Ronald Reagan's Cold War:

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Ronald Reagan's Cold War
To say that Ronald Reagan ended the Cold War
would be simplistic and unfair to all the people
and elements that had to merge for a victory over
Soviet communism. But it would be fair to say
that without Reagan the Cold War would not have
ended when it did or as it did (without more
shots being fired), and may not have ended yet.
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One of the most basic questions during the Cold
War was could the U.S. (capitalism) and the
U.S.S.R. (Communism) cohabit the world or would
conflict inevitably lead to one system defeating
the other? From Truman to Carter the answer was
they could coexist and that America had only to
contain the Soviets. Except for briefly during
the Eisenhower era, rolling back the Soviets had
been unthinkable because of the threat of nuclear
war. For Ronald Reagan, however, the answer was
they could not coexist. Reagan believed in roll
back shrinking the power and boundaries of the
Soviet sphere. He believed the U.S.S.R. was
economically weak and that opponents of its
oppression were primed to overthrow their
communist rulers if only the U.S. helped and
encouraged them. He made it his administrations
goal to win the Cold War and put the Soviets
out of business.
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Reagan Doctrine Reagan was determined to roll
back Soviet communism. With the American public
unwilling to use U.S. troops because of Vietnam
Syndrome, Reagan expanded on the Nixon doctrine
and pledged to give opponents of the Soviets any
assistance he could, short of troops. Known as
the Reagan Doctrine, he gave direct assistance in
weapons and money to anticommunist insurgencies
around the world, notably to the Mujahadin
(guerrillas opposing the Soviet in Afghanistan,
including a Saudi named Osama Bin Ladin) and the
Contras (Nicaraguan rebels challenging the
Cuban/Soviet-backed Sandinista government).
Boland Amendment (1983) Named for Rep. Edward
Boland, it was added to a Defense Appropriations
bill to restrict U.S. covert activity in
Nicaragua. It was meant to block the Reagan
administrations supporting or funding the
Contras. The administration interpreted it
narrowly, however, insisting it applied only to
the CIA. The administration continued to funnel
funds to the Contras through the National
Security Agency.
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Iran-Contra Scandal Having failed to stop U.S.
support for the Contras, Democrats in Congress
and Reagan continued to snipe at each other. The
Democrats struck political pay dirt in 1986 when
it was reported that the U.S. had made illegal
weapons sales to Iran during the Iran-Iraq War.
Reagan had pledged never to deal with terrorists,
and Iran was the greatest supporter of
terrorists, including Hizballah, the group
responsible for killing 241 U.S. marines in
Beirut in 1983. Congress found out that Navy
Vice-Adm. John Poindexter and Army Colonel Oliver
North illegally sent money from the Iran weapons
sales to the Contras, despite the Boland
Amendment. Democrats wanted to tie the scandal to
Reagan, but he insisted that he did not know
about either deal. The public believed him and
let him off the hook because his opponents had
often accused Reagan as being out of the loop and
"the Acting President".
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A New Deal Democrat and admirer of Franklin
Roosevelt, Reagan switched parties in the 1950s
and became an arch-conservative Cold Warrior. He
believed Soviet citizens wanted freedom and that
the Soviet economy was fundamentally weak. He
intended to spend the Soviets out of existence,
contending that the USSR could not pay for an
arms race and keep their people satisfied and
supplied with necessities at home.
Additionally, Reagan believed the long-held
policy of nuclear deterrence mutually assured
destruction (MAD) was immoral. He held the idea
that neither the U.S. or U.S.S.R. could build
defensive weapons systems to protect themselves
but had to maintain equal offensive nuclear
arsenals to ensure that neither country used
theirs created a level of anxiety in people that
was unhealthy and unjust. Instead, he wanted to
end the Cold War and the only good way for the
U.S. to end it was to win it. Thus, he made a
centerpiece of his military policy the creation
of an anti-ballistic weapon system called the
Strategic Defense Initiative.
