31.3 A New World Order

Reagan's foreign policy reshaped the Cold War landscape. He ramped up military spending and backed anti-communist movements worldwide, aiming to project American strength. Later, he pivoted to diplomacy, signing arms control agreements with the Soviet Union.

The Cold War's end brought dramatic changes. The Berlin Wall fell, communist regimes toppled across Eastern Europe, and the Soviet Union dissolved. These events left the U.S. as the sole superpower, ushering in a new era of global politics and challenges.

Reagan's Foreign Policy and the End of the Cold War

Reagan's Foreign Policy Impact

Reagan entered office in 1981 with a clear goal: reassert American power and push back against Soviet influence. His approach evolved significantly over his two terms.

Achievements:

• Pursued a "peace through strength" strategy by dramatically increasing military spending (the defense budget nearly doubled between 1981 and 1985) to deter Soviet aggression
• Supported anti-communist movements worldwide, a policy sometimes called the Reagan Doctrine. Key examples include the mujahideen in Afghanistan, UNITA in Angola, and the Contras in Nicaragua.
• Launched the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), a proposed space-based missile defense system. Critics called it "Star Wars," and it never became operational, but it pressured the Soviets by threatening to make their nuclear arsenal less effective.
• Shifted toward diplomacy in his second term, building a working relationship with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. The two signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in 1987, which eliminated an entire class of nuclear weapons for the first time in the Cold War.

Shortcomings:

• The Iran-Contra Affair was the biggest scandal of his presidency. Administration officials secretly sold arms to Iran (violating an embargo) and funneled the profits to the Contras in Nicaragua. This violated the Boland Amendment, a congressional ban on aid to the Contras, and seriously damaged Reagan's credibility.
• Early in his presidency, Reagan's confrontational rhetoric escalated tensions. His 1983 "evil empire" speech, for instance, heightened fears of nuclear conflict rather than reducing them.
• The administration backed authoritarian regimes that aligned with U.S. anti-communist goals, even when those governments committed serious human rights abuses. Examples include support for Ríos Montt in Guatemala, the Salvadoran military government, and Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines.

Reagan vs. Bush Sr. in Foreign Affairs

These two presidents shared Cold War-era goals but differed in style and method.

• Reagan's approach: Emphasized military buildup and ideological confrontation with the Soviet Union. He supported anti-communist movements and regimes globally, then pivoted to arms control as Soviet relations improved in his second term.
• George H. W. Bush's approach: Favored diplomacy, coalition-building, and multilateral institutions like the United Nations. Bush focused on managing the post-Cold War transition, engaging with former adversaries, and supporting democratic transitions in Eastern Europe. His defining foreign policy moment was assembling a broad international coalition to respond to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990.

Origins and Effects of the Gulf War

Origins:

In August 1990, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein invaded and annexed neighboring Kuwait. Iraq wanted control of Kuwait's vast oil reserves and sought to resolve longstanding border disputes. The U.S. and the international community condemned the invasion as a violation of international law. There was also real fear that Iraq could threaten Saudi Arabia and gain control over a huge share of the world's oil supply.

Consequences:

• The U.S.-led coalition launched Operation Desert Storm in January 1991. An overwhelming air campaign followed by a ground offensive involving over 500,000 coalition troops liberated Kuwait in about six weeks.
• The U.S. established no-fly zones over northern and southern Iraq and imposed strict economic sanctions to contain Saddam's regime.
• American military presence in the Middle East expanded significantly, with bases in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. This presence became a source of resentment in the region and a grievance cited by groups like al-Qaeda.
• Saddam Hussein remained in power after the war. This unresolved situation contributed to future conflicts, including a 1998 bombing campaign and ultimately the 2003 Iraq War.

End of Cold War Events

The Cold War didn't end with a single event but through a rapid chain of developments between 1985 and 1991.

1. Gorbachev's Reforms in the Soviet Union — Mikhail Gorbachev introduced two landmark policies: glasnost (openness), which allowed greater freedom of speech and political debate, and perestroika (restructuring), which attempted to introduce market-oriented economic reforms. These reforms reduced tensions with the West but also loosened the Communist Party's grip on power.

2. Fall of the Berlin Wall (November 1989) — East Germany opened its borders, and citizens began physically tearing down the wall that had divided Berlin since 1961. This moment symbolized the collapse of the Iron Curtain. Germany officially reunified in October 1990.

3. Revolutions of 1989 in Eastern Europe — Communist governments fell across the Eastern Bloc. Poland's Solidarity movement won free elections, Czechoslovakia's "Velvet Revolution" peacefully ousted its communist government, and Hungary opened its border with Austria. Each revolution demonstrated that Soviet control over its satellite states had evaporated.

4. Dissolution of the Soviet Union (December 1991) — Gorbachev resigned on December 25, 1991, and the Soviet Union officially ceased to exist the following day. Fifteen independent republics emerged, including Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. The bipolar world order of the Cold War was over.

Post-Cold War Challenges

The Soviet collapse left the U.S. as the world's sole superpower, but this unipolar moment came with new and unfamiliar problems.

• Ethnic conflicts and civil wars erupted in places like Yugoslavia, Somalia, and Rwanda, where Cold War power structures had suppressed or contained tensions. These crises raised difficult questions about when the U.S. should intervene for humanitarian reasons.
• Globalization accelerated as former communist countries integrated into the world economy. Free trade agreements expanded (NAFTA was signed in 1993), and global markets became more interconnected.
• President Bush spoke of a "new world order" built on promoting democracy, free markets, and international cooperation. In practice, defining America's role in this new order proved far more complicated than the phrase suggested.