Ronald Reagan and Second Cold War

• Reagan, the new USA government in 1981, felt he needed to show that the USA was not weak after the Vietnam war
• Reagan increased spending in submarines and nuclear weapon
• Ronald Reagan was elected US President in 1980, partly due to his criticism of the Soviet Union.

  Reagan was determined to increase pressure on the USSR and intimidate them into following the USA s ideas
• The President thought the USSR was misusing the period of détente to increase Soviet power and influence. In 1983, Reagan made a speech where he called the USSR an evil empire.
• Reagen introduced an incomplete technology which he called ' star wars ' or SDI, which would be a series of satellites from space which could shoot down soviet missiles to deter them from harming the USA. It shocked the Soviet Union
• Reagan wanted to erase memories of the USA failing in Vietnam, US hostages in Iran, and Soviet influence in Central America. He focused less on human rights
• In 1982, Reagan got approval to spend 13% more on the military. This worried the USSR because they thought they would fall behind in the arms race
• Reagan announced the reagan doctrine, which said that the USA would support Anti Communist governments but also help them overthrow communist governments e.g. El Salvador
• Reagan said he would cancel deployment of intermediate missiles in West Europe if the USSR would do the same