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PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN’S DOCTRINE

INTRODUCTION

President Ronald Reagan, originally an American actor and politician, became the 40th president of United States serving from the year 1981 to 1989. His term saw a restoration of prosperity at home, with the goal of achieving “peace through strength” abroad. At the end of his two terms in office, Ronald Reagan viewed with satisfaction the achievements of his innovative program known as the Reagan Revolution, which aimed to reinvigorate the American people and reduce their reliance upon government. He felt he had fulfilled his campaign of 1980 “the great confident roar of American progress and growth and optimism”.

Diplomatic efforts and situations during his time in office

During his early times in office when he fired thousands of striking air traffic controllers who refused his orders to return to work hence commencing a war and fiery debates in congress, some were harsher still in their judgments but the average black American thinks Regan is responsible for the rebirth of racism in his regime, then fights ensued over whether to add his name in public subways in Washington and change signage name in the airport and these led to cut social services and taxes. Increased military spending started in illegal war in Central America financed by selling weapons to Iran (Iran –contra gate). Some people became very rich and others became very poor. Reaganomics ended up a complete failure. Unemployment went down but the budget deficit exploded. Over a million people became homeless. Crack became an epidemic; cities became crime ridden while traders on Wall Street became millionaires. Most economics today agree that the financial crisis we have now has its roots in the Reagan years. In many ways, the fight over Reagan’s legacy intensified because of the rise of the tea party movement.

For two decades, Reaganism was the goal of Republicans-a unifying theme and a government philosophy. But over the past two years then, some of that focus has shifted to the tea party, which is the first post-Reagan conservative governing philosophy to emerge. Reagan’s polices do not sync up with the party’s agenda or Sarah Palin’s agenda, they were extremist and so in that have made Reagan look tamer (Janet & Steven 2001).

Diplomatic doctrine followed by President Reagan in regime

One of the important roles of any president is that of ‘chief dilomat’although these specific words do not appear in the constitution, the president is given the authority to receive foreign diplomats. The ability of the president in American politics has created a dominant role for the president in foreign policy making. As international travel has become easier, presidents have capitalized o the opportunity to personally conduct diplomatic meetings with heads of state around the world.

Limiting the expansion of the Soviet Union’s influence became one of the main goals of U.S foreign policy after world war II.The struggle between liberal democracy, led by the U.S and totalitarian communism, primary represented by the Soviet Union, was called the Cold War. To challenge each other’s influence, both the United States and the Soviet Union built up their militaries and arms stockpiles extended them to their respective allies during this period.

Convinced that the previous weakened U.S military forces only invited Soviet expansionism around the globe, Ronald Reagan promoted strengthening the U.S military through increased defense spending as one of the major themes of his 1980 presidential campaign. Military spending had been declining since the end of the Vietnam War-resulting in shortages of military parts and equipment and had begun increasing at the end of President Carter’s administration. Furthermore, president Reagan and his advisors believed that because the Soviets were outspending the United States in military weapons procured, a potentially dangerous imbalance of power could develop.

President Reagan also aimed to reduce the influence of the Soviet Union and “roll back “or eliminate communism regimes around the globe by supporting anti-soviet governments and groups (Dennis & Thomas 2006). These included the mujahedeen in Afghanistan, the Contras in Nicaragua, and the solidarity Movement’s struggle for freedom in Poland. This policy became known as the “Reagan doctrine”.

President Reagan was very vocal in his opposition to communism. He predicted that communism would be left “on the ash heap of history “He referred to the Soviet Union as an “evil power”. This dramatic statement and President Reagan’s policies towards the Soviet Union generated a great deal of controversy. Some saw his words as an important reassertion of American resolve. Others worried that they needlessly antagonized the Soviets and increased the risk of war (Ralph 2004). To alleviate these concerns, the presidents spoke of his program as “peace through strength”. Early in president Reagan’s second term, a reform-minded leader, Mikhael Gorbachev, assumed power in the Soviet Union. Like previous presidents, Ronald Reagan made plans to meet the new Soviet leader. During his presidency Reagan met with the secretary general Gorbachev on five occasions from 1985 to 1988.The two leaders developed a personal relationship and worked together to reduce the tension of the Cold War.

Effects of democratic efforts to U.S and other countries

Wealth. A higher GDP/capita correlates with democracy and while some claim the wealthiest democracies have never been observed to fall into authoritarianism, the rise of Hitler and the Nazis in Weimar Germany would be an obvious counter –example that would render the claim truism.

Education. Wealth also correlates with education; through the effects on democratic consolidation seem to be independent. A Poorly educated and illiterate population may elect populist political who soon abandon democracy and become dictators even if there have been free elections.

Market economy: Some claim that democracy and market economy are intrinsically linked. This belief generally centers on the idea that democracy and market economy are simply two different aspects of freedom. A widespread market economy culture may encourage norms such as individualism, negotiations, compromise, respect for law and equality before the law. These are the supportive for democratization.

Civil society: A healthy civil society [NGOs, unions, academia, human rights organizations] are considered by some theorists to be important for democratization, as they give people a unity and a common purpose, and a social network through which to organize and challenge the power of the state hierarchy. Involvement in civic association also prepares citizens for their future political participation in democratic regimes. Finally, horizontally organized social networks build trust among people and trust is essential for functioning of democratic institutions.

Advantages and disadvantages of President Ronald Reagan’s doctrines

To start with, Reagan is most well known for his diplomatic dealings with the Soviet Union. He was known for his hard line rhetoric and his firm dealing s with the Soviet leader Gorbachev.He also used the economy of the U.S to cripple the Soviet economy by increasing military spending. This sudden rise in arms was tough for the Soviet’s to follow and strained their economy. This approach to cold war politics helped cause the fall of U.S.S.R to some degree.

The major drawback of Reagan’s “doctrine “was that it antagonized some other countries because it seemed like “cowboy diplomacy”. However, any sort of forceful action will antagonize someone. It is hard to please all the people all the time.

Another disadvantage is that polices such as our support of the fighters in Afghanistan created possibilities for “blowback “as people armed by United States did not necessarily share the interests of United States beyond resisting Soviet influence (Dennis & Thomas 2006). Another example would be US support for both sides, but especially Iraq, in the Iran-Iraq War. One might also argue that it perpetuated, even added to a military-industrial complex that soaks up billions in budgetary spending. Then, of course, there was the fact that American money and weapons went towards killing people around the world, which scarcely enhanced the image of the country.

The major advantage of Reagan’s foreign policy was the end of Cold War and freedom for millions of people previously trapped behind iron curtains (Kim 2008). Reagan may have been one of the few people living in the U.S.in the early 80s who actually believed that communism would collapse.

REFERENCES

Kim, R.H, (2008). Liberty’s Best Hope: American Leadership for the 21st Century. Washington, DC: The Heritage Foundation.

Dennis, M. & Thomas, G.P,(2006). Major Problems in American Foreign Relations: President Ronald Reagan’s Leadership. Boston: Houghton Mifflin

Janet, P & Steven, A. (2001). Speeches of the American President. Bronx, NY: H. W. Wilson.

Ralph, E.W., (2004). Dear Americans: Letters from the Desk of President Ronald Reagan. Waterville; Thorndike press.

"Ronald Reagan." The White House. The White House, n.d. Web. 09 May 2015.