Ronald Reagan was elected in 1981 and re-elected in 1985. He entered US presidency after the Détente policy of 1962 to 1979, a policy that he considered as being a sign of American weakness and vulnerability. In a 1981 conference, he said: "So far détente's been a one-way street that the Soviet Union has used to pursue its own aims. Their goal must be the promotion of world revolution and a one world communist or socialist state." Instead of the Détente, Reagan wished for a peace built by America’s economic and military power.
Reagan, even before his presidency was displaying his anti-communist stance. In 1977, Reagan famously commented on a national radio broadcast “My idea of American policy toward the Soviet Union is simple, and some would say simplistic. It is this: We win and they lose”(Jarausch, K. 2012) This stand paved the way for the hard line he would draw against the Soviets during his Presidency. Reagan, throughout his time in office, anticipated that communism would inevitably collapse in on itself, he just wanted to be the man that triggered the fall. In 1981, at the beginning of his presidency, he spoke about how he planned to use his attitudes to end communism, and in turn the Cold War.
They thought a departure from this model would signify a Soviet surrender to the Capitalist West in the ideological war. However, not all policies resulted in failure and devastating suffering (Allen 1964). One notable exception was the policy of Peaceful Coexistence instituted by Khrushchev. Until then, the country had been led by Josef Stalin. Under Stalin’s leadership, many oppressive and rigid policies were put in place.
Kennan says that the Russian people are ruled by a tyrant and these ideas are not their views but the viewpoint the Communist Party. In other words, there can be a peaceful coexistence between Communist and a capitalist country if the country such as United States would consider a foreign policy that stressed coexistence, rather than aggression, once circumstances improved. In his essay Kennan suggested that the United States must contain the Soviet Union in order to prevent Socialism from expanding beyond it current borders. Containment Containment is described as the “basic idea of resisting the expansion of Soviet power by exercising the political, diplomatic, economic, moral, and military power of the US and its allies.” It is a post-war concept of George F. Kennan on how the United
Source 3 shifts the focus to America, arguing that it was a combination of Ronald Reagan’s personal skills and his vision of a nuclear-free world which brought the Cold War to an end. In truth, the end of the Cold War was brought about by extraordinary efforts on both sides. Gorbachev recognised the ideological and economic problems facing the Soviet Union, and Reagan created an environment in which it was possible for Gorbachev to compromise without appearing weak. Gorbachev’s ‘extraordinary role’ is emphasised in Source 1. Historian Ken Booth argues that Gorbachev was the first Soviet leader to publicly recognise the fact that there were ‘discrepancies between Marxist-Leninist doctrine and reality’.
Stalin’s view is supported by Admiral D Leahy, who in his memoirs writes ‘we had adopted an ethical standard common to the barbarians of the Dark Ages’ This quote holds a substantial amount of weight to my argument due to Admiral D Leahy’s position as Roosevelt and Truman’s chief of staff, it would be expected for a man of such status to hold a view in support of America’s actions. Nevertheless, it is apparent that while Leahy may have condoned the dropping of the bomb to shorten the war, he would make no attempt to justify his country’s and his President’s actions. The moral implications were made apparent on the British mission to Hiroshima. Not only did the bombs claim the lives of over 200,000 civilians, the
Do pressure groups strengthen or weaken democracy? It is extremely difficult to reach a conclusion on whether groups are good or otherwise for democracy but it is important to realise how they can be both beneficial and damaging to it. In debating the matter we face the difficulty that the group’s methods, aims and composition vary significantly and so they cannot all be thrown into the same group. So while we make comments on judgements they are only generalised and do not apply to all groups in all circumstances. Government’s aims are always to please the public, or do the best for the state and so these groups clearly show the government what a certain band of people wish to happen.
In his work, Fleming explained that if the Soviets wanted to attack the united states of America they had done it because they had all the necessary equipment but at that period the nation was more interested in its inner politics than conquering the world. Seeing the Soviet Union as its biggest threat and being afraid of the “Domino” effect, the American government decided to take actions by supporting the rebels in Latin America and countries that were gaining their independence in a hope that these societies will adopt the capitalist ideology. The decisions that the USA made where not always elaborated and in some cases they did more harm than good. Isolating the U.S.S.R from the world politics was
While the more sophisticated of the US advisers realised that the domino theory was too simplistic in an increasingly non-linear world, split not just by ideology but also historically through ethnic and nationalist conflict, this didn't mean that the USSR and China would exploit any weakness shown by the USA. Cold War Considerations: Western Europe and the USSR De Gaulle's France was challenging US leadership in both Vietnam and Europe. Anti-American riots tore through Panama which was merely the most obvious show of increasing hostility to the USA in the western hemisphere. There were fears that one of the two Communist superpowers might be tempted to use this, forcing the USA to get involved in other local conflicts against their will. Vietnam and the survival of the South were considered a central part of the maintenance of a stable world order, and LBJ in particular said that if Chinese aggression could be contained in South East Asia then it would “give the pole on
57). If leaders of government imposed regulations on the people, he believed this would hamper society’s growth and the people would not maintain the highest level of happiness. This demonstrates a good leader should empower the people to become more independent and to instill trust in the people to make the right choice. Machiavelli, a totalitarian thinker, believed that a leader should maintain a dictatorship rule with complete power by any means necessary without regard to the people’s expectations. He states, “Hence it is necessary for a prince who wishes to maintain his position to learn how not to be good, and to use this knowledge or not to use it according to necessity” (38, ver.