Book contents
- The Second Cold War
- Cambridge Studies in US Foreign Relations
- The Second Cold War
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 The Dwindling of Détente
- 2 “It’s All Political Now”
- 3 To the Right
- 4 Confrontation
- 5 The Nuclear Freeze Movement
- 6 Star Wars and the Evil Empire
- 7 The Most Dangerous Year
- 8 To the Center
- 9 Conciliation
- Epilogue
- Archives
- Notes
- Index
- Cambridge Studies in US Foreign Relations (continued from page ii)
5 - The Nuclear Freeze Movement
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 April 2021
- The Second Cold War
- Cambridge Studies in US Foreign Relations
- The Second Cold War
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 The Dwindling of Détente
- 2 “It’s All Political Now”
- 3 To the Right
- 4 Confrontation
- 5 The Nuclear Freeze Movement
- 6 Star Wars and the Evil Empire
- 7 The Most Dangerous Year
- 8 To the Center
- 9 Conciliation
- Epilogue
- Archives
- Notes
- Index
- Cambridge Studies in US Foreign Relations (continued from page ii)
Summary
Chapter 5 covers the second year of the Reagan administration, and the growing public concern over nuclear war. It discusses the rise of a major grassroots movement, which called for a freeze in the production, deployment, and testing of nuclear weapons by the US and the Soviet Union. The nuclear freeze campaign soon morphed into the largest peacetime peace movement in American history. The force of the movement would make foreign policy the political liability of the Reagan administration. Public demands for a “freeze” on nuclear weapons began to elicit support from within the Democratic Party. The freeze campaign, and a broader “peace movement,” became the Democrats’ most potent political weapon against Reagan’s conservative revolution. The chapter analyzes the administration’s struggle to combat the movement, and persuade the public of the benefits of its own strategy for reducing nuclear weapons. Among other aspects, it discusses Reagan unveiling of a START initiative. By late 1982, Reagan’s policies had raised tensions with Moscow, upset NATO allies, weakened support for his arms buildup, and generated antinuclear movements across America and Western Europe.
Keywords
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Second Cold WarCarter, Reagan, and the Politics of Foreign Policy, pp. 142 - 161Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021