Missile Defense: Political Impact


The missile defense debate has a major political impact. The underlying technological choices are linked to tremendous international implications, political and otherwise. Various anti-missile technologies are not  yet available, and it will  probably take decades before missile defense will have a military effect. But what it already does is to generate massive political consequences: effects on U.S. alliances in Asia and Europe, on arms control and nonproliferation regimes, and on the framework of regional powers, in particular those of Russia and China.

  • Missile Defense and the ABM Treaty
    Provides the text of the ABM Treaty and its protocols, material on the 1993-1997 ABM-TMD demarkation negotiations, the Clinton and Bush administration's missile defense schemes relating to the ABM treaty, Congressional documents and research papers.