1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910814147503321

Autore

Eisendrath Craig R

Titolo

The phantom defense : America's pursuit of the Star Wars illusion / / Craig Eisendrath, Melvin A. Goodman, Gerald E. Marsh

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Westport, CT., : Praeger, c2001

ISBN

1-280-31551-2

9786610315512

0-313-01615-1

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (xix, 190 pages) : illustrations

Altri autori (Persone)

GoodmanMelvin A <1938-> (Melvin Allan)

MarshGerald E. <1939->

Disciplina

358.1/74/0973

Soggetti

Ballistic missile defenses - United States

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Includes index.

Nota di contenuto

Ch. 1. Deja Vu All Over Again: A Short History of "Star Wars" Ch. 2. Anti-Missile Defense and the Political Maze Ch. 3. Two views of the World Ch. 4. The Exaggerated Threat of Ballistic Missiles Ch. 5. Why National Missile Defense Won't Work Ch. 6. Other Proposed National Missile Defense Systems Ch. 7. Geopolitical Implications of National Missile Defense Ch. 8. Arms Control and Policy Alternatives App. 1. Countermeasures App. 2. Waste, Fraud, and Abuse App. 3. The Center for International Policy

Sommario/riassunto

In the past four decades, the United States has spent $85 billion pursuing the fantasy of an effective missile defense system to shield our nation against the threat of a nuclear attack. Recent public tests, while less exotic than some of the original "Star Wars" proposals, were spectacular failures and call into question the whole program's rationale. Neither the land-based system proposed by the Clinton administration, nor the alternatives proposed by earlier administrations, would ever work--regardless of how much R & D money is channeled into the project. Rather than enhancing national security, these doomed efforts would provoke a new arms race and alienate key allies. The authors apply their extensive insiders' expertise to argue that thoughtful diplomacy is the only real answer to meet



America's national security goals.