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Strategic Defense Initiative Nicknamed Star
Wars, by opponents, it is an anti-ballistic
weapons system intended to defend the U.S. by
shooting down incoming missiles. Though possibly
fanciful, Reagan believed it was possible and
made it the centerpiece of his weapons
negotiations with the Soviets. He hoped that by
not budging on SDI in talks with Gorbachev he
could force the Soviets either to begin an arms
race that Reagan was convinced would destroy the
Soviet economy and/or reduce their nuclear
arsenal.
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START I and II Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty
the second element of President Reagans weapons
negotiations with the Sovietsthe carrot to the
stick of SDI. It called for the U.S. and Soviets
to reduce nuclear arsenals. Initially, Soviet
leader Yuri Andropov tried to use arms reduction
to force Reagan to back off of SDI. But Reagan
refused and the talks broke down. Reagan resumed
talks with Andropovs successor, Mikhail
Gorbachev, who felt pressure from the arms race
and who wanted an agreement. Gorbachev hoped
Reagan would give up SDI, but Reagan refused and
Gorbachev eventually backed down. In 1987, they
agreed to eliminate intermediate-range nuclear
missiles (the INF Treaty, later called START I).
Reagans successor, George H.W. Bush, continued
talks and, in 1993, Bush and Russian President
Boris Yeltsin signed START II, eliminating
multiple independently-targetable re-entry
vehicles (MIRVs) missiles with multiple
warheads. With the U.S.S.R.s demise, both
nations agreed to destroy stockpiles of nuclear
weapons, ending the Cold War.
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Our policy did not change until Gorbachev
understood that there would be no improvement and
no serious arms control until we admitted and
accepted human rights, free emigration, until
glasnost became freedom of speech, until our
society and the process of perestroika changed
deeply
--Anatoly Chernyaev, Special Assistant for
Foreign Affairs
Glasnost and Perestroika Russian terms, for
openness and reform, they symbolized Soviet
leader Gorbachev's new approach to governing the
Soviet Union in an era of heightened Human
Rights.. They created some economic freedom and
reduced censorship of news and outside
information. As the Soviet power structure
weakened, resistance groups came into the opena
development advanced by Reagan. Gorbachev became
increasingly unable to respond to democratic
developments in Eastern Europe repudiating the
Breshnev Doctrine that had asserted the Soviets
had the power to intervene in Communist countries.
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Reagan took advantage of the Soviet invasion of
Afghanistan, a reformist Soviet leader (Mikhail
Gorbachev), weakening Soviet power in Eastern
Europe because of the Helsinki Accords
(exemplified by the Solidarity Movement in
Poland), a powerful anticommunist papacy (Pope
John Paul II), a staunch conservative ally in
Britain (Margaret Thatcher), an unflinching
support of foes of the Soviets worldwide (the
Mujahadin, the Contras), and a resurging American
economy (Reaganomics) to bring the Soviet Union
to the brink of defeat by the time he left
office. Other world events pushed it over the
edge (notably Tienanmin Square and the fall of
the Berlin Wall), ending the Cold War.
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Tiananmen Square Seemingly tangential event that
was elemental to the break-up of Soviet power in
Eastern Europe and hastening the end of the Cold
War. When Gorbachev visited Chinese Communist
leaders in Beijing in 1989, students camped out
in Tiananmen Square to welcome him and protest
the Chinese governments restrictions. Not
wanting to be embarrassed and not used to
allowing dissent, the government ordered the
military to empty the square. This was business
as usual in China, but this time it was on
television. CNN and other cable news outlets
showed the entire demonstration and had reporters
who witnessed the army's assault. The Chinese
government was censured by the U.N. for its
actions. Eastern European governments had the
same choice, of whether to break up the
demonstrations or whether to allow them.
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In 1987, Reagan stood before the Berlin Wall and
declared, Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!
