President Ronald Reagan participated in more U.S.-Soviet summits than any previous U.S. president, as he met with his Soviet counterpart, Mikhail Gorbachev, on four occasions between November 1985 and June 1988. Prior to, during, and following each meeting with Gorbachev, Reagan often engaged in the rhetoric of public diplomacy, including speeches, statements, and media interviews. The four Reagan- Gorbachev summits accompanied significant changes in U.S.-Soviet relations, in the Cold War, and also within the Soviet Union. Many scholars attribute improved U.S.- Soviet relations to a change in Reagan’s Soviet rhetoric and policies, arguing that he abandoned the confrontation of his first term for conciliation during his second term. Other scholars argue that Reagan failed to abandon confrontation and, consequently, missed opportunities to support the liberalization of the Soviet system. Based upon close analysis of Reagan’s summit rhetoric, this dissertation contends that he did not abandon his confrontational policy objectives, but he did modify his rhetoric about the Soviets. Reagan reformulated the conventional Cold War rhetoric of rapprochement that emphasized nuclear arms controls as the path to world peace by emphasizing increased U.S.-Soviet trust as prerequisite to new arms treaties. Reagan’s summit rhetoric emphasized the need for the Soviets to make changes in non-nuclear arms areas as a means of reducing international mistrust and increasing the likelihood of new U.S.- Soviet arms treaties. Reagan advocated that the Soviets participate in increased bilateral people-to-people exchanges, demonstrate respect for human rights, and disengage from various regional conflicts, especially Afghanistan. Reagan adopted a dualistic strategy that combined confrontation and conciliation as he sought to promote those changes in Soviet policies and practices. During his second term as president, Reagan made his confrontational rhetoric less strident and also used more conciliatory discourse. At the same time, he subsumed his anti-Soviet objectives within his conciliatory rhetoric. This rhetorical strategy allowed Reagan to continue to advocate anti-Soviet objectives while at the same time seeking to promote improved relations and world peace. The findings of this dissertation suggest that existing scholarly views of Reagan’s summit rhetoric and his role in promoting the liberalization of the Soviet system should be reconsidered.

I argue in this dissertation that U.S. rhetorics of national masculinity, while consistently present during the twentieth century, have changed shape in response to economic, social, and political crises. My research begins with the early twentieth-century Boy Scouts of America. It then moves to the late twentieth century, focusing on Ronald Reagan's inaugural speeches and the U.S. Army's campaign brochures, seeking to understand how U.S. national boundaries around masculinity have been drawn and redrawn according to political economies of the body. In these examples, the middle class struggles to define itself against realities of advancing capitalism that threaten the social capital of whiteness, manhood, and middle-class status.In chapter one, I present a literature review of masculinity, gender, and nationalism theories and an overview of my research methods.In chapter two, I present a rhetorical analysis of American masculinist nationalism at the turn of the 20th century, focusing on rhetoric that was used to develop boys and young men into masculine preservers of the nation, including training manuals from the Boy Scouts of America. I particularly concentrate on narratives of the formation and beginnings of the BSA. I connect the rhetoric of these narratives to the concurrent changes in Roosevelt's military goals. In chapter three, I examine how, beginning with President Ronald Reagan, the economy became rhetorically tied to ideals of freedom and democracy. I argue that the effect of this rhetorical shift has been that national projects that were formerly tied to national pride and service can now be executed through calls to improve the national economy or even one's individual economic status.In chapter four, I argue that this rhetorical shift has changed the rhetoric of Army recruiting. I analyze U.S. Army recruiting brochures and surveys to argue that masculinist nationalism in this context maintains elements from early-twentieth-century masculinity, but incorporates rhetoric of economic individualism that stems from Reagan's era.In chapter five, I draw from examples in the three analysis chapters of my dissertation to make observations about the nature of masculinist nationalism in the U.S., and suggest areas for further research stemming from my dissertation.

Thesis (doctoral)--Lund University, 1988. / Bibliography: p. 202-215.

Thesis (doctoral)--Lund University, 1988. / Bibliography: p. 202-215.

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This thesis aims to study notions of the USA in Aftonbladet and Expressen, the two major Swedish evening papers, during the American presidential elections of 1984 and 1996. This thesis examines how the predominance of Ronald Reagan's neoliberalism in the 1980s, the US victory in the ColdWar and the success of Bill Clinton's New Democrats in the 1990s affected the notions of the USA expressed in the a forementioned Swedish newspapers. In 1984 the notions were widely different between the two newspapers. Aftonbladet (socialdemocratic) had a very negative view of the USA. American politics was described as fundamentally corrupt, while the American society was seen as violent and harsh. Globally the USA was a destabilizing force and was primarily to blame for the escalating tensions with the Soviet Union. Expressen (liberal) had a more positive notion of the USA. American politics was seen as modern but shallow and callous, the last trait made even worse by the politics of Reagan. USA had a tremendous potential to do good in the world, but lacked the progressive leadership needed to do so. By 1996 the notions of the USA were interchangeable between the two papers. Both papers described American politics as shallow, unsympathetic and pandering to the middle-class. Neither corruption nor violence were mentioned. Under the leadership of Bill Clinton the USA was seen as a guardian of peace in the world.

The aim of this work will be to analyze the final phase of the Cold War. The 1980s was an extraordinary period for anyone interested in the history of the Cold War. Not only did the Cold War end or bring their final stages, but even before the 1980s, with a similarly almost unprecedented limitation of tensions between the two major players in the East-West conflict, the US and the Soviet Union. In my diploma thesis I will analyze the basic premises of the "triumphalistic" and "revisionist" schools of the Cold War. Diploma thesis from the concept of "national security approach". The conclusion of the work is that Ronal Reagan has had an impact on the end of the study wars and thus does not apply the conclusions of the "revisionist" school. However, there are no conclusions that apply only to cases where only diplomatic and compromise measures are involved.

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No description available.

This study applies the metaphor of two-level games to generate explanations of how and why President Reagan chose to appoint Edward J. Perkins ambassador to South Africa. It explored the relationship between national and international factors that may have influenced Reagan's decision, as well as his policy preferences, beliefs and values. International factors included U.S.-South Africa relations, alliances, international organizations, and transnational movements for human rights and racial equality. Among the domestic factors were the dynamics between the executive and legislative branches of government, interest groups, and activism. National and international politics and policies overlapped in four areas' "strategic interests, race, morality, and national values. Analysis of the evidence suggests that while international events were an important part of the context of the decision, domestic politics and the President's own views had the most influence on the decision. The Perkins appointment exemplified how a personnel selection might reaffirm national reconciliation of opposing views on race, ethnicity, democratic values and national interests. / Ph. D.