Ronald Reagan's Cold War:

To say that Ronald Reagan ended the Cold War would be simplistic and unfair to all the people and elements that had to merge for a victory over Soviet communism. But it would be fair to say that without Reagan the Cold War would not have ended when it did or as it did (without more shots being fired), and may not have ended yet.

One of the most basic questions during the Cold War was: could the U.S. (capitalism) and the U.S.S.R. (Communism) cohabit the world or would conflict inevitably lead to one system defeating the other? From Truman to Carter the answer was they could coexist and that America had only to contain the Soviets. Except for briefly during the Eisenhower era, rolling back the Soviets had been unthinkable because of the threat of nuclear war. For Ronald Reagan, however, the answer was they could not coexist. Reagan believed in “roll back” – shrinking the power and boundaries of the Soviet sphere. He believed the U.S.S.R. was economically weak and that opponents of its oppression were primed to overthrow their communist rulers if only the U.S. helped and encouraged them. He made it his administration’s goal to “win” the Cold War and put the Soviets out of business.

Reagan Doctrine: Reagan was determined to roll back Soviet communism. With the American public unwilling to use U.S. troops because of Vietnam Syndrome, Reagan expanded on the Nixon doctrine and pledged to give opponents of the Soviets any assistance he could, short of troops. Known as the Reagan Doctrine, he gave direct assistance in weapons and money to anticommunist insurgencies around the world, notably to the Mujahadin (guerrillas opposing the Soviet in Afghanistan, including a Saudi named Osama Bin Ladin) and the Contras (Nicaraguan rebels challenging the Cuban/Soviet-backed Sandinista government).

Boland Amendment (1983): Named for Rep. Edward Boland, it was added to a Defense Appropriations bill to restrict U.S. covert activity in Nicaragua. It was meant to block the Reagan administration’s supporting or funding the Contras. The administration interpreted it narrowly, however, insisting it applied only to the CIA. The administration continued to funnel funds to the Contras through the National Security Agency.

Iran-Contra Scandal: Having failed to stop U.S. support for the Contras, Democrats in Congress and Reagan continued to snipe at each other. The Democrats struck political pay dirt in 1986 when it was reported that the U.S. had made illegal weapons sales to Iran during the Iran-Iraq War. Reagan had pledged never to deal with terrorists, and Iran was the greatest supporter of terrorists, including Hizballah, the group responsible for killing 241 U.S. marines in Beirut in 1983. Congress found out that Navy Vice-Adm. John Poindexter and Army Colonel Oliver North illegally sent money from the Iran weapons sales to the Contras, despite the Boland Amendment. Democrats wanted to tie the scandal to Reagan, but he insisted that he did not know about either deal. The public believed him and let him off the hook because his opponents had often accused Reagan as being out of the loop and "the Acting President".

A New Deal Democrat and admirer of Franklin Roosevelt, Reagan switched parties in the 1950s and became an arch-conservative Cold Warrior. He believed Soviet citizens wanted freedom and that the Soviet economy was fundamentally weak. He intended to spend the Soviets out of existence, contending that the USSR could not pay for an arms race and keep their people satisfied and supplied with necessities at home. Additionally, Reagan believed the long-held policy of nuclear deterrence —

mutually assured destruction (MAD) —was immoral. He held the idea that neither the U.S. or U.S.S.R. could build defensive weapons systems to protect themselves but had to maintain equal offensive nuclear arsenals to ensure that neither country used theirs created a level of anxiety in people that was unhealthy and unjust. Instead, he wanted to end the Cold War and the only good way for the U.S. to end it was to win it. Thus, he made a centerpiece of his military policy the creation of an anti-ballistic weapon system called the Strategic Defense Initiative.

Strategic Defense Initiative: Nicknamed “Star Wars,” by opponents, it is an anti-ballistic weapons system intended to defend the U.S. by shooting down incoming missiles. Though possibly fanciful, Reagan believed it was possible and made it the centerpiece of his weapons negotiations with the Soviets. He hoped that by not budging on SDI in talks with Gorbachev he could force the Soviets either to begin an arms race that Reagan was convinced would destroy the Soviet economy and/or reduce their nuclear arsenal.

START I and II: Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty: the second element of President Reagan’s weapons negotiations with the Soviets—the carrot to the stick of SDI. It called for the U.S. and Soviets to reduce nuclear arsenals. Initially, Soviet leader Yuri Andropov tried to use arms reduction to force Reagan to back off of SDI. But Reagan refused and the talks broke down. Reagan resumed talks with Andropov’s successor, Mikhail Gorbachev, who felt pressure from the arms race and who wanted an agreement. Gorbachev hoped Reagan would give up SDI, but Reagan refused and Gorbachev eventually backed down. In 1987, they agreed to eliminate intermediate-range nuclear missiles (the INF Treaty, later called START I). Reagan’s successor, George H.W. Bush, continued talks and, in 1993, Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin signed START II, eliminating multiple independently-targetable re-entry vehicles (MIRVs) – missiles with multiple warheads. With the U.S.S.R.’s demise, both nations agreed to destroy stockpiles of nuclear weapons, ending the Cold War.

