National Missile Defense

National Missile Defense: Policy Issues and Technological Capabilities, July 2000

By David R. Tanks

This comprehensive and highly illustrated study reviews the international missile proliferation environment, examines the U.S. arms control and national missile defense (NMD) deployment dichotomy, explains the technology being developed for the NMD system, surveys the NMD program and deployment plans, and explores alternative NMD options. In the findings and recommendations chapter, the study concludes that the United States needs a new policy that incorporates at least five separate objectives:

Reduce the incentive for more countries to obtain long-range missile capabilities
Increase costs to missile-capable countries that transfer missile capabilities to other states
Reduce the incentive for China to increase its level of ICBM/SLBM holdings significantly
Facilitate Russia's need to make further reductions in its nuclear and missile arsenal
Maintain U.S. national security even in the face of crumbling nonproliferation regimes and increasing rates of international missile proliferation

The study's recommendations are hard hitting, proposing major changes in U.S. policy.