Essay about Cold War

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Before becoming president, Ronald Reagan claimed the prevailing policies of containment and détente would not bring a satisfactory end to the Cold War. The objective of containment was to stop the Soviet Union from spreading communism. But the United States would not attempt to push the Soviets out of their established spheres of control in certain regions of the world
President Reagan strongly disliked détente. According to President Reagan, the Soviets considered détente a sign of American weakness and vulnerability. Instead of détente, the president wanted peace through strength by building America's economic and military power. He said, "Our strategy is defensive; our aim is to protect the peace by ensuring that no adversaries ever conclude they could best us in a war of their own choosing."
From a secure position of military and economic power, President Reagan intended not merely to contain Soviet communism, but to reverse its gains and subdue it. He suspected the Soviet Union was not as strong as it appeared to be. And he predicted its collapse if challenged competitively by America. The president believed the Soviet Union's government-controlled economy could not compete successfully against America's free-market system. So, he started a rapid, large increase in the quantity and quality of America's military technology and weapons and dared the Soviets to match it. The president expected that the Soviet Union's command economy would run out of money and fail by trying to keep up with America's free enterprise system in an "arms race." As America's military buildup proceeded, President Reagan put forward another policy to complement it. From a formidable foundation of military and economic power, the United States would promote freedom and democracy throughout the world. President Reagan predicted that given a choice, people everywhere, even within the Soviet Union, would reject totalitarian government. This would come to be known as the “Reagan Doctrine”.
President Reagan's Cold War policies were designed to spread freedom and democracy around the world and block the advancement of Soviet
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