Pseudo-war

Walter Truett Anderson points to the US invasion of Grenada (1983) as an example of a postmodern public-relations war: “its primary purpose was to give the American public a ‘win,’ to flex the muscles of the Reagan administration, to allow Americans to (in the phrase current at the time) ‘feel good about themselves.’ It was political therapy, and real theater.” It allowed Reagan to proclaim “America is back – standing tall.”

Let’s say that’s all true, and that there was no stake in what was happening in Grenada. One wonders what kind of effect events such as the Grenada invasion had on the larger geo-political scheme. Would the USSR have been as ready to negotiate with the US if America had not projected an image of assertiveness and military power? Without 1983, would 1989 have happened?