Defense Policy in the Reagan Administration

Defense Policy in the Reagan Administration PDF

Author: William P. Snyder

Publisher: DIANE Publishing

Published: 1997-03

Total Pages: 437

ISBN-13: 0788141465

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By substantially increasing defense budgets, the Reagan Admin. (RA) did more than merely underwrite improvements in military forces, it undertook initiatives that changed both the image and reality of America's national defense. This book examines: the Strategic Defense Initiative, the 600 ship Navy, and the hefty increase in the Defense budget. Critics and supporters of the RA do agree on one point: the RA came into office with the intent of strengthening defense policy. How well the RA succeeded in that effort and the cost of that success are debated here.

Buildup

Buildup PDF

Author: Daniel Wirls

Publisher:

Published: 1992

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13:

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The eight-year Reagan presidency not only initiated the largest peacetime military buildup in American history but also altered traditional partisan alignments and revised the policy agenda of the welfare state. In his insightful book, Daniel Wirls clarifies the relationship between defense policy and domestic policy during this period of significant political change when he examines three defense policies, the political coalitions behind them, and their interactions. Wirls discusses the use of the rhetoric and resources of national security to build and maintain Reagan's conservative coalition and undermine Democratic politics; the importance of the peace movement in the mobilization of liberal opposition to the Reagan revolution; and the adoption and promotion of military reform, particularly by members of Congress, in response to the clash between the peace movement and the Reagan administration. He probes the political competition among these institutions and coalitions by examining three major defense policy initiatives--the Strategic Defense Initiative for the Reagan administration, the nuclear freeze proposal from the peace movement and the Democratic party, and the attempts by the military reform lobby in Congress to change the Pentagon's procurement practices--and he weighs the impact of those forces on the defense debate and domestic politics. Treating an inadequately developed aspect of the political process, this book will be of great interest to political scientists and historians concentrating in American domestic politics, security affairs specialists, and military historians.

Foreign Policy in the Reagan Presidency

Foreign Policy in the Reagan Presidency PDF

Author: Sterling J. Kernek

Publisher: University Press of America

Published: 1993

Total Pages: 204

ISBN-13: 9780819190888

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In this work, distinguished political figures and journalists who worked closely with Ronald Reagan examine his role in foreign policy. Contents: Preface; Introduction. PART I: PRINCIPLES OF FOREIGN POLICY; Reagan's Foreign Policy Leadership, Sterling Kernek; Reagan and the Realities of Foreign Policy, Paul H. Nitze; Reagan and International Arms Agreements, Caspar Weinberger. PART II: PERSONALITY AND POLICY-MAKING; Reagan as Decisionmaker, John C. Whitehead; Serving Reagan as Negotiator, Max M. Kampelman; Reagan's Leadership: Mystery Man or Ideological Guide? Elliott Abrams. PART III: THE REAGAN STRATEGY: PERSONAL OR INSTITUTIONAL? Administration and Technical Assistance: A.I.D.'s Western Hemisphere Program, Dwight Ink; Reagan as Foreign Policy Strategist, Paul H. Nitze; Reagan's Triumph: Personal or Institutional? Don Oberdorfer. Co-published with the Miller Center of Public Affairs.

Irrational Security

Irrational Security PDF

Author: Daniel Wirls

Publisher: JHU Press

Published: 2010-05-01

Total Pages: 254

ISBN-13: 0801898420

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2011 Winner of the Selection for Professional Reading List of the U.S. Marine Corps The end of the Cold War was supposed to bring a “peace dividend” and the opportunity to redirect military policy in the United States. Instead, according to Daniel Wirls, American politics following the Cold War produced dysfunctional defense policies that were exacerbated by the war on terror. Wirls’s critical historical narrative of the politics of defense in the United States during this “decade of neglect” and the military buildup in Afghanistan and Iraq explains how and why the U.S. military has become bloated and aimless and what this means for long-term security. Examining the recent history of U.S. military spending and policy under presidents George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush, Wirls finds that although spending decreased from the close of the first Bush presidency through the early years of Clinton’s, both administrations preferred to tinker at the edges of defense policy rather than redefine it. Years of political infighting escalated the problem, leading to a military policy stalemate as neither party managed to craft a coherent, winning vision of national security. Wirls argues that the United States has undermined its own long-term security through profligate and often counterproductive defense policies while critical national problems have gone unmitigated and unsolved. This unified history of the politics of U.S. military policy from the end of the Cold War through the beginning of the Obama presidency provides a clear picture of why the United States is militarily powerful but “otherwise insecure.”

Realism, Strength, Negotiation

Realism, Strength, Negotiation PDF

Author:

Publisher:

Published: 1984

Total Pages: 160

ISBN-13:

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An anthology of 40 speeches by President Ronald Reagan, Vice President George Bush, and Secretary of State George Shultz. Taken together they represent a comprehensive accounting of the Reagan administration's foreign policy: the principles on which it is based, its goals and purposes, the plans and programs by which it has been advanced, and the progress it has made toward achieving its goals. The addresses cover each of the regions of the world and the major foreign policy initiatives undertaken by the Reagan administration.

The Reagan Revolution, I

The Reagan Revolution, I PDF

Author: Richard C. Thornton

Publisher: Trafford Publishing

Published: 2003-08-25

Total Pages: 218

ISBN-13: 141221159X

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This is a book about the strategy and politics of the Reagan administration--a watershed in U.S. history. It is the record of how the president established and implemented the strategy that would ultimately lead to a victory over the S.U. in the Cold War.

When Reagan Sent In the Marines

When Reagan Sent In the Marines PDF

Author: Patrick J. Sloyan

Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books

Published: 2019-12-03

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 125011392X

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"In this formidable narrative, the prize-winning and super honest reporter, Patrick Sloyan, adds the depth of a scholar's context to produce a gripping reminder of why we should never forget history. He makes readers feel like they were eye witnesses." —Ralph Nader From a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who reported on the events as they happened, an action-packed account of Reagan's failures in the 1983 Marines barracks bombing in Beirut. On October 23, 1983, a truck bomb destroyed the U.S. Marines barracks in Beirut. 241 Americans were killed in the worst terrorist attack our nation would suffer until 9/11. We’re still feeling the repercussions today. When Reagan Sent In the Marines tells why the Marines were there, how their mission became confused and compromised, and how President Ronald Reagan used another misguided military venture to distract America from the attack and his many mistakes leading up to it. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Patrick J. Sloyan uses his own contemporaneous reporting, his close relationships with the Marines in Beirut, recently declassified documents, and interviews with key players, including Reagan’s top advisers, to shine a new light on the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and Reagan’s doomed ceasefire in Beirut. Sloyan draws on interviews with key players to explore the actions of Kissinger and Haig, while revealing the courage of Marine Colonel Timothy Geraghty, who foresaw the disaster in Beirut, but whom Reagan would later blame for it. More than thirty-five years later, America continues to wrestle with Lebanon, the Marines with the legacy of the Beirut bombing, and all of us with the threat of Mideast terror that the attack furthered. When Reagan Sent In The Marines is about a historical moment, but one that remains all too present today.