"To subdue the enemy without fighting is the supreme excellence." - Sun Tzu

Ronald Reagan inherited a terrible economy, a nation with no international respect, and a bold, expanding Soviet Union. He tossed away the old concept of military parity along with the Carter concept of capitulation and took it upon himself to defeat the Soviet Union.

Reagan recognized that a socialist economy barely functions. By rebuilding American armed forces, Reagan challenged the Soviet Union to keep up. They obliged. Our military spending increased to 27% of our federal budget. But the Soviets needed 60% of their budget to keep up. That's math didn't work well for the USSR. But the Soviets were willing to bleed their people dry.

"Nothing is more difficult than the art of maneuvering for advantageous positions." - Sun Tzu

Reagan had a stroke of brilliance. The Soviets relied upon hard currency to maintain their straining military budget. And there was only one source of Soviet hard currency; Oil. Reagan tripled the foreign aid to Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia to about 3 billion each, but under the following conditions: 1-They stop fighting. 2-They buy American military hardware. 3-Saudi Arabia increase oil production to meet American demand.

The Saudi's opened up the oil spigots. Overnight, the price of oil dropped below $20 per barrel. In one fell swoop, Reagan brought peace to the middle east, boosted the American economy with lower energy prices, and eliminated the only source of money to fund the Soviet army. It actually became more expensive for the Russians to pump oil than it was worth. The USSR was on its knees, ripe for defeat. Shortly after, Reagan announced the Strategic Defense Initiative. The USSR tossed in its hand. Within 24 months, the USSR was no longer in existence.

To this day, our economy benefits from lower oil prices and less military spending. All because Reagan won the Cold War.

That victory wasn't the sum of efforts from previous presidents. Reagan alone won the Cold War. Without firing a shot. Few give him credit for his utter political brilliance. When Reagan left office, America held unprecedented prestige and strength.

"The victories won by a master of war gain him neither reputation for wisdom nor merit for courage. How subtle and insubstantial, that the expert leaves no trace. How divinely mysterious, that he is inaudible. Thus, he is master of his enemy's fate." - Sun Tzu

Herding Cats: George Bush versus Saddaam Hussein, 1990-1992
Diplomatic Graffiti Bill Clinton versus China, 1992 to Present
Final Thoughts

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