Looking Forward: Implications of President Reagan’s Peace Through Strength Policies Today

President Reagan hated war. He wanted to prevent war. And in the event he ever had to use force, it would be to advance freedom – and not to conquer. President Reagan sought peace, and he understood that peace requires strength. It is strength that tyrants respect. It is strength that enemies understand. It is strength that keeps the peace. As a guiding philosophy, “Peace Through Strength” is as relevant today as it was 40 years ago. In this Reagan Forum podcast we look back at our 80th anniversary of D-Day commemoration event held on June 6, 2024. The specific panel in this podcast focuses on where we need our leaders to rediscover and recommit to President Reagan’s philosophy. The Wall Street Journal’s Kate Bachelder Odell moderated a conversation with Former U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Burt, who was with Ronald Reagan in Normandy, Frank Lavin, who served as Ronald Reagan’s White House Director of Political Affairs—and later served as ambassador to Singapore under President George W. Bush, and Matt Kroenig, who is Vice President and Senior Director of the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security and a Georgetown professor.