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In her book ''Practical Progressive: How to Build a 21st Century Political Movement'', political scientist Erica Payne wrote that the Heritage Foundation was also known for the ideas put forth by its foreign policy analysts in the 1980s and early 1990s to provide military and other support to anti-communist resistance movements around the world. The Foundation pushed for this strategy, known as the [[Reagan doctrine]], in [[Afghanistan]], [[Angola]], [[Cambodia]], [[Nicaragua]] and other nations around the world.<ref name="payne">Erica Payne, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=EW__AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA52&lpg=PA52&dq=The+Practical+Progressive:+How+to+Build+a+21st+Century+Political+Movement&source=bl&ots=2SnMLz2Z0O&sig=fYtWuOJ6wtEAoL-xSUJt_kLFX1k&hl=en&sa=X&ei=W-W6U-zVIsSOyATdzYGADg&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAg#v=snippet&q=heritage&f=false The Practical Progressive: How to Build a 21st Century Political Movement],'' Public Affairs, 2008.</ref>
The Foundation worked closely with leading anti-communist movements, including the Nicaraguan contras and [[Jonas Savimbi]]'s Unita movement in Angola to bring military, economic and political pressure on Soviet-aligned regimes.<ref name="Johns1987">Michael Johns, [http://www.unz.org/Pub/PolicyRev-1987q2-00032 The Lessons of Afghanistan: Bipartisan Support for Freedom Fighters Pays Off], ''Policy Review'', Heritage Foundation publication, March 1987, p. 32.</ref> Throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Foundation's support for the Nicaraguan contras and Angola's Jonas Savimbi<ref>Michael Johns, [http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/1988/11/angola-at-the-crossroads Angola at the Crossroads], Executive Memorandum #219, Heritage Foundation publication, November 18, 1988.</ref> proved extremely influential with the United States government, including the [[Central Intelligence Agency]], the [[Defense Intelligence Agency]], the [[National Security Council]] and other governmental agencies.<ref>Jonas Savimbi, [http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/1989/10/the-coming-winds-of-democracy-in-angola The Coming Winds of Democracy in Angula], Lecture #217, Heritage Foundation publication, October 1, 1989.</ref> According to Payne, the Heritage Foundation presented its case for armed support for these movements, and United States support soon followed. The Foundation ultimately succeeded in its efforts, with the United States winning both covert and overt "wars of liberation" against Soviet-aligned states around the world.<ref name="payne"/> Critics argued that this endeavor led to undue bloodshed in the Third World and damaged American relations with the former Soviet Union.<ref>Sara Fritz, "[http://articles.latimes.com/1986-08-31/news/mn-14962_1_reagan-doctrine Reagan Doctrine Seen as a Policy Watershed : President's Support for 'Freedom Fighters' Aims at Reversing Communist Gains Around World]," ''L.A. Times'', August 31, 1986. Accessed July 7, 2014.</ref> Supporters have argued that the cost imposed on Moscow by such efforts was huge, leading to the beginning of the end for the imperial Soviet empire.{{fact}} Whatever the truth, it was the first prominent example of the Heritage Foundation's ability to fundamentally alter the course of American policy.
But Heritage Foundation foreign policy analysts did not just champion the Reagan Doctrine in Washington. Some were key actors in these conflicts, visiting the front lines to provide political and military guidance to Savimbi in Angola and the contra leadership.<ref name="payne"/> They also provided bold and inflammatory predictions that these conflicts were tugging on the very soul of global communism and that these Soviet-supported regimes and the Soviet Union itself were on the brink of collapse. This prediction may seem accurate in retrospect, but ignores the many other contributing factors to the collapse of communism.<ref name="Johns1987"/> According to Payne, Heritage also "played an instrumental role in advancing and upholding Reagan's controversial description of the former U.S.S.R. as an 'evil empire.'"<ref name="payne"/>