A version of this story appeared in the daily Threat Status newsletter from The Washington Times. Click here to receive Threat Status delivered directly to your inbox each weekday.
OPINION:
Peace through strength works. This week, we saw Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the leaders of various European nations sitting in the Oval Office with President Trump, discussing how to achieve peace. I was struck by one of the photos of that meeting, as it also showed President Reagan’s portrait hanging just off and behind the Resolute Desk, where the president works.
Reagan presided over one of the most peaceful times in American history. Before his two terms in office, the U.S. military was in shambles and our standing in the world was in question, as Americans were held hostage in Iran for more than a year.
Reagan set out to rebuild our armed forces and strengthen our position in the world. He formed strong bonds with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Pope John Paul II in the battle. Most important, he set out to transcend communism, not just contain it. That was a major change in policy, and it worked.
Reagan’s opponents falsely claimed he would get us into World War III. Instead, he kept the United States out of wars and conflicts with the original peace-through-strength strategy. Eventually, he took on the Soviet empire by calling for its leaders to tear down the Berlin Wall and walking out on Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev during a summit in Reykjavik, Iceland, when disagreement arose over the Strategic Defense Initiative.
In 1986, Reagan made the case that he would offer the technology to protect the people of the Soviet Union against a nuclear attack and provide it for the people of the United States. Critics said he was making up the program, yet his idea is essentially the Iron Dome system, which the Israeli military uses to neutralize incoming missiles.
In 1987, people within his administration tried to talk Reagan out of the language in his iconic speech at the Brandenburg Gate, where he declared, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” He did not back down, and it sent a powerful message to the Soviet leader. Eventually, the slabs of the Berlin Wall came tumbling down, followed by the collapse of communism throughout the former Soviet empire.
Just as President Carter failed to rebuild the military and reflected a posture of weakness as the days went by and we continued to see images of the hostages at the U.S. Embassy in Iran, we saw a similar trend under President Biden. When he stubbornly ordered the ill-planned withdrawal from Afghanistan that ended in tragedy, Russian President Vladimir Putin saw an opportunity to move into Ukraine. Weakness opens the door to evil.
Earlier this year, we saw the practical application of peace through strength in the Middle East. After Iran-funded Hamas attacked Israel and it fought back, concerns grew that the leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran were close to developing nuclear weapons. Most Americans do not want us to enter into another prolonged war. At the same time, most do not want radicals in Iran to have nuclear weapons.
Mr. Trump took a page out of the Reagan playbook by ordering strategic airstrikes to neutralize the nuclear threat in Iran without dragging us into a war or conflict. Now, he appears eager to end the war in Europe.
I was on CNN when word came out about the summit in Alaska. The chattering class said it was too quick and required much more planning by bureaucrats. These were the same types of elitists who mocked Reagan when he walked out on Gorbachev in Reykjavik, who denounced Reagan when he called the Soviet Union the Evil Empire, who ridiculed his call to “tear down this wall!”
But it worked.
Despite the cries from the intelligentsia, peace through strength works. To his credit, Mr. Trump is trying to make it work again.
As he greeted Mr. Putin in Alaska, a B-2 bomber, flanked by F-35 fighter jets, flew over them. Mr. Trump was sending a message to the world. It reminded me of when Reagan greeted the Soviet leader on that frigid day in Iceland. Gorbachev wore a hat and a heavy coat, while Reagan came out in just his suit. It sent an intended message of strength. What Mr. Trump did last Friday was that move on steroids.
Just as powerful as the show of military might is our commitment to cause Russia financial damage if it doesn’t agree to end the war. These types of efforts also helped build pressure that led to the fall of the Soviet Union.
Today, the Russian economy is just the 11th largest in the world, at $1.75 trillion. To put that into perspective, California, Texas and New York each have larger state economies than the entire country of Russia.
Following the principles established by Reagan, Mr. Trump can once again lead us to unprecedented peace and prosperity. We should all pray for that outcome.
• Scott Walker is a columnist for The Washington Times. He was the 45th governor of Wisconsin and launched a bid for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. He lives in Milwaukee and is the proud owner of a 2003 Harley-Davidson Road King. He can be reached at swalker@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.