Reagan revived confrontation with a military build-up, SDI, hard-line rhetoric and support for anti-communist rebels.
Detente collapsed after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979. Ronald Reagan became president in 1981 believing the USA had fallen behind and that the Soviet system was both dangerous and weak.
Reagan expanded defence spending sharply. In March 1983 he called the USSR an "evil empire" and announced the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), a research programme for defences against ballistic missiles. Soviet leaders feared SDI would let the USA strike first without fear of retaliation, and that matching it would be ruinously expensive.
The Reagan Doctrine meant supporting anti-communist insurgents against Soviet-backed governments. The USA armed the mujahideen in Afghanistan, including with Stinger missiles from 1986, the Contras in Nicaragua and UNITA in Angola. This raised the costs of Soviet commitments abroad.
Tension peaked in 1983. The Soviets shot down Korean Air Lines Flight 007 in September. In November, the NATO exercise Able Archer alarmed Soviet leaders, who feared it might hide a real attack.
- Evil empire speech
- 8 March 1983.
- SDI
- Announced 23 March 1983.
- Reagan Doctrine
- Support for anti-communist rebels: Afghanistan, Nicaragua, Angola.
- Able Archer 83
- NATO exercise that alarmed Soviet leaders, November 1983.
Worked example: Using renewed confrontation in an argument
An assertion source says American pressure forced the USSR to change.
- Support: the build-up, SDI and the Reagan Doctrine raised Soviet costs.
- Challenge: Soviet hardliners responded to pressure with more suspicion, not concessions.
- Timing: major Soviet change came only after Gorbachev took power in 1985.
- Judgement: pressure mattered, but it needed a Soviet leader willing to change course.
Watch out for this
SDI was a working missile shield that made Soviet missiles useless.
SDI was a research programme. It never produced a working shield, but Soviet leaders feared its potential and the cost of competing.
Check your understanding
What was the Reagan Doctrine?
- Supporting anti-communist insurgents against Soviet-backed governments
- Withdrawing US forces from Europe
- Signing arms control treaties with the USSR