The wall was the symbol of Communist tyranny, but
no one expected it to be torn down. By 1989,
events got ahead of Gorbachev and he could no
longer control them. He had hoped to fix the
Soviet system to allow its perpetuation, but his
reforms led to its downfall. Reagans push on SDI
hastened the collapse of the Soviet economy. Free
elections in Poland ushered in a Solidarity
government. A Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia
and open borders between Austria and Hungary led
to German demands for the same. As tanks chased
Chinese students, protests arose in Leipzig. East
German leader Erich Honecker wondered whether to
use force to end them. He let them go on and
resigned in October. A month later, a helpless
East German government watched as protesters on
both sides of the wall began tearing it down with
hammers and picks. Gorbachev clung to power for
two more years, but the Cold War was over. In
1991, the Soviet Union ceased to exist.
Tear Down This Wall
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The War on Terrorism
Competency Goal 12 The U.S. 1973 to the
present, identify and analyze trends in U.S.
domestic and foreign affairs during this time
period
12.06 Assess the impact of twenty-first century
terrorist activity on American society
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After the Treaty of Sevres
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The Founding of Israel, 1948
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Yasser Arafat Arafat did more than anyone else
to put the Palestinians' cause on the world
agenda. In Cairo, before he was seventeen,
Arafat smuggled arms to Palestine to be used
against the British and the Jews. At nineteen,
during the war between the Jews and the Arab
states, Arafat left university to fight against
the Jews in the Gaza area. The defeat of the
Arabs and the creation of the state of Israel
left him in despair. After the war, he studied
civil engineering at the University of Cairo. In
1956, he founded Al Fatah, an underground
terrorist organization advocating armed struggle
against Israel. By the end of 1964, Arafat was a
full-time revolutionary, organizing Fatah raids
into Israel from Jordan. After the 1967
Arab-Israeli War, when Arabs lost the Gaza Strip,
Golan Heights and West Bank, Arab nations turned
to Arafat to carry out their will. In 1969, he
became leader of the PLO (Palestine Liberation
Organization). For two decades the PLO launched
attacks on Israel, and Arafat gained a reputation
as a ruthless terrorist. Driven out of Lebanon by
an Israeli military invasion, he set up shop in
Tunis.
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Through the 1970's, Arafat went along with (some
say led) the terrorist actions of the PFLP
(Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine)
and Black September, both associated with the
PLO, in their many hijackings, kidnappings, and
murder of athletes at the 1972 Olympic Games in
Munich and twenty-one school children in a
hostage taking in Ma'alot, Israel, in 1974..
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Tehran Hostage Crisis Carter administrations
lowest point and greatest failure in foreign
policy Islamist fundamentalist, the Ayatollah
Khomeini, led a revolution ousting the
U.S.-backed Shah of Iran in January 1979. In
October, the Shah found refuge in the U.S. In
November, an Iranian mob overran the U.S. embassy
in Tehran and took fifty-three hostages,
demanding return of the Shah and his wealth for
their release.
Carter asked the UN to intervene, but Khomeini
ignored it. Carter froze Iranian assets and asked
other countries to embargo Iran, but Iranian oil
supply outweighed the insult to the U.S. formost
countries. Failing to solve the problem (along
with one of the most inept presidencies in U.S.
history) led to Carters resounding defeat to
Ronald Reagan in the election in November.
Rubbing salt in Carters wound, the hostages were
freed on inauguration day, Day 444, after Reagan
was sworn in as the new President.
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Hizballah (Hezb Allah -- Party of God)
Alternative spellings hizbollah and hezbollah.
Radical Shia group in Lebanon dedicated to
creating Iranian-style Islamic republic in
Lebanon and removal of all non-Islamic influences
from the area. Closely allied with Iran, but may
have conducted operations that were not approved
by Tehran.
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Known or suspected to have been involved in
anti-US terrorist attacks, including the suicide
truck bombing of the US Embassy and US Marine
barracks in Beirut in October 1983 and the US
Embassy annex in Beirut in September 1984.
Elements of the group were responsible for the
kidnapping and detention of US and other Western
hostages in Lebanon. In 2000, it captured three
Israeli soldiers in the Shabaa Farms and
kidnapped an Israeli noncombatant whom it may
have lured to Lebanon under false pretenses.
