Robert McFarlane and the fall of the Soviet Regime Essay Example

showed the lack of coherence and efficiency within the cabinet, and was eventually changed, with McFarlane appointed Deputy of National Security Advisor by Clark, the National Security Advisor. (McFarlane 189) "The first year had been one of drift, of reacting to events. (McFarlane 193)

After he moved his office into the White House, McFarlane eventually contributed to forming tactics that put pressure on the soviets politically, economically, and socially. "I seized the moment. 'But you do have a foreign policy, Mr. President,' I spoke up. The attention in the room shifted to me in a solid wave.... 'It has five components,' I began. 'The first is to strengthen our economic base... essential to underwriting our foreign aid program and to restore the defense foundation of your policy...

Number two is to restore our defenses so as to deter attack, ... Number three is to restore the strength of alliances... Number four is to advance the peace process in the Middle East by mediating between Israel and her Arab neighbors... Number five is to foster accelerated growth in developing countries... " (McFarlane 193-194) Some of these ideas later became essential as the White House shifted from being reactive to changes in the world to proactive of executing stress on communism.

The Crisis Pre-Planning Group, or CPPG, served to anticipate the consequences of a crisis (McFarlane 195) America's economy and public confidence would be more stable if reports are conducted. For Reagan, this could also be used to reduce the bluffs that the enemies might conduct, and comprehensive measures for the cabinet could be used. McFarlane's quote also shows that during this time period, foreign and military policies could not

be differentiated from one another.

Besides this, McFarlane later became more famous for his role in the Strategic Defense Initiative. In late 1983, McFarlane rose to become the National Security Advisor, and had much more power over defense issues and could effectively influence the president's military policies. McFarlane's efforts during this time period were primarily focused on continuing the Strategic Defense Initiative, or SDI program, as hinted by Timburg in "The Nightingale's Song" on page 365: "To McFarlane, if not to Reagan, SDI stood to be "the sting of the century".

The Soviets were put in a dire situation because of this: if they started their own program of a similar weight, the already weakened Soviet economy could go bankrupt. If the Soviets refuse to develop a similar system, then the US would eventually have this formidable ace up their sleeves. This system would evidently fulfill McFarlane's goals of demonstrating aggression to the Soviets, and number two of his foreign policy list mentioned previously.

However, there could be possible Soviet aggression between the time the US announced the SDI program and when it was ready, since the idea of "Mutual Assured Destruction", or the complete annihilation of both parties, would cease to exist if SDI was complete. (Parrington; McFarlane 228) Advances in computing technology for the past few decades would have made this "star wars" that was previously science fiction a possible reality. The program would also logically be supported by the public, since who doesn't want to be protected from nuclear missiles?

Also, which politician would like to ruin his or her political career by voicing against it? (McFarlane 234) McFarlane's involvement in the Iran-Contra Affair hindered possible

areas of Soviet expansionism. According to the "Reagan Doctrine", it was necessary of the US to take an active role in stopping communism throughout the world. The officials involved sought to "kill two birds with one stone": By smuggling arms to Iran, US hostages could be traded back, and the money gained from the sales could also fund the Contras in Nicaragua, which the US government was also forbidden to do.

Both these goals can also be traced anti-communist incentives: The US could implicitly fight the Sandinistas in Nicaragua, and could also prolong the Iran-Iraq war, which would "grind down both Gulf powers and magnify U. S. influence". (Wawro 403) Therefore, McFarlane in this case achieved his goal of blocking the Soviets before they could possibly influence Iran and jeopardize US oil supplies and subsequently our upper hand in international politics.

The 1980s was an era of purposeful stress designed for the Soviets to collapse. Eventually, the Reagan and his cabinet caused enough military, economic, and political pressure, along with Gorbachev's social reforms, to dissolve the "evil empire" peacefully. McFarlane and many other foreign policy and military advisors have ensured that the USSR be met with aggression from all fields, and subsequently exhausted the last breath of Russian Communism.