The "Reagan Doctrine" was used to characterize the Reagan administration's
(1981-1988) policy of supporting anti-Communist insurgents wherever they might
be. In his 1985 State of the Union address, President Ronald
Reagan called upon Congress and the American people to stand up to
the Soviet Union, what he had previously called the "Evil
Empire": "We must stand by all our democratic allies. And we must not break
faith with those who are risking their lives--on every continent, from
Afghanistan to Nicaragua--to defy Soviet-supported aggression and secure rights
which have been ours from birth."
President Ronald Reagan
Breaking with the doctrine of "Containment" established during the Truman administration, President
Ronald Reagan's foreign policy was based on John Foster
Dulles' "Roll-Back" strategy from the 1950s in which the United States
would actively push back the influence of the Soviet Union. Reagan's policy
differed, however, in the sense that he relied primarily on the overt support of
those fighting Soviet dominance. This strategy was perhaps best encapsulated in
NSC National Security Decision Directive 75. This 1983 directive stated that a
central priority of the U.S. in its policy toward the Soviet Union would be "to
contain and over time reverse Soviet expansionism," particularly in the
developing world. As the directive noted: "The U.S. must rebuild the credibility
of its commitment to resist Soviet encroachment on U.S. interests and those of
its Allies and friends, and to support effectively those Third World states that
are willing to resist Soviet pressures or oppose Soviet initiatives hostile to
the United States, or are special targets of Soviet policy."
To that end, the Reagan administration focused much of its energy on supporting proxy armies to curtail Soviet influence. Among the more prominent examples of the Reagan Doctrine's application, in Nicaragua, the United States sponsored the contra movement in an effort to force the leftist Sandinista government from power. And in Afghanistan, the United States provided material support to Afghan rebels--known as the mujahadeen--helping them end Soviet occupation of their country.
President Ronald Reagan
To that end, the Reagan administration focused much of its energy on supporting proxy armies to curtail Soviet influence. Among the more prominent examples of the Reagan Doctrine's application, in Nicaragua, the United States sponsored the contra movement in an effort to force the leftist Sandinista government from power. And in Afghanistan, the United States provided material support to Afghan rebels--known as the mujahadeen--helping them end Soviet occupation of their country.
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