The Reagan Doctrine: Sources of American Conduct in the Cold War's Last Chapter

by Mark P Lagon

Overview

Doctrines have been a prevalent form of foreign policy in U.S. history. This study seeks to explain their origins by examining the Reagan Doctrine, pledging aid to anticommunist guerillas in the Third World. Based on original research and interviews with numerous individuals in the Reagan administration, the author applies two alternative explanations: realist theory, focusing on the international level of analysis, and elite beliefs theory, focusing on individual political leaders and their beliefs. What he finds is that while each perspective is necessary to explain the Reagan Doctrine, neither is sufficient by itself.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780275947989
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	05/25/1994
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	1550L (what's this?)

About the Author

MARK P. LAGON is a Research Associate at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research and Adjunct Professor of Government at Georgetown University.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Preface
Explaining the Reagan Doctrines' Origins
Power and Ideology in U.S. Foreign Policy
Realist Imperatives and the Reagan Doctrine
What Realism Does and Does Not Explain
Elites and the Reagan Doctrine
What Elite Beliefs Do and Do Not Explain
Where American Doctrines Come From
Arbiters of the National Interest
Appendices
Bibliography