Glasnost and Perestroika: Russian terms, for “openness” and “reform,” they symbolized Soviet leader Gorbachev's new approach to governing the Soviet Union in an era of heightened Human Rights.. They created some economic freedom and reduced censorship of news and outside information. As the Soviet power structure weakened, resistance groups came into the open—a development advanced by Reagan. Gorbachev became increasingly unable to respond to democratic developments in Eastern Europe – repudiating the “Breshnev Doctrine” that had asserted the Soviets had the power to intervene in Communist countries.

“Our policy did not change until Gorbachev understood that there would be no improvement and no serious arms control until we admitted and accepted human rights, free emigration, until glasnost became freedom of speech, until our society and the process of perestroika changed deeply”

--Anatoly Chernyaev, Special Assistant for Foreign Affairs

Reagan took advantage of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, a reformist Soviet leader (Mikhail Gorbachev), weakening Soviet power in Eastern Europe because of the Helsinki Accords (exemplified by the Solidarity Movement in Poland), a powerful anticommunist papacy (Pope John Paul II), a staunch conservative ally in Britain (Margaret Thatcher), an unflinching support of foes of the Soviets worldwide (the Mujahadin, the Contras), and a resurging American economy (Reaganomics) to bring the Soviet Union to the brink of defeat by the time he left office. Other world events pushed it over the edge (notably Tienanmin Square and the fall of the Berlin Wall), ending the Cold War.

Tiananmen Square: Seemingly tangential event that was elemental to the break-up of Soviet power in Eastern Europe and hastening the end of the Cold War. When Gorbachev visited Chinese Communist leaders in Beijing in 1989, students camped out in Tiananmen Square to welcome him and protest the Chinese government’s restrictions. Not wanting to be embarrassed and not used to allowing dissent, the government ordered the military to empty the square. This was business as usual in China, but this time it was on television. CNN and other cable news outlets showed the entire demonstration and had reporters who witnessed the army's assault. The Chinese government was censured by the U.N. for its actions. Eastern European governments had the same choice, of whether to break up the demonstrations or whether to allow them.

“Tear Down This Wall”In 1987, Reagan stood before the Berlin Wall and declared, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” The wall was the symbol of Communist tyranny, but no one expected it to be torn down. By 1989, events got ahead of Gorbachev and he could no longer control them. He had hoped to fix the Soviet system to allow its perpetuation, but his reforms led to its downfall. Reagan’s push on SDI hastened the collapse of the Soviet economy. Free elections in Poland ushered in a Solidarity government. A Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia and open borders between Austria and Hungary led to German demands for the same. As tanks chased Chinese students, protests arose in Leipzig. East German leader Erich Honecker wondered whether to use force to end them. He let them go on and resigned in October. A month later, a helpless East German government watched as protesters on both sides of the wall began tearing it down with hammers and picks. Gorbachev clung to power for two more years, but the Cold War was over. In 1991, the Soviet Union ceased to exist.

Competency Goal 12: The U.S. 1973 to the present, identify and analyze trends in U.S. domestic and foreign affairs during this time period 12.06 Assess the impact of twenty-first century terrorist activity on American society

The War on Terrorism

After the Treaty of Sevres

The Founding of Israel, 1948

Yasser Arafat: Arafat did more than anyone else to put the Palestinians' cause on the world agenda.

In Cairo, before he was seventeen, Arafat smuggled arms to Palestine to be used against the British and the Jews. At nineteen, during the war between the Jews and the Arab states, Arafat left university to fight against the Jews in the Gaza area. The defeat of the Arabs and the creation of the state of Israel left him in despair. After the war, he studied civil engineering at the University of Cairo. In 1956, he founded Al Fatah, an underground terrorist organization advocating armed struggle against Israel. By the end of 1964, Arafat was a full-time revolutionary, organizing Fatah raids into Israel from Jordan. After the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, when Arabs lost the Gaza Strip, Golan Heights and West Bank, Arab nations turned to Arafat to carry out their will. In 1969, he became leader of the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization). For two decades the PLO launched attacks on Israel, and Arafat gained a reputation as a ruthless terrorist. Driven out of Lebanon by an Israeli military invasion, he set up shop in Tunis.

Through the 1970's, Arafat went along with (some say led) the terrorist actions of the PFLP (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine) and Black September, both associated with the PLO, in their many hijackings, kidnappings, and murder of athletes at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich and twenty-one school children in a hostage taking in Ma'alot, Israel, in 1974..

