Cika wannan jumlar: A shekara ta 1981, sabon Shugaban Amurka, Ronald Reagan, ya bi ka'ida mai tsauri game da Libya, yana da'awar cewa gwamnatin marigayi ce ta Tarayyar Soviet. Daga bisani, Gaddafi ya yi amfani da dangantakar kasuwanci da Soviets, ya sake ziyarci Moscow a 1981 da 1985, kuma ya yi barazanar shiga yarjejeniyar Warsaw. Duk da haka Soviets sun yi taka tsantsan da Gaddafi, suna ganinsa a matsayin mai tsattsauran ra'ayi. A watan Agustan 1981, Amurka ta gudanar da atisayen soji a Tekun Sirte <unk> wani yanki da Libya ta yi ikirarin cewa wani bangare ne na ruwanta. Amurka ta harbe jiragen saman Su-22 na Libya guda biyu wadanda suke kan hanyar dakatarwa. Rufe ofishin jakadancin Libya a Washington, DC, Reagan ya shawarci kamfanonin Amurka da ke aiki a Libya don rage yawan ma'aikatan Amurka da ke aiki a can. A watan Maris na 1982, Amurka ta aiwatar da takunkumi kan man Libya, kuma a watan Janairun 1986 ta umarci dukkan kamfanonin Amurka da su daina aiki a kasar, kodayake daruruwan ma'aikata sun kasance lokacin da gwamnatin Libya ta ninka albashin su. A lokacin bazara na shekara ta 1986,
Sojojin ruwan Amurka sun sake gudanar da atisaye a Tekun Sirte; Sojojin Libiya sun rama, amma sun kasa yayin da Amurka ta nutsar da jiragen ruwan Libiya da yawa. Har ila yau, dangantakar diflomasiyya ta rushe tare da Birtaniya, bayan da aka zargi 'yan diflomasiyyar Libya da kisan Yvonne Fletcher,' yar' yan sandan Birtaniya da ke zaune a waje da ofishin jakadancin London, a watan Afrilu 1984.