Reagan and the Arms Race

Ronald Reagan, the 40th president (1981-1989) of the United States of America, is `one of the highly recognized presidents especially for his policies. Reagan was a staunch advocate for control of money supply which would result to reduction in inflation and an increase in economic growth through tax reduction.Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on Reagan and the Arms Race specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More During his two terms in the presidency, he was mainly focused on restructuring the foreign matters, which this paper is going to dwell on and the U.S economy. Against this background, I would like to make a research about his political and economic initiatives dubbed ‘Reganomics’ (Busch 45; Hudson and Gareth 156). Reagan was an anti-communist and publicly called the Soviet Union an ‘evil empire’ and showed his distaste by providing support for anti-communist activities worldwide. W e will focus on the strategies he employed such as the strategy of dà ©tente where he ordered considerable buildup of military in the arms race against the Soviet Union. The paper will also look into and discuss the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) of 1987 signed by him and General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev of the Soviet Union, which was to address purging of both intermediate and short range missiles in both countries (Kengor 67). The Cold War (1979-1985) was a major contributing factor to shaping Reagan’s policies on arms and his subsequent action in building up America’s military in anticipation of a war breaking out between the U.S and the Soviet Union, therefore this paper is going to focus on this and bring out the reasons behind the arms race (Marples 63; Langley 154). Reagan was a critic of arms control and termed the arms race as a cold war symptom thus resulting to a race in buildup of arms arguing that arms control negotiations could not end the deadlock, he was concerned with how the Soviet Union was way ahead of the United States in the nuclear race and becoming vulnerable to Soviet attack (Hilton 208). Form this, the paper will try and explain how this situation affected Reagan’s political career, campaigns, and decisions. Consequently, we will look at the role he played in bringing an end to the Cold War, and the Iran-Contra affair revelation.Advertising Looking for critical writing on biography? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More We will also look at the treaty Reagan signed before he left office which was a contrast to what he believed in and campaigned on. The paper will also determine whether the diplomatic ties initiated by Reagan are still in place and whether the INF treaty signed in 1987 was effective and if yes, to what extent. If not, then what are the consequences? (Smith, Gwendolyn and USAF Institute for National Security Studies 82; Reagan 64 ). The research paper will use both primary and secondary sources of data. The secondary sources will include books on Ronald Reagan to determine his policies and ideologies and what shaped them. We will also use books on the Soviet Union to try and link the fall of the soviet with Reagan’s military buildup in the U.S. a list has been provided at the end of this memo detailing the specific sources of references that will be used in this research paper. Apart from books other resources will include scholarly publications, and internet sources (Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (b) 106; Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (a) 136). In conclusion, the main purpose of this research paper will to be to find out and shed light on Ronald Reagan’s ideologies, perceptions, thoughts, and legacies especially where they bordered on politics, the cold war and the arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union and optimistically all this issues will be addressed. Works Cited Busch, Andrew. Ronald Reagan and the politics of freedom, New York: Rowman Littlefield, 2002. Print. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists July 1987: 10, 25-27, 45-47, 49-52. Print. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Aug. 1981: 10, 5-7, 49-60. Print.Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on Reagan and the Arms Race specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Hilton, Ronald. â€Å"The Collapse of the Soviet Union and Ronald Reagan.† Stanford.edu, Webmaster, n.d. Web. Hudson, Cheryl and Gareth, Davies. Ronald Reagan and the 1980s: perceptions, policies, legacies, New York Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. Print. Kengor, Paul. The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism, New York: HarperCollins, 2007. Print. Langley, Andrew. The Collapse of the Soviet Union: The End of an Empire, Massachusetts: Compass Point Books, 2006. Print. Marples, David. The collapse of the Soviet Union, 1985-1991, Boston: Pearson, 2004. Print. Smith James, Gwendolyn Hall, and USAF Institute for National Security Studies. Milestones in strategic arms control, 1945-2000: United States Air Force roles and outcomes, Collingdale: DIANE Publishing, 2002. Print. Reagan, Ronald. An American Life. New York: Free Press, A Division of Simon Schuster, 2003.Advertising Looking for critical writing on biography? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This critical writing on Reagan and the Arms Race was written and submitted by user Matthias Hansen to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Biography of Alfred Wegener, German Scientist

