Chapter 2 Summary and Analysis

U.S. foreign policy during the 1980s took place in the context of the Cold War when there were two "super powers." At the end of the 1970s, the Soviets began focusing on the Persian Gulf, the Middle East, and South Asia: the Red Army invaded Afghanistan. In 1979, the U.S. lost an ally, Reza Shah Pahlevi, who had oil and wasn't a communist: Pahlevi was overthrown by Muslim clerics led by Ayatollah Khomeini. The staff at the American Embassy in Tehran were taken as hostages. "Public words to the contrary," Clarke writes, weapons were exchanged for the hostages. President Reagan sent military support to Afghanistan and troops into Lebanon. Reagan also strengthened U.S. support for Israel, the reasoning of his advisors being that doing so created a stronger ally.

In 1983, Hezbollah bombed the Marine barracks in Lebanon. Reagan pulled...