The Reagan doctrine: A conceptual analysis of the democracy imperative in United States foreign policy, 1981--1988

The foreign policy of the administration of President Ronald Reagan has acquired the distinguishing designation of doctrine, the Reagan Doctrine. What policy framework is encompassed by this designation? What are its intellectual foundations, and who are the key actors involved in formulating it?; This dissertation examines the conceptual frameworks of various of the individuals responsible for or involved with the formulation of foreign policy in the Reagan administration in order to better define and delineate the policy framework known as the Reagan Doctrine. The role of three factors in the assorted worldviews are delineated and interrelated: conceptions of threats and the national interest; conceptions of democracy (or democratization) and capitalism as objectives of U.S. foreign policy; and operational programs designed to implement basic policy.; The analysis is conducted in the context of prevailing contemporaneous assessments of the Reagan foreign policy which had characterized it as possessed of significant and fundamental failures in assumptions and perceptions. This dissertation maintains that a significant portion of this literature is seriously flawed in its comprehension and interpretation of the fundamental goals and assumptions of the Reagan foreign policy.