Defense Policy in the Reagan Administration.

摘要

When the Reagan Administration entered office in 1981 detente of the 1970s had already ended. The military buildup initiated earlier by President Carter and soon to be expanded by President Reagan decisively reflected the gulf that had grown between the United States and Soviet Union. In the 1980 presidential campaign, Mr. Reagan had sounded the call to arms against what he viewed as a dire and immediate danger-an accelerating Soviet threat to America's national security. Detente was disastrous, he contended, because it ignored the realities of Soviet expansionism and failed to stop the shift in the balance of strategic nuclear power in favor of Moscow. To address these problems, Mr. Reagan promised a rapid buildup to US military forces and large increases in defense spending.