During his first term, Reagan vigorously pursued an anticommunist foreign-policy agenda. He announced a five-year program to increase defense spending by $1.2 trillion. In March 1983, he proposed the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI, or "Star Wars"), which was intended to protect the United States against a Soviet strategic-missile attack. Calling the Soviet Union "the evil empire," he employed anti-Soviet rhetoric that was more reminiscent of the 1950s. He also enunciated a policy that was subsequently dubbed the "Reagan doctrine," promising American help for friendly nations threatened by communist rebels and for revolt movements seeking to topple Marxist regimes.
During Reagan's presidency, the United States supported revolt movements in
During Reagan's presidency, the United States supported revolt movements in