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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jacob Snyder who wrote (87674)	3/29/2003 1:37:09 PM
From: Neocon	Respond to of 281500

From the BBC: A group of about 100 prominent Poles has launched a campaign to rename a central Warsaw square after former US president Ronald Reagan. The group has set up a committee led by the Polish deputy foreign minister, Radoslaw Sikorski, to rename Constitution Square - a name that refers to the now defunct communist constitution of 1952. The chairman of the Solidarity movement, Marian Krzaklewski said Mr Reagan had helped Solidarity in its struggle against the communist regime in the 1980s. "Reagan was the main author of the victory of the free world over the 'evil empire'," he added. Well regarded Although Mr Reagan has never been to Poland, he is well regarded there for his support for Solidarity as well as sanctions against Poland's communist rulers after the regime imposed martial law in December 1981 to crush Poland's independent labour movement. After Solidarity toppled the regime, Poles renamed many streets and public buildings to drop communist era names. Constitution Square is one of the last remaining names in Warsaw linked to the communist era. If the group succeeds, Mr Reagan would join George Washington and Woodrow Wilson as US presidents with Warsaw plazas named after them. Health fears Committee spokesman Jozef Szaniawski said the square bears the name of an "invalid constitution of the country which no longer exists" - thanks in part to Mr Reagan. Mr Szaniawski said the idea emerged after a news report about Mr Reagan's health. The committee would like the square renamed on 11 November, Poland's Independence Day. Mr Reagan, who turned 88 on 6 February, disclosed in 1994 that he had Alzheimer's disease, which destroys brain cells and causes memory loss. news.bbc.co.uk

To: Jacob Snyder who wrote (87674)	3/29/2003 1:43:49 PM
From: Neocon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Beyond the Final Scorecard How did Reagan contribute to the demise of the Soviet empire? You can draw up a scorecard and count the economic costs that Reagan’s policies placed on a struggling Soviet economy, using Moscow’s numbers: • The second strand of the European natural gas pipeline Reagan stopped: lost revenue, $7–8 billion a year • The cost of counterinsurgency operations against Reagan-backed guerrillas: $8 billion a year • Extra arms shipped to Cuba to soothe anxieties following the U.S. invasion of Grenada: $3 billion • Military spending increases announced to match Reagan’s: $15–20 billion a year • Lost revenue due to restrictions on technology imports: $1–2 billion a year • Lost revenue from a sudden drop in oil prices: $5–6 billion a year • Extra aid delivered to Poland after Reagan’s sanctions: $1 billion This amounts to a hefty price tag for a superpower that had total hard-currency earnings of approximately $32 billion at the time. Or you can look at the body blows that the Soviet empire suffered. Military defeat in Afghanistan demoralized the Kremlin and the military as they suffered their first defeat of the Cold War. At the same time, the survival and eventual triumph of Solidarity in Poland burned a hole in the heart of the empire that could never be filled. In both of these cases, Reagan proved decisive in victory. Since the end of the Cold War, a debate has raged about how it ended. It is fashionable now to denigrate Reagan’s role in winning the Cold War. His achievements and strategic vision are minimized in many quarters. We are often offered the image of Reagan as an amiable bumpkin who just happened to be there when it all happened around him. But not only was Reagan passionate and courageous in battle, he had a well-developed plan seeking the demise of the Soviet Union. Developed over the course of 30 years and spelled out in detail through several top-secret national security directives while he was president, the ideas and concepts behind it were largely his own. Make no mistake: This “bumpkin” won the Cold War. It is revealing, though, that one person who never got wrapped up in this debate was Ronald Reagan. One of the last items to be removed from his Oval Office desk in January 1989 was a small sign that read “It’s surprising what you can accomplish when no one is concerned about who gets the credit.” Today we live in a world very different from the one only a quarter-century ago. There is no longer talk of a large-scale war in Europe, no fear of a massive nuclear strike. Understanding Reagan’s struggle and final triumph over communism involves more than debating the past or deciding who gets the credit. It provides us wisdom and hope for the struggles of today and tomorrow. Reagan’s hope that we be guided not by fear but by courage and moral clarity is as apt today as it was during the height of the Cold War. www-hoover.stanford.edu