To prove he is serious about National Missile Defense, President George W. Bush must abrogate the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty now, according to the most strident critics of the treaty. The longstanding ABM accord with Russia, it is said, is thwarting the technology needed for missile defense.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
The security environment in Asia has become highly complex since the end of the Cold War. A legacy from that superpower struggle still affects security relations, but what is surprising is the re-emergence of issues associated with World War II and before. Asians have long memories. Their injuries are not forgotten. Past history is just yesterday.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, and Defense Policy
Just five years ago the United States led a strong global effort to achieve indefinite extension of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) of 1970 which was due to expire on its 25th anniversary in April, 1995. U.S. leaders exerted substantial diplomatic pressure on nations less than enthusiastic about extending the NPT regime in order to ensure perpetuation of this critically important element of the global arms control structure, one very much in U.S. security interests.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, Defense Policy, and Economics
What moves faster than an intercontinental missile, leaps over rational scientific and diplomatic arguments, and defies the pull of fiscal constraints more surely than gravity governs the universe? With apologies to Superman for using his motto, the answer is the cost of the National Missile Defense (NMD) system that the Administration and Congress seem intent on developing and deploying by 2005 and maintaining for at least another 25 years.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, Defense Policy, and Economics
The end of the Cold War has had a major impact on global trade in conventional armaments, just as it has on most facets of national security and defense. The nature of global demand for arms has shifted from the context of rivalry between superpowers and their associated client states to providing for national defense within the context of regional security needs. While these changes have led to a decline in total global demand for arms, countries continue to seek to acquire substantial amounts of increasingly sophisticated weapons. Ironically, in many respects, the post-Cold War world is more unstable than the Cold War era, and is characterized by increased violence, by increased proliferation of military technology, and by the potential for these trends to continue. In this context, while the nature of the political-military issues that the U.S. and friendly nations now confront has changed, arms exports will continue to be a means of advancing U.S. national security and foreign policy objectives.
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, NATO, Arms Control and Proliferation, and Economics