Cold War and Foreign Policy

Name
Professor
Title
Date
Cold War and Foreign Policy
I did not understand why the ultimate responsibility to implement foreign and national security policy rests with the president. However, after reading chapter five on “The cold war and beyond,” I got some insights concerning issues that matter when formulating foreign policy and what triggered the burden of implementation of such policies to be pushed to the president. Despite the functional arms of government, resistance on the implementation of some policies is common and hence the decision. Foreign policy is a convenient tool to utilize during difficult times like wars. During the cold war, the American presidents who were in power used foreign policies to safeguard the country and advance the nation’s interests. The complexity of policy implementation was witnessed when the Congress enacted an amendment rendering it criminal to support indirectly or directly paramilitary or military activities in Nicaragua. However, the policy was ignored by the national security members and they devised an undercover operation to aid the Contras secretly, via third-party support (Kaufman 121). Due to this failure to implement the policy by the relevant arms of government, the responsibility of implementing U.S foreign policy was since dedicated to the President.
I did not understand that it was during President Ronald Reagan when the United States established a strong defense to protect the country. He began by referring to the Soviet as “The evil empire.

” Reagan increased military and defense spending. He encouraged the weapons protection to shield America. Eventually, the west won the War. It occurred so unexpectedly that the United States chose to respond to international happenings like ethnic conflict and an apparent rise in terrorism (Kaufman 118). The Cold War objective of containing socialism provided the attention for all facets of United States policy. Devoid of the War structure as its controller, United States foreign policy frequently appeared rudderless.
Works Cited
Kaufman, Joyce P. A Concise History of U.S. Foreign Policy. 2017.