Reagan Doctrine
President Ronald Reagan's foreign policy could be summed up by his view of the Soviet Union as the "Evil Empire." Under this view the Third World War was not just a possibility, but was currently taking place under the auspices of proxy governments and systematic attacks on the west by covert communist forces - a label given to any group stuggling against an American ally. (See Reagan and South Africa) Terrorism was seen as Soviet tool against the west, and therefore needed an appropriate response from the United States, something personified by the Reagan Doctrine, a pledge to assist any militant anti-communist forces in any red country. Throughout the Third World, CIA clandestine forces were unleashed against the weaker pro-Soviet governments; such as in Angola, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Cambodia, and in Afghanistan. Many of the Middle Eastern terrorists who attacked US targets from the early 1990s had been trained in Afghanistan.
Military Buildup
Covert warfare was accompanied by a massive build up of American forces across the board, and a programme of modernisation and revitalisation for the armed forces began in earnest. The US defense departments budget rose from $136 billion in 1980 to $244 billion in 1985, and that figure takes no account of related expenditures concealed by other departments, such as the department of energy. [1] Reagans administrations financed its build-up by deficit spending on a massive scale. Even during the Vietnam War, the US had run up at most a deficit of some $25 billion in a single year, or some 3% of GNP. In 1969, the budget ran a surplus. Deficit spending ran at about on aver 5-6% of GNP in the Reagan era. [2] Total public debt doubled between 1980 and 1985 and in 1987 the US finally recorded a expenditures of over one trillion dollars. The American deficit crisis continues to loom to the modern era, all of which began as a result of Reagans military spending spree.
This money bought a new generation of Nuclear missiles intended for a Nuclear war, not mere deterrence. Most feared were the intermediate Pershing and Cruise missiles which were installed in Western Europe in 1983. The deployment of these weapons sparked massive anti war demonstrations in Britain, West Germany, Italy and other countries, which didn't want to serve in the 'European theatre' in the event of Nuclear war. Also around the time Reagan announced the beginning of a programme of space based missile defence systems, known as 'Star Wars' which increased the panic of the Soviets leadership about their nations vulnerability, whatever its feasability. The Soviets shot down a Korean airliner that had drifted into its space in the belief that this was an American test of radar defenses prior to an American Nuclear assualt in 1983. By November 1983 the Soviets were close to mounting a Nuclear strike, bringing global war closer than any time since the Cuban Missile Crisis.
New Policy - Confrontation
The new policy of confrontation was also evident in what American conservatives called their 'backyard'; in Central America and the Carribean which had replaced South East Asia as the primary Cold War battlefield. Radical regimes established themselves in the 1970s in Nicaragua and Grenada, and by 1980 civil wars in El Salvador and Guatemala seemed likely to increase Soviet influence in a region traditionally under the influence of the US as far back the Monroe Doctrine.
Reagan reversed Carters policy of restraint in the region, pouring in aid to support the military establishments of the front line nations. This received criticism when the brutality of pro US regimes in El Salvador and Guatemala committed atrocities. There were massacres and death squads aimed at anyone from a Liberal, moderate or pro-Labour position, and especially against indegenous Indian populations.
A 1983 military coup in Granada provided an opportunity for American troops to occupy it, leaving Nicaragua and Cuba the only socialist regimes left in the region. This attitude helped mould America's evolving anti terrorist policy, with the willingness to strike directly at alledged terrorist sponser states in spite of international law as displayed by the US bombing of Libya in 1986.
Another arena of the Reagan Doctrines confrontation of communism was in the Middle East. Communist forces were seen as the driving force of the Lebanese Civil wars. US forces were in Beirut in 1982/1983 which brought them into direct conflict with Islamist forces. During the early 1980s, Islamic militants took hostage a number of American and West Europeans. This problem produced a constitutional crisis in America itself, as the Reagan administration illegally sold weapons to Iran as part of a deal to free the hostages.
The 'Iran-Contra' Affair
In about 1985, some of the profits of the arrangement with Iran were diverted to fund the Contra's of Nicaragua, which the US Congress had refused to support in light of their repeated atrocities. The Executive branch of the Federal government was therefore able to use illegally funded money to support an illegal war in Nicaragua, causing constitutional problems and questions still not rectified to this day. Reagan managed to, in one way or the other increase the power of the office of President enormously. The affair came to light in November 1986 and the 'Iran-Contra' affair dominated headlines for years afterwards. This gave ample grounds to Democrats to impeach the President and his advisors, but were nervous about tackling a widely popular President and the Congressional investigations were therefore very restrained. Reagan succeeded in serving the rest of his term without the political crisis that seemed inevitable in 1986/1987.
Conclusion
American conservatives take full credit for the collapse of the Soviet Union and other communist states from 1989 onwards, which they see as the direct response to the failed attempt to match the US military build up compounded by disaster in Afghanistan. On the othwer hand, it is impossible to know what might had happened if the west had continued the traditional policy of containment, and had averted the high risk strategy that could have caused a Nuclear war in 1983.