Going Ballistic Over Missile Defenses: What Matters and Why

Missile defenses have become a source of controversy between the United States and Russia, out of proportion to their technological capabilities and in negligence of strategic and political realities. Cooler heads should prevail. U.S. or other national missile defenses will not abolish mutual deterrence based on assured retaliation. In addition, whether defenses support or undermine deterrence is a question of political intent, not of technology determinism. U.S. missile defenses deployed in Europe, for example, might be provocateurs of Russian distrust or they might be instruments of collaborative research and development under a regime of cooperative security.