In the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan began implementing what became known as the Reagan Doctrine: "Freedom is not the the exclusive prerogative of the fortunate few, but the inalienable and universal right of all human beings” (Smith 130). This renewed the United States' call for moral authority to combat communism. Reagan supported this doctrine with drastic increases in defense spending and massive projects like the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). This forced the Soviet Union to also increase its defense spending in order to remain militarily competitive with the United States. However, the Soviet Union was in a much worse situation to achieve this, as it was already facing considerable debt and a much weaker economy. Paradoxically, the USSR's efforts to increase military spending only weakened its power by further destabilizing its economy. SDI was particularly worrisome to the Soviets because it completely threatened the doctrine of mutually assured destruction (MAD), whose balance of power had prevented nuclear war for the past 40 years (Smith 133). The United States also used the CIA to funnel money and weapons to rebels and dissidents in communist countries (Smith 130). Although in most cases only a minor cause of the end of communism, this support was particularly important in Poland where it helped keep Solidarity alive during its years in hiding and in Afghanistan where the United Nations