"Tear Down This Wall" by Ronald Reagan (1987): "Tear Down This Wall," List 2

In 1987 President Ronald Reagan traveled to Berlin and delivered this monumental speech encouraging Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. security
    the state of being free from danger or injury
    We welcome change and openness; for we believe that freedom and security go together, that the advance of human liberty can only strengthen the cause of world peace.
  2. liberalization
    the act of making less strict
    General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate!
  3. afflict
    cause great unhappiness for
    I understand the fear of war and the pain of division that afflict this continent—and I pledge to you my country's efforts to help overcome these burdens.
  4. unassailable
    immune to attack; incapable of being tampered with
    So we must maintain defenses of unassailable strength.
  5. strive
    attempt by employing effort
    Yet we seek peace; so we must strive to reduce arms on both sides.
  6. nuclear
    deriving destructive energy from releasing atomic energy
    Beginning 10 years ago, the Soviets challenged the Western alliance with a grave new threat, hundreds of new and more deadly SS-20 nuclear missiles, capable of striking every capital in Europe.
  7. commit
    give entirely to a specific person, activity, or cause
    The Western alliance responded by committing itself to a counter-deployment unless the Soviets agreed to negotiate a better solution; namely, the elimination of such weapons on both sides.
  8. negotiate
    discuss the terms of an arrangement
    The Western alliance responded by committing itself to a counter-deployment unless the Soviets agreed to negotiate a better solution; namely, the elimination of such weapons on both sides.
  9. minister
    a diplomat representing one government to another
    As I speak, NATO ministers are meeting in Iceland to review the progress of our proposals for eliminating these weapons.
  10. strategic
    relating to an elaborate and systematic plan of action
    At the talks in Geneva, we have also proposed deep cuts in strategic offensive weapons.
  11. offensive
    for the purpose of attack rather than defense
    At the talks in Geneva, we have also proposed deep cuts in strategic offensive weapons.
  12. ally
    a friendly nation
    And the Western allies have likewise made far-reaching proposals to reduce the danger of conventional war and to place a total ban on chemical weapons.
  13. conventional
    conforming with accepted standards
    And the Western allies have likewise made far-reaching proposals to reduce the danger of conventional war and to place a total ban on chemical weapons.
    A conventional war is generally understood to be a war without the use of nuclear weapons.
  14. initiative
    the first of a series of actions
    And in cooperation with many of our allies, the United States is pursuing the Strategic Defense Initiative research to base deterrence not on the threat of offensive retaliation, but on defenses that truly defend—on systems, in short, that will not target populations, but shield them.
  15. deterrence
    the act or process of discouraging actions
    And in cooperation with many of our allies, the United States is pursuing the Strategic Defense Initiative research to base deterrence not on the threat of offensive retaliation, but on defenses that truly defend—on systems, in short, that will not target populations, but shield them.
Created on Tue Jun 03 14:36:55 EDT 2025 (updated Tue Jun 03 14:38:11 EDT 2025)

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