# Domino theory

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "Domino theory," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/domino-theory/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*The Cold War doctrine, described by John Kiriakou as Ronald Reagan's organising obsession in Central America, holding that if one country there fell to communism the rest would fall in sequence up to the American border — the stated rationale for backing the Contra rebels against the Sandinistas.*

- **Promoted by:** Ronald Reagan, who Kiriakou says was "absolutely obsessed with Communism"
- **The claim:** If one Central American country fell to the communists, the others would fall like dominoes
- **Endpoint:** "Leading right up to the US border"
- **Policy consequence:** Support for the [Contra rebels](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/contra-rebels) against the Sandinistas

The **domino theory** is the doctrine [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) identifies as the intellectual starting point of the whole [Iran–Contra](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/iran-contra) chain.

Setting out the background to Nicaragua, he says that *"as historians will tell you Reagan was absolutely obsessed with Communism and he promoted something called the Domino Theory the Domino Theory held that if one single Central American country fell to the Communists the other countries in Central America would fall like dominoes leading right up to the US border."*[1]

The operational consequence follows directly: *"So Reagan and the people around him set out to stop the Communists from taking control of Nicaragua they did that by announcing their support for the [Contra Rebels](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/contra-rebels)."*[1][2]

## See also

- [Contra rebels](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/contra-rebels)
- [Iran-Contra](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/iran-contra)
- [Dark Alliance](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/dark-alliance)

## Sources

1. The Gary Webb Story: CIA, Cocaine, and a Media Assassination (2025-03-12), at 00:32. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjcwiMRDy9k&t=32s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-03-12-john-kiriakou-the-gary-webb-story-cia-cocaine-and-a-media-a/
2. The Gary Webb Story: CIA, Cocaine, and a Media Assassination (2025-03-12), at 01:03. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjcwiMRDy9k&t=63s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-03-12-john-kiriakou-the-gary-webb-story-cia-cocaine-and-a-media-a/

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From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/domino-theory/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt