When President Ronald Reagan took a hard stance on the Soviet Union–calling them the “Evil Empire” in 1983, the Cold War was heated up again after a period of detente. With the East Asian region being the most vulnerable due to the presence of three communist states (China, North Korea, Soviet Union), the United States reexamined their ties to nearby allies in and around the region.
This 1986 strategy report–which most of which has been redacted–examines U.S.’s relationship between Asia and Oceania, the current political and economic situation in the Asian and Oceanian nations, and the future implications between the United States and these nations.
The report states:
“The need for a multinational strategy was expressed in the initial (1982) Defense Guidance of President Reagan’s administration and appears again in the FY 1986-1990 Defense Guidance which outlines future strategy and force capability expectations. The Defense Guidance states that the global strategy requires the complementarity of U.S. and allied forces to contain and reverse the expansion of Soviet control and military presence throughout the world.” [page ES-1]
This report was released to the Nautilus Institute under the US Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)