Tehran Hostage Crisis: Carter administration’s lowest point and greatest failure in foreign policy: Islamist fundamentalist, the Ayatollah Khomeini, led a revolution ousting the U.S.-backed Shah of Iran in January 1979. In October, the Shah found refuge in the U.S. In November, an Iranian mob overran the U.S. embassy in Tehran and took fifty-three hostages, demanding return of the Shah “and his wealth” for their release. Carter asked the UN to intervene, but Khomeini ignored it. Carter froze Iranian assets and asked other countries to embargo Iran, but Iranian oil supply outweighed the insult to the U.S. formost countries. Failing to solve the problem (along with one of the most inept presidencies in U.S. history) led to Carter’s resounding defeat to Ronald Reagan in the election in November. Rubbing salt in Carter’s wound, the hostages were freed on inauguration day, Day 444, after Reagan was sworn in as the new President.

Hizballah (Hezb Allah -- Party of God) Alternative spellings hizbollah and hezbollah.

Radical Shia group in Lebanon; dedicated to creating Iranian-style Islamic republic in Lebanon and removal of all non-Islamic influences from the area. Closely allied with Iran, but may have conducted operations that were not approved by Tehran.

Known or suspected to have been involved in anti-US terrorist attacks, including the suicide truck bombing of the US Embassy and US Marine barracks in Beirut in October 1983 and the US Embassy annex in Beirut in September 1984. Elements of the group were responsible for the kidnapping and detention of US and other Western hostages in Lebanon. In 2000, it captured three Israeli soldiers in the Shabaa Farms and kidnapped an Israeli noncombatant whom it may have lured to Lebanon under false pretenses.

Palestine Liberation Front: Group led by Abu Abbas, who became member of PLO Executive Committee in 1984 but left it in 1991. Often confused with the Palestine Liberation Organization, the PLF received substantial support from Saddam Hussein.

The PLF is known for hang glider attacks against Israel. Abbas's group was responsible for the attack in 1985 on the cruise ship, Achille Lauro, and the murder of passengers, including U.S. citizen Leon Klinghoffer. Abu Abbas was arrested in Baghdad in April 2003. He died in U.S. custody in early 2004.

Hamas (Islamic Resistance Movement)

Name means “zealot,” “strength,” and/or “bravery.” Formed in late 1987 as an outgrowth of the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. Various Hamas elements have used both political and violent means, including terrorism, to pursue the goal of establishing an Islamic Palestinian state in place of Israel. Some elements of Hamas work secretly, others openly through mosques and social service institutions to recruit members, raise money, organize activities, and distribute propaganda. Hamas's strength is concentrated in the Gaza Strip and a few areas of the West Bank. Activists of Hamas have conducted many attacks--including large-scale suicide bombings--against Israeli civilian and military targets. They also target political rivals in Fatah. Hamas claimed several attacks during the unrest in late 2000.

Hamas has also engaged in peaceful political activity. In 2006, it won control of the Palestinian parliament. Since then there has been a reduction of U.S. aid to Palestine and Lebanon to try to force Hamas to recognize and negotiate with Israel.

In 1990, Iraq’s Saddam Hussein ordered the invasion of neighboring Kuwait (an oil-rich sultanate that used to be part of Iraq before the Treaty of Sevres.) Fearing Hussein would cut off access to oil or invade Saudi Arabia, President George H.W. Bush declared that the invasion “would not stand” and ordered mobilization of troops (Operation Desert Shield) and pushed a resolution through the UN ordering Iraq out of Kuwait by January 1991. Bush also created a coalition willing to use military force to free Kuwait. When Hussein refused, the coalition began Operation Desert Storm, bombing Iraqi infrastructure. In late February, troops moved in and crushed the Iraqi military.

Operation Desert Storm – The Gulf War 1991

Defeated, Hussein attacked the Shiite community in southern Iraq. Before leaving Kuwait, Hussein’s troops caused an ecological disaster by setting the oil fields on fire. As a result of the war, the UN imposed sanctions on Iraq and set up no-fly-zones in the north and south of the country to protect the Kurds and Shiites. The UN also ordered Hussein to admit inspectors to ensure he was not developing weapons of mass destruction. Bush was hugely popular because of the victory, but the faltering economy weakened him by the time of the 1992 election. The most significant result of the war was on the military. It brought forth two important generals: Colin Powell and Norman Schwarzkopf. And finally ended the Vietnam Syndrome.

