as he could no longer anything. The people, who had skeptically doubted Reagan initially, admitted his policies faced thorough vindication. The presidency of Reagan therefore marked a change towards the end of cold war10. From the analysis, President Reagan led America towards ending the cold war. His defense technique initiatives put the soviet military in a state of shock and fear. His doctrine had achieved its goal before Reagan could leave presidency in 1989. Gorbachev who was the last soviet leader acknowledged publicly the Marxism-Leninism failures and how futile the Russian imperial was. Simply put by Margaret Thatcher” President Reagan managed to have the cold war ended without having to fire any shot” 9Legvold, Robert. "Managing the new Cold War: what Moscow and Washington can learn from the last one."Foreign Affairs93, no. 4 (2014): 74-84. 10Gayte, Marie. "The Vatican and the Reagan Administration: A Cold War Alliance?."The Catholic Historical Review(2011): 713-736.
REAGAN’S STRATEGY DURING COLD WAR5 References Mann, Jim.The Rebellion of Ronald Reagan: A History of the End of the Cold War. Penguin, 2009, p. 3-6. Saltoun-Ebin, Jason.The Reagan Files: The Untold Story of Reagan's Top-Secret Efforts to Win the Cold War. The Reagan Files, 2012, p. 31. Rowland, Robert C., and John M. Jones.Reagan at Westminster: Foreshadowing the end of the Cold War. Texas A&M University Press, 2010, p. 57. Hoffman, David.The Dead Hand: The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and Its Dangerous Legacy. Anchor, 2009, p. 47. Wilson, James.The triumph of improvisation: Gorbachev's adaptability, Reagan's engagement, and the end of the Cold War. Cornell University Press, 2014, p. 79. Marlo, Francis H.Planning Reagan's war: conservative strategists and America's Cold War victory. Potomac Books, Inc., 2012, p. 39. Van Dijk, Ruud, William Glenn Gray, Svetlana Savranskaya, Jeremi Suri, and Qiang Zhai.Encyclopedia of the Cold War. Routledge, 2013, p. 98. Melanson, Richard A.American foreign policy since the Vietnam War: the search for consensus from Nixon to Clinton. Routledge, 2015, p. 23-67. Legvold, Robert. "Managing the new Cold War: what Moscow and Washington can learn from the last one."Foreign Affairs93, no. 4 (2014): 74-84.
REAGAN’S STRATEGY DURING COLD WAR6 Gayte, Marie. "The Vatican and the Reagan Administration: A Cold War Alliance?."The Catholic Historical Review(2011): 713-736.