Current Events and U.S. Diplomacy - Essay Example

Thus a cold war erupted between the U.S. and USSR which eventually came to an end with the help of doctrinal regimes implemented by Reagan (Fischer, 1997). Define presidential doctrine and summarize the regional or global events during the Cold War leading up to the formation of the Reagan doctrine. Presidential doctrine defines the policies, procedures, reforms and initiatives taken by a country’s president which are intended to enhance global position of the nation and to achieve greatest good for citizens of own country as well as those across the globe.

Before arrival of President Reagan, communism had become common and superpowers like Soviet Union were suppressing the Third World countries in attempt to invade them. The Soviet and the Vietnamese led various Marxist movements which depressed capitalism and eventually forced the entry of Cuban armies and Soviet troops into different territories including Angola, Cambodia and Afghanistan. These countries did not have sufficient powers to hold the forces and hence turned to other countries for help. The U.S.

which believed itself to be the savior and leader nation for all decided to intervene and rescue these countries through Reagan doctrine. This doctrine created waves of passion across nations and gave boost to conservatism in America (Carpenter, 2012). Describe the Cold War relationship that existed between USSR and the U.S. before Reagan doctrine was announced. Before Reagan, there were only two prevailing superpowers, the U.S. and the USSR, which considered their coexistence to be catastrophic and hence wanted to triumph over the other.

The perceived equality of power of both nations had led everyone to believe that the two countries pose threats to each other. The mutual suspicion rose amongst the two parties and past experiences of World Wars led them to believe that dangers exist. Soviet Union was spreading communism which challenged the survival of capitalism in the U.S. Reagan rejected the idea of control over European nations by the Soviet Union and claimed it to be unfair for USSR to exercise its rights outside its jurisdictional system and boundaries.

Thus Cold War broke and Reagan introduced the Reagan Doctrine to stop communism by supporting and providing arms to the rebels and freedom fighters in Third World countries for self-defense (Katz, 1991). Describe the relationship that currently exists between the U.S. and USSR. The relationship between United States and the Soviet Union enhanced eventually after the Reagan doctrine. The leaders of Soviet Union realized soon that they essentially need the support of capitalist countries in order to flourish in the economic and business world.

The greatest capitalist power is the U.S. and hence USSR has been keeping stable relationship with it and has signed various pacts to ensure peaceful relationships in field of politics, science and technology (Cox, 1990). The recent patterns of American-Soviet relationships are inclined towards development in the fields of economic trade growth and mutually collaborative effort in scientific expansion. Describe the effect that the Reagan doctrine has had on regional or global affairs since the time when it was announced during the Cold War.

When Reagan doctrine was introduced, the Cold War came to an end and relationships between U.S. and USSR were also improved. The Soviet Union retreated from all the territories and the world moved towards democratic and harmonious terms. Moscow no longer targeted