A Guide to Primary Resources for U.S. History : Star Wars CNN Interactive: The Cold War Experience This sophisticated project website focused on the "Star Wars" defense initiative of President Ronald Reagan contains very interesting features, among other things a component ("You Make the Call") that allows students to make policy decisions based on historical facts and then view the real decisions and reasons behind their outcome. There are also many links to archival photographs and documents of the period. (Primary source material organized skillfully around secondary source commentary). On the CNN site, there is a link to "Brinksmanship: You make the call." In this brief exercise, students decide, from the perspective of Ronald Reagan, whether to abandon the Strategic Defense Project in order to meet Gorbachev's condition in a nuclear arms agreement. They read a brief introduction to their character and advice from three of his advisors to help them make a decision. There is a link to "Then and Now: Star Wars Redux," which compares Reagan's Strategic Defense Project to more current debates over an anti-missile defense system. Students can read the comparison and compose a recommendation letter to the current American president, arguing their opinion on the matter. The "Then and Now" link is only an introduction, but the students can link to many of the other resources on the website to learn about the history of Reagan's Strategic Defense project and the consequences of developing such a system.

(d) explaining the collapse of communism and the end of the Cold War, including the role of Ronald Reagan.

Star Wars
CNN Interactive: The Cold War Experience

Description: This sophisticated project website focused on the "Star Wars" defense initiative of President Ronald Reagan contains very interesting features, among other things a component ("You Make the Call") that allows students to make policy decisions based on historical facts and then view the real decisions and reasons behind their outcome. There are also many links to archival photographs and documents of the period. (Primary source material organized skillfully around secondary source commentary).

Teaching Tips:

"Do Now" Suggestion

On the CNN site, there is a link to "Brinksmanship: You make the call." In this brief exercise, students decide, from the perspective of Ronald Reagan, whether to abandon the Strategic Defense Project in order to meet Gorbachev's condition in a nuclear arms agreement. They read a brief introduction to their character and advice from three of his advisors to help them make a decision.

Suggestion for Using this Resource as Part of a Lesson

There is a link to "Then and Now: Star Wars Redux," which compares Reagan's Strategic Defense Project to more current debates over an anti-missile defense system. Students can read the comparison and compose a recommendation letter to the current American president, arguing their opinion on the matter. The "Then and Now" link is only an introduction, but the students can link to many of the other resources on the website to learn about the history of Reagan's Strategic Defense project and the consequences of developing such a system.