Essay, Research Paper: Reagan Doctrine

There were many things that lead up to the creation of the Reagan Doctrine, which was supposed to help stop a major conflict in the world. Many years before this doctrine was created, there were a major conflict that began with the Communist. Most of the Communistic activities at this time was in the Soviet Union (Russia). In a Communistic nation, the government rules every part of the people s live, which takes away their freedom and liberty. People who live in it are like slaves who work for the government. Later on, Communism tried to spread to bring all the nations in the world under the rule of a Communistic government. They tried to slowly control each nation one by one, starting with the weak ones, until the Communistic government conquered the whole world. Many tried to resist these foes, and the nations who did were called the Free World , which was mainly led by the United States. Great Britain was another Free World nation. They were also trying to stop Communism. Other countries that were between these two great forces were called the Third World . This side consisted of many different nations around Asia, South America, and Africa. Most of the nations in the Third World were poor. Some of the people in the Third World angrily opposed Communism while others happily accepted it. Even some citizens in one nation might be against each other. To gain allies on their sides, each of the great forces tried to gain them by giving out financial aid or assistance to the Third World nations. This conflict which began about 1945 was know to be called the Cold War . This ongoing conflict between the free word and Communist lasted for a long time. Unlike other wars, which was fought mostly with heavy military weapons and fast actions, this war was mostly fought with words, diplomacy, ideology, and argument. Of course, there were some battles with weapons but not as much as ones with the mouth. Even though speech was the main weapon in this war, it took nearly a half a century for this war to end. Through many years this war went on and on with neither sides gaining or losing much. During the 1970s, Communists increased the size of their military armed forces. They created a bigger navy and increase the size of their nuclear arsenal while America was cutting back on defense budgets. Near the 1800 s, Communistic governments were taking action with force. They started to advance with their forces into the Third World nations to try to turn their government also Communistic. Many Presidents of the U.S. were elected throughout the years of this war. Then in 1980, Ronald Reagan was elected the President of the U.S. right after Margaret Thatcher was elected as British s first woman prime minister in 1979. Reagan was one of few Presidents who tried to really stop Communistic activities during the cold war. In fact, some might say that he was the most effective person who stopped the Cold War. Then on May 9, 1982, in a speech at his alma mater, Eureka College, the President declare war on the Soviets in the Third World. He also said that the U.S. would support the people who are willing to fight for freedom against Communism in the Third World. His statement became known as the Reagan Doctrine , but it was not really perceived by many people at the time it was announced. Few years later in February 22, 1985, Shultz gave a speech in San Francisco telling the people the real meaning of the Reagan Doctrine . He explains that one of the most important priorities of the Reagan Doctrine was to modernize America s defense and restore the strength of its military forces. Similar to a policy that Margaret Thatcher made few years back right after she was elected, the nation was to rebuild its military and armed forces so it will be able to match up against the Communists . Ronald Reagan created this doctrine because of the other failed policies made by other American leaders (mostly Presidents) during the past to try to contain Communism rather than to totally destroy it. The Reagan Doctrine was an offensive policy to stand against the expansion of the Communistic world. Unlike the other policies made, this doctrine act as the cure or solution for those who want to win the Cold War against the Communists. It was made to stop and destroy Communism before it could even attack and manipulate other Third World countries into becoming a Communistic society. In the end, the Reagan Doctrine was created so that people could enjoy their freedom from the growing Communism.