Recently, in a street interview segment, two passers-by were shown pictures of famous Americans, one of President Ronald Reagan and the second of Martin Luther King Jr.

Both people were clueless.It is a sad commentary on where we are as a nation when American young adults can’t identify the most prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement or the U.S. president who was the primary figure leading to the downfall of communist governments in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.There are times when we feel our leaders in Washington are just as vague about our nation’s history and out-of-touch with present-day realities. When asked what the greatest current threat is to our planet, there’s a great divide between the Democrats, who say climate change, and Republicans, who believe that China, Russia or the threat of international terrorism are more immediate threats.There’s little doubt about how the current administration feels. For nearly eight years there has been a drain in skilled military personnel, and a shrinking defense budget makes it more difficult to maintain existing weapon systems. Many feel the shift in strategic priorities puts our military readiness in jeopardy and thus poses a rising threat to U.S. vital interests.The Army and Marine Corps, the two service branches that have borne the brunt of the ground combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, have felt the cuts, not only in troop numbers but in ordinance. Budget cuts have forced the Army to keep weapons designed for the Cold War in service decades longer than expected. One report showed only 30 percent of the Marine Corps’ 276 F/A-18 Hornet strike fighters were in flying condition. That shortage means reduced flight hours for Marine pilots, who fly only four hours per month on average, compared with between 25 and 30 hours per month 10 years ago.Dakota Wood, senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation and editor of the Heritage 2016 Index of U.S. Military Strength, said it’s perplexing to our military leadership when they hear administration officials claim that global warming is a more significant threat than the nuclear stockpiles of China or Russia, Iran’s rising nuclear aspirations or the threat of terrorist groups such as ISIS.One index rated U.S. military power, combining capacity, capability and readiness. On a five-point scale, ranging from very strong to very weak, it showed overall U.S. military posture as “marginal,” trending toward “weak.” These grim facts are not lost to our major rivals like Russia and China, who are consistently probing and testing America’s resolve.President Reagan is most loved by conservatives because of his belief in limited government. He once said that “the nine most terrifying words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’ ”Those limitations, however, did not include the weakening our military. Reagan’s legacy as a strong leader was accented by his policy of having a strong defense as a deterrent. This became known as the “Reagan Doctrine,” which he outlined in a speech to the British Parliament in 1982.“Our military strength is a prerequisite to peace, but let it be clear we maintain this strength in the hope it will never be used,” Reagan said in his London speech, “for the ultimate determinant in the struggle that’s now going on in the world will not be bombs and rockets, but a test of wills and ideas, a trial of spiritual resolve, the values we hold, the beliefs we cherish, the ideals to which we are dedicated.”From a secure position of military and economic power, Reagan was successful in not only containing Soviet communism, but in subduing it. In his famous “Tear down this wall” speech in West Berlin on June 12, 1987, he called on Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to open up the barrier which had divided West and East Berlin since 1961.With that in mind, we can’t imagine Vladimir Putin having Russian aircraft buzz U.S. Navy ships if a strong leader like Ronald Reagan occupied the White House. Last month, U.S. military leaders voiced concern about their ability to fight a conventional war against the armed forces of countries such as China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.U.S. Army Chief of Staff General Mark Milley told the House Armed Services Committee the military’s anti-terrorism and counterinsurgency focus on the Middle East has taken resources away from planning and preparation to fight a “higher-end” combat force if a conflict erupted in another part of the world. Milley said if that were to happen, he would have grave concerns about the readiness of our force to deal with that in a timely manner.Twenty-five years ago, Reagan’s prediction of the collapse of Soviet communism came true, ending the Cold War. America and the world are now in an even more dangerous time with major powers such as Russia and China again flexing their military muscle, escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula over the North’s nuclear threat, and the ongoing threat of international terrorism.The next president will have to make very difficult decisions. As a prerequisite to the job as leader of the free world, that person should study the Reagan doctrine of preserving peace through strength, a policy that helped promote the advancement of democracy in the world.By Jim Zbick |

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