Carter Doctrine
The Carter Doctrine was a policy proclaimed by United States president Jimmy Carter in his State of the Union Address on January 23, 1980, which stated that the U.S. would use military force, if necessary, to defend its national interests in the Persian Gulf. It was a response to the Soviet Union's intervention in Afghanistan in 1979, and it was intended to deter the Soviet Union, the country's Cold War adversary, from seeking hegemony in the Persian Gulf region.