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8 - In God’s Country

from Part I - The Cold War

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2013

Warren I. Cohen
Affiliation:
University of Maryland, Baltimore
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Summary

The events of the 1980s would have been reassuring to anyone who ever doubted that America was God's chosen country. Electing Ronald Reagan, to determine their future in a world of extraordinary complexity, with nuclear holocaust a hair's breadth away, was the ultimate act of faith by the American people. Despite the extraordinary military buildup over which he presided and the confrontational rhetoric for which he was notorious, Reagan had an intense emotional horror of nuclear weapons. The crisis in Poland in 1981 provided another example of Reagan being forced to retreat under pressure from his European allies. Reagan seemed content to accelerate the arms race and bash the Soviets verbally. Reagan, like much of the world, was appalled by Israeli aggression and unmoved by Israel's insistence that it was acting defensively, clearing out terrorists. Reagan and the rest of the world were not quite ready for the extraordinary course Mikhail Gorbachev was about to undertake.
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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2013

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  • In God’s Country
  • Warren I. Cohen, University of Maryland, Baltimore
  • Book: The New Cambridge History of American Foreign Relations
  • Online publication: 05 June 2013
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CHO9781139032513.011
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  • In God’s Country
  • Warren I. Cohen, University of Maryland, Baltimore
  • Book: The New Cambridge History of American Foreign Relations
  • Online publication: 05 June 2013
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CHO9781139032513.011
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • In God’s Country
  • Warren I. Cohen, University of Maryland, Baltimore
  • Book: The New Cambridge History of American Foreign Relations
  • Online publication: 05 June 2013
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CHO9781139032513.011
Available formats
×