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The Missile Defense Systems of George W. Bush
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The Missile Defense Systems of George W. Bush A Critical Assessment RICHARD DEAN BURNS
PRAEGER SECURITY INTERNATIONAL
Copyright 2010 by Richard Dean Burns All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Burns, Richard Dean. The missile defense systems of George W. Bush : a critical assessment / Richard Dean Burns. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-313-38466-0 (hard copy : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-313-38467-7 (ebook) 1. Ballistic missile defenses—United States. 2. Ballistic missile defenses—United States—History. 3. Bush, George W. (George Walker), 1946– 4. United States—Politics and government—2001–2009. 5. United States—Military policy. 6. World politics—1989– I. Title. UG743.B86 2010 358.1'740973090511—dc22 2010021795 ISBN: 978-0-313-38466-0 EISBN: 978-0-313-38467-7 14
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This book is also available on the World Wide Web as an eBook. Visit www.abc-clio.com for details. Praeger An Imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC ABC-CLIO, LLC 130 Cremona Drive, P.O. Box 1911 Santa Barbara, California 93116-1911 This book is printed on acid-free paper Manufactured in the United States of America
Contents
Preface
vii
Abbreviations
ix
Introduction
1
1
Missile Defense to ABM Diplomacy: From Eisenhower to Nixon
10
The Strategic Defense Initiative: From Reagan to G.H.W. Bush
32
Politics of Missile Defense Deployment: From William Clinton to George W. Bush
55
4
Missile Defense in Europe: Bush to Obama
79
5
North Korean and Iranian Missile Programs: Their Regional Impact
95
2 3
6
The Status of Missile Defense Systems
112
7
The Obama Administration and Missile Defense
133
Reflections
154
Notes
159
Selected References
177
Index
189
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Preface
President George W. Bush’s controversial order to deploy a land-based ballistic missile defense in 2002, following the unilateral abrogation of the 1972 Antiballistic Missile [ABM] Treaty, did not end five decades of debate. Indeed, not only were old issues revisited but new ones arose, especially given the Bush administration’s efforts to extend America’s ballistic missile defense (BMD) network to Central and Eastern Europe. Nor did the Bush administration’s efforts to use the new BMD system as a deterrent succeed in persuading the so-called rogue states of North Korea and Iran to halt their development of missiles or nuclear activities. This account, then, reviews the Bush BMD deployment after its first eight years and introduces the manner in which his successor, President Barak Obama, has sought to deal with the continuing issues. If this account’s objectives are met, readers should have sufficient data to judge whether these issues have been adequately assessed by American leaders and, with the deployment of a missile defense system, whether the American public will actually be protected by the system. For the preparation of the introductory chapters, I have revisited an earlier work, The Quest for Missile Defense, 1944–2003 (2004), written in collaboration with Professor Lester H. Brune. The first three cha