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The Reagan Doctrine: 1981-1989

1053 Words5 Pages

Faculty of Social and Political science
Department of Political Science
POLI-D-434
The Reagan Doctrine: 1981-1989

A PAPER PRESENTED BY Tamukum FONJIYANG FERDINAND(ULB 000386130)

Lecturer: Gaelle Pellon
Program: POLI4-J (Retake session)2014-2015

Context
The Regan doctrine was the term used to describe the presidency of Ronald Reagan in the United States from 1981-1989. It originated from the fact that President Ronald Reagan wanted to curb the wide spread of communism which at the time was being fed to nations which were in the democratic struggle and also in autocratic leaderships. He specifically was targeting the Soviet Union who was the main initiator of communism in the world at this time. As Reagan …show more content…

It meanly concentrates on the question of" who are we", it is from this phrase, that many states draw their political agendas, especially political issues. National identity does not only deal with identity stereotypes which states adopt, but it also defines norms which give a nation its identity. In the case of the U.S, the period 1981-1988 was characterized based on heavy military improvements. Reagan believed that having a strong military was the only way the world could be peaceful especially from the approaching soviet community treat. He feared that the world was vulnerable to the soviet nuclear program which was being developed at the time, so from 1981 he put his political aims mostly against the Soviet Union which came as a turning point in American national …show more content…

In this light, from 1981, Reagan began to change how the U.S had been dealing with communism, which was what was considered as the definition of US foreign policy. From this moment, he used secretive means to punish nations where were trying to gather support for the soviet union, even though such means where not supported by the US congress, this means involved toppling leaders who he deemed as being influenced by the soviet union as was the case in Nicaragua in the popularly know "Iran-Contra scenario” where the US provided arms illegally to Iran and freedom fighters in Nicaragua. An important point in trying to understand national identity is the term "who are we and who are the others"? This notion can be divided into 2 groups, the enemies, and the friends, in creating coalitions with allies, national identity is strengthened and the states influence is broadened. The allies of the regime considered it as a democratic change which was widely needed. From this point The Reagan administration started with the Strategic Defense Initiative which was designed to target and pin point any missiles that were meant to enter the US, the American military developed a great arsenal of

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