Missile defense malpractice: U.S.-Russian relations and nuclear fallacy

U.S.-Russian political relations took a turn for the worse in 2011-2012, especially in the latter year, a presidential election year in both the United States and Russia. Among the issues in contention as betweenWashington and Moscow was the American and NATO plan for phased deployment of missile defenses in Europe. Some prominent Russian officials and military experts regarded the proposed European Phased Adaptive Approach (EPAA) plan for European missile defenses as a prospective threat to Russia's strategic nuclear deterrent. Russia's objections to NATO's missiles defenses are as much political as they are military-technical, and the 2012 return of Vladimir Putin to the Russian presidency renders uncertain the future of the U.S.-Russian 'reset' launched during the early years of the Obama administration.