Reagan chipping away at the Berlin Wall
For decades after World War II, both parties followed an uneasy strategy of détente with the Soviet Union, trying to appease communist demands while appearing “reasonable.” The Soviets played them for the suckers they were, increasingly demanding more accommodations as their strength and aggression grew.
When Ronald Reagan burst onto the political scene, he threw détente out the window, to the horror of the Republican establishment. Reagan didn’t want to appease or simply co-exist with communist tyranny. He rejected the notion that the most we could hope for was an uneasy peace while half of the world’s people suffered behind the Iron Curtain.
Reagan knew exactly who he was dealing with, what their agenda was, the evil they would unleash if left unchecked, and that the best way to stop them was a very simple word they had yet to hear from cowering American politicians: “nyet.”
That one word struck terror into the heart of the Soviet Politburo. It began a forced retreat that ultimately ended in the collapse of the Soviet Union itself. Nobody could have believed when Reagan first took office that the mighty, impenetrable Soviet Union could be brought down without a shot, in less than a decade.
It’s a word that the American Left has yet to hear from our current spineless Republican leadership, which is exactly why they have become so bold, aggressive and demanding.
What is true with foreign policy is just as true when dealing with Communists domestically: weakness and appeasement invites aggression. A firm and forceful “NO!” – followed by unapologetic arguments for conservative principles communicated directly to the American people and fearless refusal to cower to Alinsky intimidation tactics – is the only way to send the Socialist Left into retreat.
Reagan showed us how this battle could be won. It’s up to us to either follow his example or resign ourselves to “telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”
- Reagan’s War: The Epic Story of His Forty-Year Struggle and Final Triumph Over Communism
- Solzhenitsyn, Reagan, and the Death of Détente
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