The New Cold war

Question 1

What did Carter say about the invasion of Afghanistan

Answer 1

The invasion of Afghanistan ‘‘has made a more dramatic change in my opinion of what the Soviet’s ultimate goals are than anything they’ve done in the previous time I’ve been in office

Question 2

What was the Carter Doctrine

Answer 2

• '’Let our position be absolutely clear; an attempt by any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region will be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the USA and such an assault will be repelled by any means necessary, including military force
• This constitutes an unambiguous warning to the Soviet Union that there is a line which they must not cross
• The Carter doctrine could be seen as an attempt for the US to take control of events

Question 3

Further Carter Measures Post-Afghanistan

Answer 3

• Increased US defence expenditure
• The establishment of a rapid deployment force of 100,000 men for middle East deployment
• Nato moves to deploy a new generation of missiles in Western Europe to threaten the Soviet Union
• Growing influence in the Carter administration of the ‘hawk’ Zbigniew Brzezinski
• Hawk= advocating warlike policy
• Brzezinski controlled most of Carters intel and was able to shape Carter’s perception of the threat from the Soviet Union

Question 4

Iranian Hostage crisis and its role in the new cold war

Answer 4

Carter felt he had to be more confrontational to the Soviet Union because the US had lost so much face following its inability to solve the Iranian hostage crisis quickly.

Question 5

State of Play in 1980

Answer 5

• Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and Iran hostage/revolution toppled Carter and damaged US prestige and honour
• SALT 2 agreement to slow production of nuclear weapons- Afghanistan halts that
• The greatest casualty of the operation to rescue embassy hostages was Jimmy Carter

Question 6

Reagan policies in the ‘new cold war’

Answer 6

• Massive military build-up to achieve ‘Peace through strength’
• 5 year target for defence spending of $1.6 trillion
• Reagan doctrine- assisting anti-communist insurgencies in Angola, Nicaragua and Afghanistan

Question 7

Reagan on strategic defence initiative

Answer 7

• Reagan announced that the US would be working on a way to intercept and destroy missiles before they reached American soil
• Moscow saw this as threatening development potentially giving the US first strike capabilities

Question 8

New Cold War flashpoint 1

Answer 8

• In 1983 South Korean passenger plane is shot down over Moscow
• Reagan responds saying that this is a crime against humanity and that the Soviet Union disregards human rights and the value of human life
• This diminishes relations further

Question 9

New Cold War Flashpoints 2

Answer 9

• Able Archer 83 was NATO’s 10-day exercise to simulate a DEFCON 1 nuclear alert
• There was participation of senior NATO officials except for Reagan and Thatcher
• Soviet Union is highly suspicious and places its own nuclear forces on full alert
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Question 10

Doubting the Crisis

Answer 10

• Some doubts as to how far the USSR really believed a first strike was imminent
• Levels of panic in USSR leadership claimed was not matched by quantity and quality of available evidence
• Soviet general staff did not expect an actual attack

Question 11

Questions to ponder

Answer 11

• Doves VS Hawks within administration
• Would things have been different if the Soviet Union didn’t invade Afghanistan
• Was ABle Archer a genuine war Scare? Unlike Cuban missile crisis, it wasn’t public at the time
• Was it all Reagan or did Carter have any influence