In the vital region of the Caribbean Basin, we’re developing a program of aid, trade, and investment incentives to promote self-sustaining growth and a better, more secure life for our neighbors to the south.  Toward those who would export terrorism and subversion in the Caribbean and elsewhere, especially Cuba and Libya, we will act with firmness.

Our foreign policy is a policy of strength, fairness, and balance.  By restoring America’s military credibility, by pursuing peace at the negotiating table wherever both sides are willing to sit down in good faith, and by regaining the respect of America’s allies and adversaries alike, we have strengthened our country’s position as a force for peace and progress in the world.

When action is called for, we’re taking it.  Our sanctions against the military dictatorship that has attempted to crush human rights in Poland—­and against the Soviet regime behind that military dictatorship—­clearly demonstrated to the world that America will not conduct “business as usual” with the forces of oppression.  If the events in Poland continue to deteriorate, further measures will follow.

Now, let me also note that private American groups have taken the lead in making January 30th a day of solidarity with the people of Poland.  So, too, the European Parliament has called for March 21st to be an international day of support for Afghanistan.  Well, I urge all peace-loving peoples to join together on those days, to raise their voices, to speak and pray for freedom.

Meanwhile, we’re working for reduction of arms and military activities, as I announced in my address to the Nation last November 18th.  We have proposed to the Soviet Union a far-reaching agenda for mutual reduction of military forces and have already initiated negotiations with them in Geneva on intermediate-range nuclear forces.  In those talks it is essential that we negotiate from a position of strength.  There must be a real incentive for the Soviets to take these talks seriously.  This requires that we rebuild our defenses.

In the last decade, while we sought the moderation of Soviet power through a process of restraint and accommodation, the Soviets engaged in an unrelenting buildup of their military forces.  The protection of our national security has required that we undertake a substantial program to enhance our military forces.

We have not neglected to strengthen our traditional alliances in Europe and Asia, or to develop key relationships with our partners in the Middle East and other countries.  Building a more peaceful world requires a sound strategy and the national resolve to back it up.  When radical forces threaten our friends, when economic misfortune creates conditions of instability, when strategically vital parts of the world fall under the shadow of Soviet power, our response can make the difference between peaceful change or disorder and violence.  That’s why we’ve laid such stress not only on our own defense but on our vital foreign assistance program.  Your recent passage of the Foreign Assistance Act sent a signal to the world that America will not shrink from making the investments necessary for both peace and security.  Our foreign policy must be rooted in realism, not naivete or self-delusion.