Reagan and the ‘Second Cold War’

• Reagan won the US presidential election partly because of his anti-USSR stance
• Reagan outlined some of his beliefs about the USSR by calling it the ’evil empire’ and that USA was the force for good in the world (1983 speech to a Christian group)
• Reagan persuaded US Congress to increase military spending: 1982 - 13% increase; 1983 - 8% increase; 1984 - 8% increase (29% increase in spending over 3 years)
• New weapons such as Trident nuclear submarines and Stealth bombers were developed
• Reagan Doctrine: USA would actively support anti-communist groups, in particular groups trying to overthrow communist governments. USA supported groups in Central America - El Salvador and Nicaragua. US forces invaded Grenada in Caribbean and toppled the communist government there
• Reagan described the Reagan Doctrine as the 'first rollback' of communist influence since WWIl