Doctrine

Underpinning for a belief or policy that may refer to religious dogma or a principle of law. In the context of American politics, however, the term is used to refer to axioms or positions meant to apply across a broad spectrum of circumstances.

Doctrine is intended to guide actions in a general way, without detailing specifics. Doctrines are usually associated with, and named after, a specific leader—for example, the Monroe Doctrine or the Truman Doctrine. The two most common types of doctrine are policy doctrine and military doctrine, although the former almost always has implications for the latter.

Many different doctrines have underpinned U.S. foreign policy, and they read as a timeline of important events in U.S. diplomatic history. The Monroe Doctrine, issued by President James Monroe in 1823, asserted U.S. influence over the Americas. The doctrine was a response to continued European designs on colonial territories in South America, Central America, and the Caribbean. The Monroe Doctrine became relevant again during the Cold War and was invoked in response to attempts to establish communist power in the Western Hemisphere. The two most important instances were the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, when the Soviet Union attempted to place nuclear weapons in Cuba, and U.S. interference in Nicaragua during the 1980s.

The administration of President Ronald Reagan funded the contras, a guerilla group that was attempting to overthrow Nicaragua's socialist government. This funding of the contras led to the Iran-Contra affair, in which it was revealed that the administration sold arms to Iran against U.S. law and used the money to fund the contras. The Iran-Contra affair was the most serious scandal of the Reagan presidency.

The energy with which the U.S. government worked to undermine communism during this period was partially based on the Kirkpatrick Doctrine. Jean Kirkpatrick, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations during the 1980s, argued that right-wing authoritarian regimes were more likely than left-wing totalitarian regimes to evolve into democracies. This doctrine was used to rationalize support by the United States for right-wing dictatorships in Guatemala, the Philippines, and Argentina, as well as rebel groups attempting to overthrow left-wing governments.

Resistance to the spread of communism was the focus of a series of U.S. Cold War doctrines. The Truman Doctrine, issued in 1947 by President Harry S. Truman, indicated that the United States would support governments resisting communism. The Eisenhower Doctrine, expressed in 1957 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, reiterated this position, with specific reference to the Middle East. The Carter Doctrine was issued in 1980 by President Jimmy Carter in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and warned the Soviets against interference in Iran.

The Soviets, in turn, justified their 1979 invasion of Afghanistan with the Brezhnev Doctrine, named after Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev. Originally issued prior to the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, this doctrine stated that the Soviet Union considered the fate of socialism and socialist regimes on their borders to be their direct concern. Years later, Mikhail Gorbachev established what was half-jokingly described as the Sinatra Doctrine, named after singer Frank Sinatra. The name referred to the singer's hit song “My Way,” and the doctrine itself signaled greater autonomy for the socialist countries in the Eastern bloc.

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