Role Of Ronald Reagan's Star Wars Initiative In The Collapse Of The Soviet Union

This book talks about when the United States almost started a full nuclear war because of a few soviet missiles flew into the states allegedly. They flew B-47s and B-52s as air fleets for 40 years of this international problem between the Soviet Union and the United States. In the year 1945 America ended World War 2, as the head nuclear power in the world. Even though the U.S. was the nuclear power, they did not have any nuclear bombs. The whole point of this “cold war” was to maintain a peace among uneasy times, which did not work.

Reagan was able to win the presidency on the idea that he would never allow Americans look weak to the world. Although he had no evidence to support his claims, he was able to convince Americans that the Soviet Union was preparing a preemptive attack on the United States. Using this technique to gain public support for the military, Reagan promoted the idea of power in the military to counter-balance what he viewed as “threats” to America. Not only did this steadily increase enlistment, but also allowed President Reagan to pass several increases in the defense budget placing America in a huge deficit during

building the system was instrumental in the Soviet Union’s collapse. The successful use of Patriot missile batteries in the first Gulf War proved the critics wrong, and the missile defense system that ensued has lessened the threat of ballistic missiles. The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty he signed with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eliminated an entire class of nuclear weapons. He also laid the framework with Gorbachev for the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), which reduced both countries’ arsenals of nuclear weapons. Reagan gave voice to the values that had served America well; she championed the causes of the pro-life and family-values movements that sought to counter the societal upheavals of the 1960s and 1970s.

The New Right Conservatives’ goal wanted to defeat the Soviets in this ‘Cold War’ that the USA and the Soviet Union was engaged in. New Right Conservatives openly disliked the Soviet Union and clearly wanted the ‘Cold War’ to end. They evidently hated the Soviets, and communists in general. Many people trusted the Strategic Defense Initiative that Reagan initiated and it had seemed to work, as Zbigniew Brzezinski, a critic of Reagan’s SDI even said, “Either way SDI promises a genuinely stabilized nuclear equilibrium between the United States and the Soviet Union.” (Doc 4).

His administration adopted a tough stance towards the Soviet Union and called it the "evil empire," advocating for significant military expansion. The resulting Cold War escalation heightened tensions between these superpowers and laid the groundwork for more confrontational tactics. One critical proposition was Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), commonly known as “Star Wars,” which focused on creating missile defense to shield against nuclear strikes. While SDI remained unfulfilled, its proposal carried extensive ramifications concerning U.S.-Soviet ties. Reagan’s negotiation with Mikhail Gorbachev over Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty helped them eliminate intermediate-range nuclear weapons while also taking steps toward arms control - another noteworthy occurrence during his tenure.

Because of this, Reagan had the tools and power needed to put a stop to the spread of communism and end the Cold War. These huge accomplishments occurred during his term as president, therefore making him one of the most accomplished United States presidents of all time. Furthermore, Lou Cannon explains Reagan’s innovative defense system by

Reagan promised to end the “Vietnam Syndrome” by restoring America’s, as well as the military’s itself, confidence in the military (Thompson, 198-199). In his first term, Reagan held a strong militant stance against communism calling for the buildup in American armed forces and nuclear weaponry in the event that there was ever a Soviet attack. Reagan’s greatest diplomatic success came from leading the United States to a victory in the Cold War. However, it was when he took a more flexible stance, in his second term of presidency, in his relations with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev who was seeking a more civil policy (Crash Course, Reagan Revolution). Reagan achieved victory through compromise not combat, by helping Gorbachev to gradually break down communism from within, granting people greater political and economic freedoms (Mindtap, Middle East Crises,

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.

3. Q- The process described in the excerpt most affected Europeans through: My Answer- B, a decline in religious activity and the secularization of Europe. . This is wrong because it is not what happened.

also his cold warhawk ideas to hard line against the soviet union. (Reagan revolution. Par.3) “Since the end of world war II,the United states and the Soviet Union had both grown into super powers and become powerful enemies. for over 40 years, the two nation engaged in a “cold war”: jockeying for dominance on the world stage”(Ronald Reagan and the Cold War, Par. 2) Reagan had a 2 part plan to collapse the “evil empire” of the USSR. He spent a great deal pf american money to invest in military build up.

Once Reagan had taken office on January 20, 1981 the Civil Rights Movement has already taken place. African Americans had gained rights under the new amendments made to end slavery, gain equal voting right, and due process. Previously, the economy was still recovering from the great depression and resources used in the Vietnam War. The Vietnam war brought the fight against communism into perspective because we needed to find new battle tactics to fight against Vietnam. Previously, the US hadn’t sent in troops a majority of the time to try to help the containment of communism.

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.

Presidential Power Ronald Reagan served as America’s 40th president. Reagan managed to cut taxes, increase defense spending, negotiate a nuclear arms reduction agreement with the Soviets and is credited with helping to bring a quicker end to the Cold War. I think that president Reagan used his presidential powers properly in order to achieve what needed to be done. Ronald Reagan was president as the Cold War was raging worse than it had ever before. Reagan used his executive power, Commander in Chief, to put up resistance against Mikhail Gorbachev and push his defensive strategy.

And he had a passion to grasp real Soviet Union because he believed mutual understanding will solve problems between United States and Soviet. However, for Soviet people, the former image was so strong that mutual understanding was difficult. What is more, Reagan was incoherent person. It deepened suspicion not only in Soviet Union president but also among the U.S. community. Therefore, six national security advisors were essential in order to help Reagan’s policy keep consistency and mediate