The Future of Missile Defense

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the concept of missile defense, ie. the idea that a defense missile can be used to shoot down an incoming ballistic missile and how the mere idea of this ability in the past threatened to add fuel to an ongoing arms race between the two then superpowers. It evaluates the Anti Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM) which was a result of an attempt to add some stability to a very dangerous and unstable Cold War. This paper examines the new challenges to that treaty, challenges which have ultimately left it a remnant of the past and the reasons why President Bush choose to leave the treaty. It attempts to understand the treaty's past, its present situation and the future of American Foreign Policy without its restriction. It analyzes the history and development of missile technology over the tears and the international threat it poses.

From the Paper:

"To fully understand the ABM treaty, the issues of the world in which it was made must be taken into account. When Nixon came into the office of the President, the Vietnam War was coming to an end. The goals of the Nixon administration were to decrease America's extent to regional allies and to create stability in the world. The end of the Vietnam War was an example of Nixon's goal to decrease America's protection through non-nuclear assistance to regional allies. Nixon declared that America would provide a nuclear umbrella for her allies but "The primary burden for regional and local defense would lie with the states directly concerned." This policy was a direct result of America's domestic situation at the time."

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