Refocusing the SDI debate
The role, if any, of ballistic missile defense is not an issue that can be decided by any individual nation. Even a dedicated US or Soviet unilateral military-technological drive toward a defense of the nation against ballistic missiles could not succeed. The very dynamics of the arms competition, manifesting itself in reciprocal measures and counter-measures, would preclude attaining an effective defense of either country. And in the extreme case, a perceived impending mortal threat could provoke direct military interference in any attempt to deploy such a system. The security and the fate of the two superpowers - and of the world - are ineluctably bound together. The problems of deterrence, defense, and survival are shared, and any solution must also be shared. The author attempts here to recast the problem and suggest a possible solution to both American and Soviet readers. The analytical approach is new, and so is the policy course recommended on the basis of the analysis. It does not correspond to the present positions of either the US or the Soviet Union, and debate and further consideration in both countries are, of course, required. It is, in short, an interim prescription for a common course of action that could be accepted by both the US and the Soviet Union while the leadership of both countries in the years ahead decide on further resolution of this mutual security dilemma.
- Research Organization:
- Brookings Institution, Washington, DC
- OSTI ID:
- 6200784
- Journal Information:
- Bull. At. Sci.; (United States), Journal Name: Bull. At. Sci.; (United States); ISSN BASIA
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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