By 1988, when Arafat told the United Nations that the PLO would recognize Israel as a sovereign state, he seemed to be warming to diplomacy. His negotiating position, however, took a serious blow in 1990. By supporting Saddam Hussein after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, he lost vital funding from the Gulf oil states. When Iraq lost the Gulf War, the PLO found itself penniless and friendless. Many agree that this left Arafat with no choice but to make peace with Israel. So, in 1993, the terrorist leader met with his avowed enemies. The secret peace talks in Norway led to the Oslo Peace Accords with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin. The agreement, signed in a ceremony hosted by Bill Clinton, granted limited Palestinian self-rule and earned Arafat, Rabin and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres a Nobel Peace Prize.

Israeli – Palestinian Conflict II

NATO Commander Gen. Wesley Clark

The Balkans Wars

The Balkans Wars: The end of the Cold War destabilized Eastern Europe and festering nationalistic tensions arose in Yugoslavia (the Balkans): (1) between Serbs and Bosnians, and (2) between Serbs and Albanians. In 1992, conflict erupted between Serbian nationalists and the government of Bosnia-Herzegovina. NATO, became involved in 1994 in an attempt to end the conflict. Regional leaders met in 1995 at Dayton, Ohio, to draw up a peace agreement, known as the Dayton Accords. The accords stabilized Bosnia, but next the Serbian Communist leader, Slobodan Milosevic, moved on Kosovo. He began a purge of Albanians from government jobs, a purge which developed into what came to be known as “ethnic cleansing” – genocide. When the Serbs attacked “peacekeepers” in the region, NATO once again stepped in. This time, under the command of U.S. General Wesley Clark, NATO undertook a substantial bombing campaign of Kosovo. Other events further destabilized the region on Europe’s southeastern doorstep and prompted demands for action by human rights groups and NATO allies.

Rwanda 1994

Arafat became president of the Palestinian Council governing the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 1996. President Clinton renewed efforts to bring peace in 2000, when Israelis elected the moderate Ehud Barack. But at the same time, Palestinian terror groups proclaimed “Intifada” (revolution). Since September 2000, more than 1,000 Israelis have been murdered and more than 1,000 Palestinians killed in military retaliation. Yasser Arafat died of an as-yet unknown illness in a Paris hospital in November 2004.

Israeli – Palestinian Conflict III

Established by Osama Bin Laden and Wael Julaidan in 1988 to bring together Arabs who fought in Afghanistan against the Soviet invasion, Al-Qaida helped finance, recruit, transport, and train Sunni Islamic extremists for the Afghan resistance. Bin Ladin, son of a billionaire Saudi family, is said to have inherited approximately $300 million that he uses to finance the group. Its current goal is to establish a pan-Islamic Caliphate throughout the world by working with allied Islamic extremist groups to overthrow regimes it deems "non-Islamic" and expelling Westerners and non-Muslims from Muslim countries. Issued statement under banner of "the World Islamic Front for Jihad Against the Jews and Crusaders" in February 1998, saying it was the duty of all Muslims to kill US citizens—civilian or military—and their allies everywhere. Al-Qaida maintains moneymaking front organizations, solicits donations from like-minded supporters, and illicitly siphons funds from donations to Muslim charitable organizations

Al-Qaida (also spelled al Qaeda)

It conducted the 1998 bombings of the US Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killing at least 301 persons and injured more than 5,000 others. It bombed the U.S.S. Cole in port in Yemen in 2000. It claims to have shot down US helicopters and killed US servicemen in Somalia in 1993 (Black Hawk Down) and to have conducted three bombings that targeted US troops in Aden, Yemen, in December 1992.

Responsible for the September 11th, 2001, bombing of the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon outside Washington, D.C. It continues to train, finance, and provide logistic support to terrorist groups in support of its goals.

“Today we focus on Afghanistan, but the battle is broader. Every nation has a choice to make. In this conflict, there is no neutral ground. If any government sponsors the outlaws and killers of innocents, they have become outlaws and murderers, themselves. And they will take that lonely path at their own peril. . . .”

—President George W. Bush, Address to the Nation, October 7, 2001

Operation Enduring Freedom -- Afghanistan

Patriot Act and Department of Homeland Security: The attacks of September 11th prompted a significant reform of government policy and operation. In the first major overhaul of the national security system since the dawn of the Cold War, Congress created a new cabinet office--the Department of Homeland Security--and reversing 1970’s policy, a Director of National Intelligence was created to coordinate intelligence gathering among the CIA, the FBI, and the National Security Agency. The Patriot Act gave government new powers of investigation, streamlining procedures by which law enforcement officials get court approval for wiretaps, etc., and enlarging the list of searchable personal areas (such as library records). The law became more controversial after the first shock of September 11th wore off and many Americans, notably those aligned with views of the American Civil Liberties Union, see the law as an excessive and dangerous intrusion into people’s privacy. Others view the giving up of certain freedoms by law abiding citizens to be a reasonable response to the terror threat.

The Iraq War