| When this rhetoric was followed by a threatened | | | | plummeted as a result of these findings. |
| invasion of Nicaragua and an actual invasion of | | | | It was not until he came to an agreement with Mikhail |
| Grenada, North Atlantic affairs were in disarray. His | | | | Gorbachev to reduce short and intermediate range |
| foreign policies were defined by the tremendous | | | | missiles that his popularity was restored. The Reagan |
| antipathy towards the Soviet Union which he referred | | | | administration claimed that the collapse of the Soviet |
| to as the 'evil empire'. Reagan presided over a huge | | | | Union and the subsequent ending of the Cold War |
| military build-up, spending over 2 trillion dollars on the | | | | was a direct result of US military spending and covert |
| strengthening of the armed forces. | | | | operations; this claim is contested by commentators |
| In addition, the Reagan Doctrine offered support to | | | | who credit it to the reformism of Gorbachev and long |
| anti-Soviet guerrillas anywhere in the world, which led | | | | term structural problems in the Russian economy. On |
| to America becoming involved in covert operations in | | | | the domestic front, Reagan's predicted revolution in |
| Central America, Africa, the Middle East and | | | | 1980 had failed to materialise - however a combination |
| Afghanistan. Congressional hearings in 1987 revealed | | | | of conservative dogma, practical action and mastery |
| that the Reagan administration had being raising funds | | | | of the media ensured that he held the public's affection |
| through arms sales to Iran in order to finance the | | | | although the majority of the electorate disagreed with |
| activities of Contra revolutionaries against the | | | | his policies. |
| Sandinista regime in Nicaragua. Reagan's polarity | | | | |