The Reagan Doctrine was a United States foreign policy strategy implemented by the administration of President Ronald Reagan and continued under the George H. W. Bush administration designed to overwhelm the global influence of the Soviet Union during the final years of Cold War. The doctrine was a centerpiece and policy priority of the Reagan administration. Reagan initially described the doctrine in his State of the Union Address on February 6, 1985, saying: "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." The doctrine was a centerpiece of U.S. foreign policy from the early 1980s until the end of the Cold War in 1991. Under the Reagan Doctrine, the United States provided overt and covert aid to anti-communist guerrillas and resistance movements in an effort to roll back Soviet-backed pro-communist governments in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The doctrine was designed to diminish Soviet influence in these regions as part of the administration's overall strategy to win the Cold War.
Background The Reagan Doctrine followed in the tradition of U.S. presidents developing foreign policy doctrines, which were designed to reflect challenges facing international relations, and to propose foreign policy solutions. The practice began with the Monroe Doctrine, implemented by U.S. president James Monroe in 1823. It continued with the Roosevelt Corollary, sometimes called the Roosevelt Doctrine, introduced by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1904. Following World War II, in 1947, the Truman Doctrine was implemented, under which the U.S. supported Greece and Turkey as part of a Cold War strategy to keep both nations out of the Soviet Union's sphere of influence. It was followed by the Eisenhower Doctrine, the Kennedy Doctrine, the Johnson Doctrine, the Nixon Doctrine, and the Carter Doctrine, all of which defined the foreign policy approaches of these respective U.S. presidents on some of the largest global challenges of their respective presidencies.
Origins
Carter administration and Afghanistan
At least one component of the Reagan Doctrine technically pre-dated the Reagan administration. In Afghanistan, the Carter administration began providing limited covert military assistance to the Afghan mujahideen in an effort to drive the Soviets out of Afghanistan following their 1979 invasion and occupation of the country, or at least raise the military and political cost of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. The policy of aiding the mujahideen in their war against the Soviet occupation was originally proposed by Carter's National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski and was implemented by U.S. intelligence services. It enjoyed broad bipartisan political support. Democratic congressman Charlie Wilson became obsessed with the Afghan cause, and was able to leverage his position on the House Appropriations committees to encourage other Democratic congressmen to vote for CIA Afghan war money, with the tacit approval of Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill, even as the Democratic Party lambasted Reagan for the CIA's secret war in Central America. It was a complex web of relationships described in George Crile III's book Charlie Wilson's War. Wilson partnered with Gust Avrakotos, a CIA officer, to create a small team that expanded U.S. support for the mujahideen, which was channeled through Pakistani president Zia-ul-Haq’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Avrakotos and Wilson charmed leaders from various anti-Soviet countries including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and China to increase support for the rebels. Avrakotos hired Michael G. Vickers, a young paramilitary officer, to enhance the guerilla's odds by revamping the tactics, weapons, logistics, and training used by the mujahideen. Michael Pillsbury, a Pentagon official, and Vincent Cannistraro pushed the CIA to supply Stinger missiles to the rebels. Reagan's covert action program has been given credit for assisting in ending the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.
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