Great Advancements In The 1980

To say that America experienced great advancements and developments in the 1980?s and beyond would be an understatement. Many of the things that happened during this time period have helped shape the America that we know and see today. It is because of these advancements and developments that we are able to experience such a high level of globalization, free markets, and neoliberal economic policies; if these changes had not taken place, we would be living in an entirely different country than the one we are today. In order to understand how the changes of the 1980?s came about and led to the reshaping of American history, it is important to first look at the events leading up to this period, especially those in the 1960?s and 1970?s. During …show more content…
Under Reagan, the United States entered the modern conservative movement, which was a very successful movement of ideas. During his presidency, Reagan had all intentions of making America a great place, and he never deviated from this plan even in the face of uncertainty. One of the biggest and most elaborate goals that Reagan had was to complete a process of ?southernization? of American rights. In doing so, Reagan hoped that power would be restored to state and local governments, in turn boosting support and approval of the federal government. At the same time, Reagan did have ulterior motives: to secure the white, southern vote for the next election. Although Reagan was trying things that had not been done before in America, he was able to do them largely in part because of the destruction of the Democratic Party after 1968. Through his actions Reagan set the stage for the rise of globalization, free market, and neoliberal economic policy. When reading Sleepwalking Through History, it becomes evident that Ronald Reagan had many victories during his time in office. At the time of his election, the United States was still rattled by the events that took place during the Vietnam War. More so, there were concerns over the Iran hostage crisis and the Watergate scandal. Even through these difficulties, Reagan was able to lead the nation in a direction of improvement and upward mobility, in turn influencing …show more content…
Fiasco. In his book, Ricks talks about the invasion of Iraq and claims that many of the decisions leading up to the invasion were poorly planned and mismanaged. As a result, there was a great deal of fighting within the government, especially among senior policy advisors. While Fiasco focuses heavily on the Iraq War, many of the decisions that were made have had an influence on economic policy, thus leading to the new neoliberal economic policies that we now see. In addition, there were heavy consequences on globalization, as the war changed the way that the United States does business and interacts with other countries. Fiasco goes to show how the economy can be influenced by a wide variety of factors, including the decision to go to