To what extent can political cartoons be used to track the changes in Ronald Reagan's foreign policy? I have three cartoons, you can use any two. “Can’t you see I’m trying to fill a hole?” by Bill Sanders, Milwaukee Journal, 1981 “He’s got to eat to have the strength to start reducing” by Jim Mazzotta, Fort Myers News Press, 1982 “Surely they’ll not be so stupid as to keep on coming!” by Bob Artley, Worthington Daily Globe, 1982

I'll provide a critical analysis of the cartoon by Bob Artley for the Worthington Daily Globe to guide your own reflections on the remaining examples. Artley's image is an excellent example of political satire, illustrating the ironic nature of Reagan's policy on the arms race with the Soviet Union. Political cartoons are a means by which illustrators comment and respond to immediate or ongoing conflicts; note that the newspaper Artley's image appears in is a daily source.
It is important to note the political circumstances in the years leading up to the cartoon's publication. Reagan is known to have escalated the Cold War during his presidency by reversing the policy of détente. French for "release from tension," this term refers to the period of improved relations between the United States and the Soviet Union, particularly under Richard Nixon's presidency between 1971 and 1974. Nixon's vision of peaceful negotiation did not continue; Reagan believed that the USSR was using détente and the SALT talks to take advantage of the United States. Reagan initiated START, or the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks, with the Soviet Union in mid-1982. These talks failed quickly because they demanded that the USSR unconditionally reduce its nuclear arsenal but allow the United States to continue amassing weapons. Artley conveys the irony of this tactic, as both the United States and USSR were amassing weapons, believing the other force to be inferior and reckless for approaching retaliation.