Dubbed “Star Wars” by the media, the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), first proposed by President Ronald W. Reagan in a televised address on March 23, 1983, is a research program designed to explore the technical feasibility of defense against enemy missiles using satellites and laser technology.
The public announcement of SDI created a furor over whether the development of such a weapon technology was feasible in the immediate future, and if such a system was permitted under the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. Proponents, such as physicist Edward Teller, argued that the basic technology had existed for 30 years and that the ABM treaty did not apply to new technologies (i. e., lasers) that had emerged since its ratification. Furthermore, proponents argued such a system would reduce the likelihood of war because any enemy would hesitate to attack us. Opponents charged that a “missile shield” was technologically impossible, that such a system would cause the Soviets to increase their offensive capabilities, and that the United States had always followed the letter of treaties. In this case, opponents argued, the ABM treaty prevented the development of any antimissile system by either party.
By the early 1990s, concerns over the spread of missile technology and the proliferation of nuclear, chemical, and biological weaponry caused President George H. W. Bush to shift the focus of the program from intercepting a massive Soviet attack to the new threat of isolated attacks from rogue states. In his 1991 State of the Union Address, Bush announced that SDI would be directed to providing protection from limited attacks. By the end of the Bush administration, SDI development had cost over $30 billion.
During the administration of William J. Clinton, the project was downgraded and the focus of research became the interception of short-range missiles. The director of the program no longer reported directly to the secretary of defense; instead, reports were made to the undersecretary for acquisition and technology. The budget was cut nearly in half, from $6.8 billion to $3.8 billion. While the program survived, it was no longer a centerpiece of American strategic policy. With the election of George W. Bush, the debate was rekindled with the president’s announcement that he plans to implement a missile defense system.
In 2002 President Bush cleared the way for the development and deployment of a new missile defense system by withdrawing from the ABM Treaty. Throughout his administration, the United States continued to develop technologies providing the capability to protect the United States and its allies from the threat of missile launches from rogue states such as North Korea and Iran, and to deter rogue regimes from developing nuclear weapons and the ballistic missiles necessary to carry them.
In 2008 the United States reached agreements with both Poland and the Czech Republic to deploy missile defense systems to those countries in order to protect NATO allies from missile attack by nations in the Middle East. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signed an agreement with the Czech foreign minister on July 8 to place a ballistic missile defense radar site in the Czech Republic, and signed an agreement on August 20 with the Polish foreign minister to deploy ballistic missile interceptors in Poland. Russia reacted to the news with alarm, insisting that such a move would further strain U. S.-Rus-sia relations, which had already been strained when Russian troops entered the neighboring country of Georgia. Russia feared that such a defense system would be used against Russia rather than rogue regimes of the Middle East. Strained relations between the two countries led to speculation that the United States and Russia were headed for a second cold war.
See also defense policy; Strategic Arms Limitation Treaties.
Further reading: Frances Fitzgerald, Way Out There in the Blue: Reagan, Star Wars, and the End of the Cold War (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000).
—John Korasick
World History
