ABSTRACT
Paradox, Edward Luttwak argues, is at the heart of all strategic thinking. What appears to be a logical and efficient military maneuver or a sensible weapon design is often disastrously misguided if it is easily anticipated or countered by a clever opponent. The foreign policy priorities of the Reagan Administration were set, in large part, by opposition to détente and arms control. Whether détente was adopted by Republican or Democratic presidents, Ronald Reagan was dependably against it. His reasons were frequently repeated in the speeches he gave during his 1976 and 1980 presidential campaigns. The increased defense spending of the Reagan years bought very little in the way of new strategic armaments, and even less in added military manpower and meaningful conventional strength. The 1980s have ended with a series of remarkably dramatic and paradoxical shifts in the superpower relations.
