Foreign policy of the Ronald Reagan administration

This article is part of a series about Ronald Reagan
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American foreign policy during the presidency of Ronald Reagan (1981–1989) focused heavily on the Cold War which shifted from détente to confrontation. The Reagan Administration pursued a policy of containment and rollback with regards to communist regimes. The Reagan Doctrine operationalized these goals as the United States offered financial, logistical, training, and military equipment to anti-communist opposition in Afghanistan, Angola, and Nicaragua.^[1][2] He expanded support to anti-communist movements in Central and Eastern Europe.

Reagan's foreign policy also saw major shifts with regards to the Middle East. US intervention in the Lebanese Civil War was halted as Reagan ordered an evacuation of troops following the 1983 Marine Corps Barracks Attack. The 1979 Iran hostage crisis in Tehran strained relations with Iran and during the Iran-Iraq War, the administration publicly supported Iraq and sold weapons to Saddam Hussein.

Anti-communism was at the forefront with Reagan's Latin American foreign policy and the US supported forces fighting communist insurgencies or governments. As his administration progressed, opposition to continued US aid for these groups began to gather steam in Congress. Eventually, Congress forbade any US financial or material aid to certain anti-communist groups, among them the Contras in Nicaragua. In response, the Reagan administration facilitated covert arms sales to Iran and used the proceeds to fund Latin American anti-communists. The fallout from the Iran-Contra affair dominated Reagan's second term in office.

His policies are credited to have helped weaken the Soviet Union and its control over Warsaw Pact countries.^[3] Although scholars have pushed back against giving Reagan the lion's share of the credit.^[4] Western confrontation combined with the Soviet Union's mishandling of domestic affairs lead to its weakening and ultimate dissolution. In 1989, after Reagan left office the Revolutions of 1989 saw Eastern European countries overthrow their communist regimes. Following the Soviet Union's dissolution in 1991 the United States emerged as the world's sole superpower and Reagan's successor George H.W. Bush sought to improve relations with former communist regimes in Russia and Eastern Europe.^[5]