Reagan and Reykjavík: Arms Control, SDI, and the Argument from Human Rights

Following the October 1986 U.S.-Soviet summit in Reykjavík, Iceland, news media in the United States characterized the Reagan-Gorbachev meeting as a failure because President Ronald Reagan refused to compromise on his commitment to the development of a Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). This essay...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Rhetoric & Public Affairs
Main Author: Howell, B. Wayne
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Project MUSE 2008
Subjects:
Linguistics and Language
Sociology and Political Science
Communication
Language and Linguistics
Reykjavík
Iceland
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/rap.0.0045
Description
Summary:Following the October 1986 U.S.-Soviet summit in Reykjavík, Iceland, news media in the United States characterized the Reagan-Gorbachev meeting as a failure because President Ronald Reagan refused to compromise on his commitment to the development of a Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). This essay examines Reagan’s rhetoric of public diplomacy surrounding the Reykjavík Summit and suggests an alternative characterization. Reagan used SDI to prod Mikhail Gorbachev toward liberalization and democratization of the Soviet Union, particularly in the area of human rights.

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