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Palestine Liberation Front Group led by Abu
Abbas, who became member of PLO Executive
Committee in 1984 but left it in 1991. Often
confused with the Palestine Liberation
Organization, the PLF received substantial
support from Saddam Hussein. The PLF is known for
hang glider attacks against Israel. Abbas's group
was responsible for the attack in 1985 on the
cruise ship, Achille Lauro, and the murder of
passengers, including U.S. citizen Leon
Klinghoffer. Abu Abbas was arrested in Baghdad in
April 2003. He died in U.S. custody in early 2004.
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Hamas (Islamic Resistance Movement) Name means
zealot, strength, and/or bravery. Formed in
late 1987 as an outgrowth of the Palestinian
branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. Various Hamas
elements have used both political and violent
means, including terrorism, to pursue the goal of
establishing an Islamic Palestinian state in
place of Israel. Some elements of Hamas work
secretly, others openly through mosques and
social service institutions to recruit members,
raise money, organize activities, and distribute
propaganda. Hamas's strength is concentrated in
the Gaza Strip and a few areas of the West Bank.
Activists of Hamas have conducted many
attacks--including large-scale suicide
bombings--against Israeli civilian and military
targets. They also target political rivals in
Fatah. Hamas claimed several attacks during the
unrest in late 2000.
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Hamas has also engaged in peaceful political
activity. In 2006, it won control of the
Palestinian parliament. Since then there has been
a reduction of U.S. aid to Palestine and Lebanon
to try to force Hamas to recognize and negotiate
with Israel.
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Operation Desert Storm The Gulf War 1991
In 1990, Iraqs Saddam Hussein ordered the
invasion of neighboring Kuwait (an oil-rich
sultanate that used to be part of Iraq before the
Treaty of Sevres.) Fearing Hussein would cut off
access to oil or invade Saudi Arabia, President
George H.W. Bush declared that the invasion
would not stand and ordered mobilization of
troops (Operation Desert Shield) and pushed a
resolution through the UN ordering Iraq out of
Kuwait by January 1991. Bush also created a
coalition willing to use military force to free
Kuwait. When Hussein refused, the coalition began
Operation Desert Storm, bombing Iraqi
infrastructure. In late February, troops moved in
and crushed the Iraqi military.
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Defeated, Hussein attacked the Shiite community
in southern Iraq. Before leaving Kuwait,
Husseins troops caused an ecological disaster by
setting the oil fields on fire. As a result of
the war, the UN imposed sanctions on Iraq and set
up no-fly-zones in the north and south of the
country to protect the Kurds and Shiites. The UN
also ordered Hussein to admit inspectors to
ensure he was not developing weapons of mass
destruction. Bush was hugely popular because of
the victory, but the faltering economy weakened
him by the time of the 1992 election. The most
significant result of the war was on the
military. It brought forth two important
generals Colin Powell and Norman Schwarzkopf.
And finally ended the Vietnam Syndrome.
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Israeli Palestinian Conflict II
By 1988, when Arafat told the United Nations that
the PLO would recognize Israel as a sovereign
state, he seemed to be warming to diplomacy. His
negotiating position, however, took a serious
blow in 1990. By supporting Saddam Hussein after
the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, he lost vital
funding from the Gulf oil states. When Iraq lost
the Gulf War, the PLO found itself penniless and
friendless. Many agree that this left Arafat with
no choice but to make peace with Israel. So, in
1993, the terrorist leader met with his avowed
enemies. The secret peace talks in Norway led to
the Oslo Peace Accords with Israeli Prime
Minister Yitzak Rabin. The agreement, signed in a
ceremony hosted by Bill Clinton, granted limited
Palestinian self-rule and earned Arafat, Rabin
and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres a Nobel
Peace Prize.
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The Balkans Wars
NATO Commander Gen. Wesley Clark
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The Balkans Wars The end of the Cold War
destabilized Eastern Europe and festering
nationalistic tensions arose in Yugoslavia (the
Balkans) (1) between Serbs and Bosnians, and (2)
between Serbs and Albanians. In 1992, conflict
erupted between Serbian nationalists and the
government of Bosnia-Herzegovina. NATO, became
involved in 1994 in an attempt to end the
conflict. Regional leaders met in 1995 at Dayton,
Ohio, to draw up a peace agreement, known as the
Dayton Accords. The accords stabilized Bosnia,
but next the Serbian Communist leader, Slobodan
Milosevic, moved on Kosovo. He began a purge of
Albanians from government jobs, a purge which
developed into what came to be known as ethnic
cleansing genocide. When the Serbs attacked
peacekeepers in the region, NATO once again
stepped in. This time, under the command of U.S.
