THE IRAN-CONTRA AFFAIR BRIEF

Iran-Contra Affair

The Iran-Contra Affair revolved around a clandestine foreign policy operation that was aimed at selling arms to Iran in exchange for the release of US hostages in Lebanon and to illegitimately shift the profits from this sale to Nicaraguan contra, whose agenda was to oust the Sandinista government. The purpose of this study is to determine why the Congress forbid the Reagan’s administration from donating taxpayer’s money to the Nicaraguan contras.[1] It will also seek to establish why the Nicaraguan government sued the US in the international court. The hypothesis of this study will be based on the idea that public evaluation of the presidential performance is a function of patriotism and that it is the Iranian Contra affair that valuated the integrity of the president rather than his competence. The significance of the Iran-Contra Affair is in the demonstration of the capabilities of the government if no one airs their story (public money and the arms embargo) as well as its capabilities when its secrets are brought into the limelight (denial and the lack of proof that the administration was involved).[2]

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Bibliography

Brody, Richard A., and Catherine R. Shapiro. "Policy failure and public support: The Iran-Contra affair and public assessment of President Reagan." Political Behavior 11, no. 4 (1989): 353-369.

Koh, Harold Hongju. "Why the President (Almost) Always Wins in Foreign Affairs: Lessons of the Iran-Contra Affair." Yale Law Journal (1988): 1255-1342.