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after the Arab Israel war of 1973. Poor leadership also appeared a major
issue. Nixon s resignation in 1974 was followed by the worthy, but
uninspiring, leadership of Ford (1974 7) and Carter (1977 81), neither
of whom gave the impression that they could dominate events at home
or abroad. The usa in fact took an active role in several regional crises,
not least supplying anti-Communist forces in the civil war in Angola.
Nevertheless, the mid-1970s saw a number of treaties, especially the
Helsinki Treaty of 1975, that recognized the position and interests of
the Eastern bloc, which appeared to consolidate its position and stabi-
212 a l t e r e d s t a t e s
lize the Cold War. It did not do so by marking any victory of the West.
Instead, it seemed that both East and West still had all to play for in a
world adapting to the end of the Western European colonial empires.
There was a particular focus on the Middle East, with its concentration
of oil production and reserves, and here the usa tried to ease regional
pressures. The Carter administration helped to arrange a peace settle-
ment between Egypt and Israel, with the Camp David Accords of 1978
followed by the Egypt Israel treaty of 1979. However, the overthrow of
the Shah of Iran, America s leading ally in South Asia, in January 1979
and his replacement by a hostile theocratic state, combined with the
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan at the end of 1979 to suggest that the
usa might lose the struggle for regional hegemony.
the reagan years
The 1980s, in contrast, were to reveal a more robust American stance
and a resurgence of overseas activism. This was a matter of political
resolution and economic strength. The resilience of the economy and
the ability of the government to use its capacity to raise money in the
bond markets permitted a mobilization of resources for a military
build-up that the Soviets could not match. They lacked the money, and
could not raise the credit. Even before the bellicose (or, at least, pro-
defence) Reagan presidency, the Carter administration had taken a
more assertive stance, as well as enhancing American military and intel-
ligence preparedness. The overthrow of the Shah led, in early 1980, to
the Carter Doctrine and to the establishment of the Rapid Deployment
Task Force, which was to become the basis of Central Command, the
Tampa-based Area Command, later responsible for the Gulf Wars,
which was co-equal with other American regional commands. This Task
Force was presented as a body able to provide a rapid response across
the world. Since it contained both army and marine units, this was also
an important initiative in joint military structures.
The subsequent marked build-up in the military focused on the
deployment of tactical nuclear weapons, carried on Cruise and Patriot
intermediate-range missiles, but also included expansion in all the
i mp e r i a l s t a t e 213
services. The military had advanced the doctrine of AirLand Battle as it
reformulated its thinking and practice after the Vietnam War. Military
preparations placed a renewed emphasis on protecting Western Europe,
rather than planning for counter-insurgency operations elsewhere, an
emphasis that responded to Soviet capability, but this was also doctri-
nally convenient for both the army and the air force, each of which had
found the Vietnam War challenging. AirLand Battle led to a stress on
the integration of firepower with mobility, maximizing the potential
of American forces in order to thwart the Soviet concept of Deep Battle.
Tensions between the usa and what Reagan termed the evil empire (a
term that pressed the buttons of deep-rooted American sentiments)
rose to a peak in 1983. That year, the Americans sited Cruise and Pershing
missiles in Western Europe, while the Soviets shot down over their
airspace a Korean airliner suspected of espionage. With the kgb provid-
ing inaccurate reports of American plans for a surprise nuclear first
strike, the Soviets also deployed more weaponry.
American proficiency in weaponry reflected the vitality of applied
technology. From the 1960s computers had transformed operational
horizons and command and control options. The American Defense
Advanced Research Projects Agency took major steps to enhance
computing, contributing in the process to the eventual creation of the
Internet, and also developing a Strategic Computing Initiative that was
responsible for advances in technologies such as computer vision and
recognition, and the parallel processing useful for code-breaking. In
the 1980s weapons development and tactical planning drew on such
advances as stealthy attack aircraft and smart laser-guided weapons.
Co-ordination was to be made possible by computer networking and a
new generation of spy satellites capable of providing greater detail on
the situation on the Earth, as well as awacs (Airborne Warning and
Control System) aircraft and the Global Positioning System. The
launching of the Strategic Defense Initiative in 1984, designed to
provide protection against missile attack, was seen by critics as an
attempt to dominate space. At sea, there was a major bluewater re-
orientation in 1986 and an accompanying debate. Alongside the
Maritime Strategy , there were calls for a 600-ship navy with fifteen
carrier groups.
214 a l t e r e d s t a t e s
A vigorous American attitude was particularly marked in the Western
Hemisphere. Under Reagan, there was a resumption of the earlier policy
of supporting conservative regimes, as when Nixon encouraged the
Chilean military s overthrow of the Marxist Allende government of
Chile in 1973. Concerned about the risk of instability throughout Central
America, and also about the spread of Cuban influence, Reagan applied
economic, political and military pressure on the left-wing Sandinista
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