Biography of Alfred Wegener, German Scientist Alfred Wegener (November 1, 1880–November 1930) was a German meteorologist and geophysicist who developed the first theory of continental drift and formulated the idea that a supercontinent known as Pangaea existed on the Earth millions of years ago. His ideas were largely ignored at the time they were developed, but today they are widely accepted by the scientific community. As part of his research, Wegener also took part in several journeys to Greenland, where he studied the atmosphere and ice conditions. Fast Facts: Alfred Wegener Known For: Wegener was a German scientist who developed the idea of continental drift and Pangaea.Born: November 1, 1880 in Berlin, GermanyDied: November 1930 in Clarinetania,  GreenlandEducation: University of Berlin (Ph.D.)Published Works: Thermodynamics of the Atmosphere (1911), The Origin of Continents and Oceans (1922)Spouse: Else Koppen Wegener  (m. 1913-1930)Children: Hilde, Hanna, Sophie Early Life Alfred Lothar Wegener was born on November 1, 1880, in Berlin, Germany. During his childhood, Wegeners father ran an orphanage. Wegener took an interest in physical and earth sciences and studied these subjects at universities in both Germany and Austria. He graduated with a Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of Berlin in 1905. He briefly served as an assistant at the Urania Observatory in Berlin. While earning his Ph.D. in astronomy, Wegener also took an interest in meteorology and paleoclimatology (the study of changes in the Earths climate throughout its history). From 1906 to 1908 he went on an expedition to Greenland to study polar weather. In Greenland, Wegener established a research station where he could take meteorological measurements. This expedition was the first of four dangerous trips that Wegener would take to the icy island. The others occurred from 1912 to 1913 and in 1929 and 1930. Continental Drift Shortly after receiving his Ph.D., Wegener began teaching at the University of Marburg in Germany, and in 1910 he drafted his Thermodynamics of the Atmosphere, which would later become an important meteorological textbook. During his time at the university, Wegener developed an interest in the ancient history of the Earths continents and their placement. He had noticed, in 1910, that the eastern coast of South America and the northwestern coast of Africa looked as if they were once connected. In 1911, Wegener also came across several scientific documents stating there were identical fossils of plants and animals on each of these continents. He eventually articulated the idea that all of the Earths continents were at one time connected into one large supercontinent. In 1912, he presented the idea of continental displacement- which would later become known as continental drift- to explain how the continents moved toward and away from one another throughout the Earths history. In 1914, Wegener was drafted into the German Army during World War I. He was wounded twice and was eventually placed in the Armys weather forecasting service for the duration of the war. In 1915, Wegener published his most famous work, The Origin of Continents and Oceans, as an extension of his 1912 lecture. In that work, he presented extensive evidence to support his claim that all of the Earths continents were at one time connected. Despite the evidence, however, most of the scientific community ignored his ideas at the time. Later Life From 1924 to 1930, Wegener was a professor of meteorology and geophysics at the University of Graz in Austria. At a 1927 symposium, he introduced the idea of Pangaea, a Greek term meaning all lands, to describe the supercontinent that he believed existed on the Earth millions of years ago. Scientists now believe that such a continent did exist- it probably formed about 335 million years ago and began to split apart 175 million years ago. The strongest evidence of this is- as Wegener suspected- the distribution of similar fossils throughout continental borders that are now many miles apart. Death In 1930, Wegener took part in his last expedition to Greenland to set up a winter weather station that would monitor the jet stream in the upper atmosphere over the North Pole. Severe weather delayed the start of the trip and made it extremely difficult for Wegener and the 14 other explorers and scientists with him to reach the weather station. Eventually, 12 of these men would turn around and return to the groups base camp near the coast. Wegener and two others continued on, reaching the final destination of Eismitte (Mid-Ice, a site near the center of Greenland) five weeks after the start of the expedition. On the return trip to the base camp, Wegener became lost and is believed to have died sometime in November 1930 at the age of 50. Legacy For most of his life, Wegener remained dedicated to his theory of continental drift and Pangaea despite receiving harsh criticism from other scientists, many of whom believed the oceanic crust was too rigid to permit the movement of tectonic plates. By the time of his death in 1930, his ideas were almost entirely rejected by the scientific community. It was not until the 1960s that they gained credibility as scientists began studying seafloor spreading and plate tectonics. Wegeners ideas served as a framework for those studies, which produced evidence that supported his theories. The development of the Global Positioning System (GPS) in 1978 eliminated any residual doubt there may have been by providing direct evidence of continental movements. Today, Wegeners ideas are highly regarded by the scientific community as an early attempt at explaining why the Earths landscape is the way it is. His polar expeditions are also highly admired and today the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research is known for its high-quality research in the Arctic and the Antarctic. A crater on the Moon and a crater on Mars are both named in Wegeners honor. Sources Bressan, David. â€Å"May 12, 1931: Alfred Wegeners Last Journey.† Scientific American Blog Network, 12 May 2013.Oreskes, Naomi, and Homer E. LeGrand.  Plate Tectonics: An Insiders History of the Modern Theory of the Earth. Westview, 2003.Wegener, Alfred.  The Origin of Continents and Oceans. Dover Publications, 1992.Yount, Lisa.  Alfred Wegener: Creator of the Continental Drift Theory. Chelsea House Publishers, 2009.