Ronald Reagan: “Evil Empire” Speech

Questions for Further Study

• 1. Ronald Reagan made hundreds of speeches as president, but “evil empire” was one of the most memorable phrases he ever used. Why do you think that these words had such a powerful effect in 1983 and in the following years? What about Reagan's language, the ideas he conveyed, the context of the speech, and the nature of the Soviet-American conflict during the cold war accounted for the power of his words?
• 2. In the “Evil Empire” Speech, Reagan states that “traditional values” are part of the foundation of American democracy and “that freedom prospers only where the blessings of God are avidly sought and humbly accepted.” Do you agree with Reagan's assertions about the connections between religion and American democracy? In what ways do religious values strengthen or reinforce democratic practices or institutions? In what ways do religious values complicate or weaken democratic practices or institutions?
• 3. President Reagan presents the cold war as a conflict between a nation committed to freedom and an “evil empire” that recognizes no moral values except whatever advances its goal of world revolution. Do you think that Reagan was right to explain the cold war as fundamentally a moral conflict? Are there other ways of understanding the reasons for the international differences associated with the cold war? What role did security issues play? Economic conflicts? Ideological differences?
• 4. President Reagan called the Soviet Union an “evil empire” and explained the cold war with the Soviets as a conflict between good and evil. In his State of the Union Address of January 29, 2002, President George W. Bush asserted that Iran, Iraq, and North Korea were parts of an “axis of evil.” He also depicted the war on terror as a conflict between good and evil. What advantages are there to presenting international adversaries or enemies as “evil”? Are there disadvantages to using that term to describe American foes? Compare and contrast the ways Reagan and Bush used the term “evil” to generate support for their foreign policies.