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"Green Cheese" and "the Moon": Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and the Euromissiles

Griffith, Luke
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1445-9763
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1542113024275818

Abstract Details

2018, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, History (Arts and Sciences).
This dissertation analyzes the role of the United States in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) dual-track decision, which called for the deployment of 572 intermediate-range missiles in Europe and simultaneous arms control negotiations with the Soviet Union. Tracing the evolution of U.S. theater nuclear policy from 1977 to 1987, it demonstrates that President Jimmy Carter was an effective manager of the Atlantic alliance. In the wake of the neutron bomb fiasco in April 1978, Carter learned from the episode and implemented those lessons during intra-alliance consultations about theater nuclear modernization and arms control. In contrast to existing historiography, Carter was the chief architect of the dual-track decision, proposing the essential framework for the initiative on the sandy beaches of Guadeloupe in January 1979. Unable to make progress on the arms control track, Carter secured the passage of a program that allowed President Ronald Reagan to approach the arms talks with the Soviet Union from a position of strength. At first cold to the inherited dual-track policy course, Reagan, a bona fide nuclear abolitionist, improvised throughout the intermediate-range negotiations in Geneva, Switzerland. Reagan, who never exerted the effort required to master the arcane substance of nuclear strategy, listened to different advisers at key moments during the talks, which reflected his evolving approach to the negotiations. Between 1981 and 1983, he primarily leaned on the counsel of hardliners in Washington, especially Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger and his cunning deputy, Richard Perle, who reinforced Reagan’s inclination to distrust the Soviet leadership and press for the maximalist zero option, which required the liquidation of U.S. and Soviet intermediate-range missiles. After the Soviets stormed out of Geneva in November 1983, Reagan increasingly heeded the advice of Secretary of State George Shultz, who encouraged him to compromise, abolish nuclear weapons, and embrace General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev. Forsaking the cynical counsel of hardline aides, American allies, foreign policy realists, and conservative intellectuals, Reagan recognized that Gorbachev shared his dream of abolishing nuclear weapons and embraced the Soviet leader, cultivating the atmosphere of trust required to verify the liquidation of an entire class of missiles. By embracing Gorbachev and signing the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, Reagan played a significant role in ending the Cold War.
Chester Pach, Dr. (Committee Chair)
Kevin Mattson, Dr. (Committee Member)
Ingo Trauschweizer, Dr. (Committee Member)
James Mosher, Dr. (Committee Member)
484 p.
History; Modern History
Jimmy Carter; Ronald Reagan; Mikhail Gorbachev; dual-track decision; NATO; cruise missile; Pershing; neutron bomb; ERW; Leonid Brezhnev; arms control; nuclear; theater nuclear forces; intermediate-range nuclear forces; TNF; INF; SS-20; gray areas; SALT

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Griffith, L. (2018). "Green Cheese" and "the Moon": Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and the Euromissiles [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1542113024275818

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Griffith, Luke. "Green Cheese" and "the Moon": Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and the Euromissiles. 2018. Ohio University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1542113024275818.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Griffith, Luke. ""Green Cheese" and "the Moon": Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and the Euromissiles." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1542113024275818

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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This open access ETD is published by Ohio University and OhioLINK.