Iceland in the Cold War a summit in Reykjavík in 1986 between United States President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev, during which they took significant steps toward nuclear disarmament. Only a few years later, in 1991, when Jón Baldvin Hannibalsson was foreign minister, Iceland would become the first country to recognize the independence of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania as they broke away from the Soviet Union. The US base served as a hub for transports and communications to Europe, a key chain in the GIUK gap, a monitor of Soviet submarine activity, a linchpin in the early warning system for incoming Soviet attacks,
Shamrock Summit Shamrock Summit The Shamrock Summit was the colloquial name given to the 18 March 1985 meeting between Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and US President Ronald Reagan in Quebec City. It gained this nickname because of the Irish background of the two leaders and because the meeting was held the day after St. Patrick's Day. The summit was capped by a televised event where Mulroney, Reagan and their wives sang "When Irish Eyes are Smiling", which publicly exemplified the camaraderie between the two leaders. The event is considered a major political-cultural episode in Canada, mostly on the basis of the