Reagan Doctrine and The Cold War's End
As arms flowed to the contras, Savimbi's UNITA and the mujahideen, the Reagan Doctrine's advocates argued that the doctrine was yielding constructive results for U.S. interests and global democracy.
In Nicaragua, pressure from the Contras led the Sandinstas to end the State of Emergency, and they subsequently lost the 1990 elections. In Afghanistan, the mujahideen bled the Soviet Union's military and paved the way for Soviet military defeat. In Angola, Savimbi's resistance ultimately led to a decision by the Soviet Union and Cuba to bring their troops and military advisors home from Angola as part of a negotiated settlement. In Cambodia, the Vietnamese withdrew and their allied government collapsed.
All of these developments were Reagan Doctrine victories, the doctrine's advocates argue, laying the ground for the ultimate dissolution of the Soviet Union.
However, there is considerable disagreement over the importance of Reagan's role in the disintegration of the Soviet Union.
Read more about this topic: Reagan Doctrine
Famous quotes containing the words reagan, doctrine, cold and/or war:
“Surround yourself with the best people you can find, delegate authority, and don’t interfere.”
—Ronald Reagan (b. 1911)
“There is a doctrine uttered in secret that man is a prisoner who has no right to open the door of his prison and run away.”
—Plato (c. 427–347 B.C.)
“To dine, drink champagne, raise a racket and make speeches about the people’s consciousness, the people’s conscience, freedom and so forth while servants in tails are scurrying around your table, just like serfs, and out in the severe cold on the street await coachmen—this is the same as lying to the holy spirit.”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)
“Let the erring sisters depart in peace; the idea of getting up a civil war to compel the weaker States to remain in the Union appears to us horrible to the last degree.”
—Jane Grey Swisshelm (1815–1884)