The main goal of the US foreign policy during the presidency of Ronald Reagan (1981–1989) was winning the Cold War and the rollback of communism—which was achieved in the Revolutions of 1989 in Eastern Europe during 1989; in the German reunification in 1990; and in the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Historians debate whom to credit, and how much. They agree that victory in the Cold War made the U.S. the world's only superpower, one with good relations with former communist regimes in Russia and Eastern Europe.
As part of the "Reagan Doctrine", the United States also offered financial and logistics support to the anti-communist opposition in Central Europe and took an increasingly hard line against left-wing governments in Afghanistan, Angola, and Nicaragua.
Appointments
Confronting the Soviet Union
Reagan had close friendships with key political leaders across the globe, especially the two strong conservatives Margaret Thatcher in Britain, and Brian Mulroney in Canada. He and Thatcher provided mutual support in terms of fighting liberalism, reducing the welfare state, and contronting the Soviet Union in what turned out to be the final years of the Cold War.
Reagan ultimately departed from the historical policy of détente with the Soviet Union, which had been followed after World War II by consecutive U.S. presidents, including Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Jimmy Carter. The Reagan administration implemented a new policy towards the Soviet Union, detailed in NSDD-32, a National Security Decisions Directive, to begin confronting the Soviet Union on three fronts: decreasing Soviet access to high technology and diminishing their resources, including depressing the value of Soviet commodities on the world market; to (also) increase American defense expenditures to strengthen the U.S. negotiating position; and to force the Soviets to devote more of their economic resources to defense. The massive American military build-up was the most visible.
Reagan supported anti-communist groups around the world. In a policy known as the "Reagan Doctrine", his administration promised aid and counterinsurgency assistance to right-wing repressive regimes, such as the Marcos dictatorship in the Philippines, the South African apartheid government, and the Hissène Habré dictatorship in Chad, as well as to guerrilla movements opposing governments linked to the Soviet Union, such as the Contras in Nicaragua, the Mujahideen in Afghanistan, and the UNITA in Angola. During the Soviet–Afghan War, Reagan deployed the CIA's Special Activities Division (SAD) Paramilitary Officers to train, equip, and lead the Mujahideen forces against the Soviet Army. Although the CIA (in general) and U.S. Congressman Charlie Wilson from Texas have received most of the attention, the key architect of this strategy was Michael G. Vickers, a young Paramilitary Officer. President Reagan's Covert Action program has been given credit for assisting in ending the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. When the Polish government suppressed the Solidarity movement in late 1981, Reagan imposed economic sanctions on the People's Republic of Poland.
In its national security policies, the administration Reagan administration revived the B-1 bomber program in 1981 that had been canceled by the Carter administration, continued secret development of the B-2 Spirit that Carter intended to replace the B-1, and began production of the MX "Peacekeeper" missile. In response to Soviet deployment of the RSD-10 Pioneer and in accordance with NATO's double-track decision, the administration deployed Pershing II missiles in West Germany to gain a stronger bargaining position to eventually eliminate that entire class of nuclear weapons. His position was that if the Soviets did not remove the RSD-10 missiles (without a concession from the US), America would simply introduce the Pershing II missiles for a stronger bargaining position, and both missiles would be eliminated.
One of Reagan's proposals was the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). He believed this defense shield could make nuclear war impossible, but the unlikelihood that the technology could ever work led opponents to dub SDI "Star Wars". Critics of the SDI believed that the technological objective was unattainable, that the attempt would likely accelerate the arms race, and that the extraordinary expenditures amounted to a military-industrial boondoggle. Supporters responded that the SDI gave the President a stronger bargaining position. Indeed, Soviet leaders became genuinely concerned.