| This dissertation is an examination of the public discourse of President Ronald Reagan concerning the Soviet Union in general and Mikhail Gorbachev's glasnost in particular. The hypothesis of this work is that Reagan's rhetoric limited his ability to respond to change in the Soviet Union.;Throughout his entire term as president, Reagan described the Soviets as a grave and immediate military, political, and moral threat to the West, especially to the United States. Driven by, and exploiting the resources of hostility toward the Soviet Union, Reagan could not anticipate or appreciate the implications of glasnost for the Soviet Union. Indeed, he largely dismissed Gorbachev's reforms as mere words and concerned himself with reinforcing the American belief in the superiority of our own political system and insisting the Soviets follow the American example.;The author argues that Reagan structured his discourse about the Soviet Union using the "prophetic dualism" argumentative framework suggested by Philip Wander. Prophetic dualism, with its emphasis on American moral, political, economic, and cultural superiority, allowed Reagan to practice a rhetoric of hostility toward the Soviet Union. Further, the author examines the key terms and themes Reagan used to describe and justify his policies toward the Soviet Union using the tenets of the ideology of American foreign policy suggested by Michael Hunt. First, Reagan resurrected the proposition that national greatness was to be achieved through an activist national mission. He argued that it was our "moral duty" to help all peoples reject Communism and realize the American vision of freedom and democracy. Second, Reagan placed the Soviet Union outside the communities formed by those who were driven by the values of the Judeao-Christian tradition, the values of Western civilization and the international laws observed by the "peace-loving" family of nations. Third, Reagan placed the Soviet revolution outside the acceptable path of progress from one political system to another. |
