For the United States, the decade of the Reagan eighties was simultaneously marked by the recovery of national pride and its continual bruising. The insults of the 70's had arisen from a complex series of events, not the least of which was OPEC'S rise to power and its newfound ability to influence world events. This influence was often in direct opposition to U.S. foreign policy. For the first time the United States found it's foreign interests seriously challenged by forces exterior to the Soviet Union.

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