History 65

To the Gulf War

April 4, 2006

I. The Reagan Revolution

1. A New GOP Majority? (Reagan Democrats; Senate races; international trends)

2. Domestic (supply-side economics and growth of deficit, Social Security and 1982 elections; challenging the administrative state)

3. National Security (personnel: Weinberger and defense buildup; Haig and hard-line anti-communism; Kirkpatrick, Helms, and new approach toward Third World; role of Casey)

4. Other Foreign Policy Patterns (tilt toward executive power: AWACS sale; Lebanon, Grenada, and limitations of War Powers Act, fight against Clark amendment; Nicaragua background; debate over contra aid—“procedure-itis” and passage of Boland amendment; Casey and contempt of Congress; mining of Nicaragua’s harbors and Boland II)

5. Running Out of Steam (outside the RR economic agenda: Betamax, trade, immigration, Morrison; Central America—effects of Iran/contra; world affairs—effects of Gorbachev; 1986 Senate elections and emergence of Mitchell; Reagan legacy?)

II. The End of the Cold War and the Revival of Middle East Tensions

            1. The Cold War Ends (Gorbachev and crumbling of Soviet bloc—perestroika, glasnost; Eastern bloc strategies of survival; economics, Solidarity, and Poland; Hungary and DDR; collapse of East Germany and reunification; importance of the Baltic States and emergence of Yeltsin; dissolution of USSR)

            2. The Middle East in the New World Order (Gorbachev foreign policy; PSC and Tiananmen; Saddam after the Iraq war; Bush and Shamir, Bush and the Saudis; run-up to invasion of Kuwait—US intelligence failure?; Bush and international coalition; role of UN and role of Congress; decision for war; outcome of conflict)