General Wesley Clark, NATO undertook a
substantial bombing campaign of Kosovo. Other
events further destabilized the region on
Europes southeastern doorstep and prompted
demands for action by human rights groups and
NATO allies.
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Rwanda 1994
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Israeli Palestinian Conflict III
Arafat became president of the Palestinian
Council governing the West Bank and Gaza Strip in
1996. President Clinton renewed efforts to bring
peace in 2000, when Israelis elected the moderate
Ehud Barack. But at the same time, Palestinian
terror groups proclaimed Intifada (revolution).
Since September 2000, more than 1,000 Israelis
have been murdered and more than 1,000
Palestinians killed in military retaliation.
Yasser Arafat died of an as-yet unknown illness
in a Paris hospital in November 2004.
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Al-Qaida (also spelled al Qaeda)
Established by Osama Bin Laden and Wael
Julaidan in 1988 to bring together Arabs who
fought in Afghanistan against the Soviet
invasion, Al-Qaida helped finance, recruit,
transport, and train Sunni Islamic extremists for
the Afghan resistance. Bin Ladin, son of a
billionaire Saudi family, is said to have
inherited approximately 300 million that he uses
to finance the group. Its current goal is to
establish a pan-Islamic Caliphate throughout the
world by working with allied Islamic extremist
groups to overthrow regimes it deems
"non-Islamic" and expelling Westerners and
non-Muslims from Muslim countries. Issued
statement under banner of "the World Islamic
Front for Jihad Against the Jews and Crusaders"
in February 1998, saying it was the duty of all
Muslims to kill US citizenscivilian or
militaryand their allies everywhere. Al-Qaida
maintains moneymaking front organizations,
solicits donations from like-minded supporters,
and illicitly siphons funds from donations to
Muslim charitable organizations
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It conducted the 1998 bombings of the US
Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killing at least
301 persons and injured more than 5,000 others.
It bombed the U.S.S. Cole in port in Yemen in
2000. It claims to have shot down US helicopters
and killed US servicemen in Somalia in 1993
(Black Hawk Down) and to have conducted three
bombings that targeted US troops in Aden, Yemen,
in December 1992.
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Responsible for the September 11th, 2001, bombing
of the World Trade Center in New York City and
the Pentagon outside Washington, D.C. It
continues to train, finance, and provide logistic
support to terrorist groups in support of its
goals.
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Today we focus on Afghanistan, but the battle is
broader. Every nation has a choice to make. In
this conflict, there is no neutral ground. If any
government sponsors the outlaws and killers of
innocents, they have become outlaws and
murderers, themselves. And they will take that
lonely path at their own peril. . . .
President George W. Bush, Address to the
Nation, October 7, 2001
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Operation Enduring Freedom -- Afghanistan
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Patriot Act and Department of Homeland Security
The attacks of September 11th prompted a
significant reform of government policy and
operation. In the first major overhaul of the
national security system since the dawn of the
Cold War, Congress created a new cabinet
office--the Department of Homeland Security--and
reversing 1970s policy, a Director of National
Intelligence was created to coordinate
intelligence gathering among the CIA, the FBI,
and the National Security Agency. The Patriot Act
gave government new powers of investigation,
streamlining procedures by which law enforcement
officials get court approval for wiretaps, etc.,
and enlarging the list of searchable personal
areas (such as library records). The law became
more controversial after the first shock of
September 11th wore off and many Americans,
notably those aligned with views of the American
Civil Liberties Union, see the law as an
excessive and dangerous intrusion into peoples
privacy. Others view the giving up of certain
freedoms by law abiding citizens to be a
reasonable response to the terror threat.
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The Iraq War
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