The Cold War and U.S. Diplomacy Essay Example for Free

The polar war and U.S. delicacy EssayThe Cold fight was the dominant conflict of the Twentieth Century. More than any other event, it define the roles that virtually all nations played for almost 50 years. It was a truly World- Wide War, a case between ii rival superpowers between the U.S. and the Soviet Union which for many years held the entire planet hostage to the threat of nuclear annihilation. By the season it was over, its players had spent the staggering sum of $15 one thousand thousand (Windle, 2011). Regan Doctrine was non a label coined by President Reagan or his administration. It was a term apply later by his critics to define his foreign policy schema for countries virtually the world. The Reagan Doctrine was a strategy to aid anti-communist, or more specifically, anti-Soviet insurgencies in the Third World during Reagans two terms as president form 1981-1989. The primary goal was to overthrow Maxist regimes and prevent Marxist regimes from becoming es tablished. Handelman referred Maixism as another(prenominal) of communisms appeals was its centralized, state control of the economy. A command economy, first established in the Soviet Union, has two central features. First, the state largely owns and manages the means of production.That implys factories, banks, major condescension and commercial institutions, retail establishments, and, frequently, farms. dapple all communist nations have al lowlyed some private economic activity, the private sector has been quite limited, apart from nations such as China and Vietnam, which largely abandoned Marxist economics in recent years. Second, in a command economy, state planners, rather than market forces, shape basic decisions governing production (including the standard and price of goods produced) (Handelman, 2011, p.278). Under the Reagan Doctrine, the U.S. provided overt and covert aid to anti-communist guerrillas and resistance movements in an effort to roll f final stage for S oviet toped communist government in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The principle was designed to diminish Soviet see in these regions as part of the administrations overall Cold War strategy. Reagan purposeless no time getting started in the carrying into action of his foreign policy.The Administrations first comp U.S. National Security Strategy. Which was a document approved by the President in May of 1982, declared the objective to contain and reverse the expansion of Soviet control and military presence throughout the world, and to increase the costs of Soviet support and use of proxy,terrorist and subversive forces. (Presidential Studies, 2006) Reagan made staunch calls for public support in his efforts. In the State of the Union Address in 1985, for example, he stated that the U.S. moldiness not work shift faith with those who are risking their liveson every continent, from Afghanistan to Nicaraguato defy Soviet-supported aggression. One year later he boldly remarked that America will support with moral and material assistance your right not just to contradict and die for freedom, but to fight and win freedomin Afghanistan, in Angola, in Cambodia, and in Nicaragua. (Political skill quarterly, 2007) In most of these nations, the aggressive policies and actions of Reagan caused severe damage. In Nicaragua for example, the economy was decimated by U.S. sanctions and manipulation of its banking institutions. The Administration, supported by Congress, funded a war against the Sandinista National Liberation Front (Frente Sandinista de LiberacinNacional, or FSLN).It was a war fought by discordant Nicaraguan rebel groups, labe lead the Contras, which sought to overthrow the Sandinistas, who came to power after the revolution in 1979. The phylogenesis of Contra forces began in 1981 when Reagan authorized $19.5 million in funding for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to construct a paramilitary force of 500 Nicaraguan exiles from deposed Preside nt Anastasio Somozas National Guard. ( world(prenominal) Security, 1990) Along with congressionally funded aid, members of the Reagan Administration achieve additional funds through the illicit sales of arms to Iran. Funds from these sales were funneled to the Contras. When this illegal activity was revealed in the Iran-Contra Affair in November of 1986, it led to the indictment and conviction of many of Reagans staff. Reagan policy in Nicaragua was failure in many respects. The Contra war was ill-conceived and did not enjoy support of the people of Nicaragua.The rebel forces neer legitimately threatened the Sandinista government and military. The U.S. failed to gain international support for the war or its political and economic actions. In fact, Reagan was largely condemned by the international community. Domestic support and popular opinion was low as well. Reagans policies pushed communist nations into aiding Nicaragua. The FSLN enjoyed majority support of the people, and were not looking for a change until the finish of the decade when they could no longer survive with the Sandinistas under U.S. pressure. Did Reagan really need to be concerned with Nicaragua? plausibly not. Indamaging Nicaraguas economy, Reagan Doctrine policy caused ripple effects on the USSR and Cuba who were aiding Nicaragua during this time. When the Administration began to make trade and relations with Nicaragua, the USSR and Cuba began their efforts to provide the country increased economic aid, military aid, and trade revenue. By the time Reagan left office, economic aid from the USSR never came close to covering Nicaraguas losses from U.S. sanctions on the economy.Reagans behavior toward Nicaragua, particularly in the glaring disregard for international law and world opinion, threatened to bounce and endanger broader U.S. interests, especially with foreign allies On the other hand, Reagan was widely eulogized for having won the cold war. Reagan helped end the Cold War by exer cising prudent diplomacy and skillful statesmanship rather than by crusading against communism and exploiting Soviet vulnerabilities. The signing of the I.N.F. (Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces) treaty in 1987 marked the beginning of the end of the Cold War. I.N.F. was the first treaty to eliminate a comp allowe severalise of weapons. It was also the first treaty to include an in-depth verification program. The INF treaty was the first to actually reduce the level of nuclear arsenals, or collections of weapons, rather than only freeze them at certain levels.Reagans willingness to negotiate arms control agreements and support Gorbachevs reform efforts within the Soviet Union was key to the eventual fall of communist governments, first across Eastern Europe in 1989, and soon after in the Soviet Union in 1991. The foundation for ending the Cold War had been laid (Historycentral.com, ). Nicaragua was one piece to Reagans global foreign policy strategy. Nicaragua was not the only dupe to Reagans aggressive policies. Countries such as Afghanistan, Cambodia, and Angola were infiltrated by U.S.