The Rise of Terrorist Attacks on America, Essay Example

Ronald Reagan’s legacy in international politics is still debated. While he has brought a change to how conflicts are treated and improved negotiation techniques, some claim that his aim for achieving an agreement without fight resulted in the rise of Islamic states’ ideology that views America and the Global West as the main enemy of Islam. The below paper will review Ronald Reagan’s policies and international relation approaches to compare them with the politics that led to and followed the attacks of 9/11.

Ronald Reagan’s Legacy

When he came to power, Reagan created the Strategic Defense Initiative in the midst of the Cold War. However, he also built up relationships with country leaders in the Eastern Bloc, and important ties with Poland that was located in the middle of the region. He wanted to redefine policies towards the Soviet Union, and proposed a program that resulted in the mutual nuclear weapon destruction, making the cold war less dangerous to world peace. He confronted the Soviet Union in 1981-83, when he clearly communicated that the superpower was an enemy of democracy and its leaders could not be trusted.

This type of power struggle and confrontation on the ideological level has brought on the theme of supremacy of the United States that is still present in international relations. America seemed to “know better” what a good political system was, and it seems to know better now. By judging the political system of the Soviet Union, Reagan tried to impose the ideology of supremacy on the world, while labeling communism and the totalitarian regime as evil. He also tried to build links in the region based on ideologies of the American democracy, rushing the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Eastern Bloc opening the way for Western influences.

At the same time, Regan introduced an economic reform to promote free market, increase the country’s economic influence, cut back on government spending and reduce business tax to boost economy, resulting in an economic growth. Several authors, however, argue that Reagan’s policies increased the gap between the poor and the rich.

The intervention into the Iraq-Iran war was also an example of conservative policy; Reagan wanted to end the war, protect peace and stability in the region, while increasing the influence of the United States in the Middle East. A similar theme emerged in the last decade of the 20^th Century; with the Iraqi and Afghanistan war. However, Islam states did not like the increased Western influence in their countries; while some states, like Dubai and Egypt were open to economic investments and agreements, others were looking at increased presence of Western companies as a threat on their tradition and religion.

Rise Of Terrorist Attacks On America

The Gulf War (1991), more than 5000 troops remained in Saudi Arabia. Military presence in the region imposed a reprieved threat to sovereign Islamic states. The spread of anti-America ideologies in countries, such as Afghanistan and Iraq and the increased power of political leaders close to Al-Quaeda resulted in an effect that leaders depicted America as the evil all faithful Muslims had to fight against.

Further, America’s continuing participation in talks between Palestine and Israel (started by the support of America in the creation of Israel state and promoted by President Reagan) resulted in the perception within the Islamic community that America was clearly supporting Israel in the case, therefore, it is an ally of the Jews; one of the main enemies of Islam. During the Clinton era  Islamic groups became stronger and America failed to realize the danger of terrorism that lay in the spread of fundamental ideas and did not create preventive measures to prevent 9/11.  While America started increasing its influence on the ideological level (first in the Eastern Bloc during Reagan’s presidency and later in the Middle East), Islamic groups decided to fight back with terrorist attacks, and this resulted in the events of 9/11 and the wars in the Middle East. America started the War on terror, but this war was based on ideologies and power struggle, more than geographical territories. In order to maintain stability in the region and increase homeland security, America had to intervene in domestic politics of Islamic states to sideline fundamentalist groups, and when it gained no support from the countries, it decided with military attacks.

References

Dueck, C. (2011) Conservative Foreign Policy & Reagan’s Legacy. Real Clear Politics. Retrieved from http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/03/22/conservative_foreign_policy__reagans_legacy_part_1_109291.html