Reagan Doctrine

This article is part of a series about Ronald Reagan
Personal life Filmography Bibliography Death Residences Birthplace of Ronald Reagan Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home Rancho del Cielo 668 St. Cloud Road Speeches A Time for Choosing States' rights Evil Empire Tear down this wall! 33rd Governor of California Elections 1966 1970 Governorship 1969 People's Park protest 40th President of the United States Presidency timeline Transition Inaugurations Polls Scandals Tenure Assassination attempt Invasion of Grenada Bombing of Libya Iran–Contra affair AIDS Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty Policies Domestic Reaganomics Foreign Reagan Doctrine international trips Judicial appointments Supreme Court candidates O'Connor Rehnquist Scalia Bork Ginsburg Kennedy Presidential campaigns 1968 primaries convention 1976 primaries convention 1980 election primaries convention debates 1984 election primaries convention debates Legacy Library Accolades Eponyms Depictions music
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The Reagan Doctrine was stated by United States President Ronald Reagan in his State of the Union address on February 6, 1985: "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."^[1] It was a strategy implemented by the Reagan Administration to overwhelm the global influence of the Soviet Union in the late Cold War. The doctrine was a centerpiece of United States 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.