-sponsored military insurgencies and suffered from U.S. economic policies. Though it can be argued that Reagans intervention in the Third World was essential in bringing down the USSR two years later, many people suffered the consequences of Reagan Doctrine. Nicaragua is an important case study of how effective and ineffective Reagans policies were in the Third World.Reagan Doctrine was a policy that gave military and material aid to countries that showed resistance against the USSR and the tyrannies they sponsored. Countries like Afghanistan, Cambodia, Angola, and Nicaragua were helped bthe unite States the Vatican and AFL-CIOs international wing were also enlisted in the Doctrine to keep the Polish trade union intact. In his 1985 State of the Union Address, Reagan said, We must stand by all our democratic allies. And we must not break faith with those who are risking their lives to defy Soviet-supported aggression and secure rights which have been ours from birth. Then, in 1983, Reagan led troops into Grenada and overthrew the Marxist government and held free elections. In regards to communism, the Reagan Doctrines rollback mentality skint the rule of containment set up by the Truman Doctrine, and this dissent played a huge hand in bringing down the Soviet Union and ending the Cold War.Reagan knew that the Russian economy would eventually break in if there was an ongoing arms lead between the Soviets and the United States this is why Reagan began to build up the American military. Reagan threatened the Soviet Union by saying We wont stand by and let you maintain weapon superiority over us. We can agree to reduce arms, or we can await the arms race, which I think you know you cant win. One of Reagans first enhancements was the implementation of the Strategic Defense Initiative, or SDI. The SDI was a new program that would research and eventually d evelop a missile defense system that offered the promise of, in President Reagans words, making nuclear weapons rare The Soviets were afraid of such technology because it would render their weapons useless and leave them vulnerable. In October of 1986, in response to the SDI program, Mikhail Gorbachev concur to a mutual disarmament of weapons in Europe but only if the United States agreed not to deploy the missile defense system.Reagan literally stuck to his guns and refused to tell the American people that their government would not defend them against nuclear destruction. The Soviets were beginning to realize that they didnt stand a chance in an arms race with America, so in December of 1987, Gorbachev came to Washington, D.C., to sign the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which would eliminate an entire class of nuclear weapons. If Reagan had not continued the arms race, the Soviet Union may still be around today. Gorbachevs trip to Washington was the first sign of Sov iet surrender, and without Reagans military build-up, it would have never been possible. Ronald Reagan helped end the Cold War, such as the Reagan Doctrine, American military build-up, and his use of humor to shed a negative light on communism.The Reagan Doctrine was a strategy orchestrated and implemented by the United States to oppose the global influence of the Soviet Union during the final years of the Cold War. While the doctrine lasted less than a decade, it was a centerpiece of American foreign policy from the mid-1980s until the end of the Cold War in 1991. Under the Reagan Doctrine, the U.S. provided overt and covert aid to anti-communist resistance movements in an effort to roll back Soviet-backed communist governments in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The doctrine was designed to serve the dual purposes of diminishing Soviet influence in these regions of the world, while also potentially opening the door for democracy in nations that were largely being governed by Sovie t-supported dictators. The most conspicuous examples of the new activism came in Latin America.In October 1962, the administration sent American soldiers and marines into the tiny Caribbean island of Grenada to oust an anti-American Marxist regime that showed signs of forging a relationship with Moscow. In El Salvador, whose government was fighting left-wing revolutionaries, the administration provided increased military and economic assistance. In neighboring Nicaragua, a pro-American dictatorship had fallen to the revolutionary Sandinistas in 1979 the new government had grown increasingly anti-American (and increasingly Marxist) throughout the early 1980s. the Reagan administration supported the so-called contras, an antigovernment guerilla movement fighting (without big(p) success) to topple the Sandinista regime.ReferencesChester Pach, The Reagan Doctrine Principle, Pragmatism, and Policy, Presidential Studies Quarterly 36.1 (2006) 80. Handelman, H. (2011). the challenge of thi rd world development. upper saddle crush nj prentice hall. Historycentral.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from http//www.historycentral.com/Europe/ReaganandGorbMeet.htmlJames M. Scott, Interbranch Rivalry and the Reagan Doctrine in Nicaragua, Political Science Quarterly 112, no. 2 (Summer 1997) 237. Kenneth Roberts, Bullying and Bargaining The United States, Nicaragua, and Conflict Resolution in Central America, International Security 15, no. 2 (Autumn1990) 78. Windle, J. (2011, December 20). Aol government. Retrieved from http//gov.aol.com/defense-spending-wizardry/