Reagan's Military Buildup and the End of the Cold War: A Position of Strength (Cold War History)

This book offers an analysis of the United States’ conventional military buildup during the final decade of the Cold War. Departing from a historiography largely focused on strategic arms and summit diplomacy, the work examines how the modernization of non-nuclear forces formed an integral part of Ronald Reagan’s broader Cold War strategy.It shows that the revitalization of conventional forces was not ancillary to diplomacy but a central pillar of a policy that sought to negotiate from strength while enhancing deterrence.Spanning the late 1970s and 1980s, the book explores how the armed forces were rebuilt after the post-Vietnam downturn.It highlights well-known and illustrative case studies-including the M1 Abrams tank, advanced tactical aircraft, naval expansion, precision-guided munitions, and new command-and-control systems-to demonstrate how doctrine, technology, and personnel reforms were closely linked.Methodologically grounded in defence budgets, congressional debates, official