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CIAO DATE: 06/05

Contemporary Nuclear Debates: Missile Defenses, Arms Control, and Arms Races in the Twenty-First Century

Alexander T. J. Lennon

MIT Press

November 2002

 

Abstract

The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, in the hands of both states and terrorist networks, is considered by many to be the greatest threat to global security today. Contemporary Nuclear Debates discusses the key issues surrounding that threat.

The book is divided into four parts. Part I, "US National Missile Defense: When and How?" presents an overview of the missile defense debate and examines the merits of different deployment systems, such as sea-based, space-based, and boost-phase. Part II, "Global Perceptions of Missile Defense," goes beyond the standard debate about the risks and benefits of missile defenses to examine the specific potential reactions of major countries, including China, India, Iran, Japan, and Russia. Part III, "Do Arms Races Matter Anymore?" asks which countries, if any, have the capability to conduct an arms race with the United States, whether any country would choose to do so, and what weapons a country might build in response to a US missile defense deployment. Part IV, "Is Arms Control Dead?" discusses the circumstances under which arms control is useful today, new principles upon which it can be based, and new visions for its future.

Alexander T. J. Lennon is Editor-in-Chief of The Washington Quarterly, the journal of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

 

Table of Contents

The Contributors

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Modernizing Strategic Nuclear Debates
Alexander T. J. Lennon

I US National Missile Defense: When and How?

  1. The Politics: How Did We Get Here? (PDF, 9 pgs, 71 KB)
    Michael Nacht

  2. A Call to Deploy
    Stephen J. Hadley

  3. A Defense That Will Not Defend
    Richard L. Garwin

  4. Toward Missile Defenses from the Sea
    Hans Binnendijk and George Stewart

  5. Would Space-Based Defenses Improve Security?
    Kevin McLaughlin

  6. Missile Defense after the ABM Treaty
    James M Lindsay and Michael E. O'Hanlon

II Global Perceptions of Missile Defense

  1. Brussels's Burden
    Francois Heisbourg

  2. Tokyo's Temperance
    Yoichi Funabashi

  3. New Delhi's Dilemma
    Brahma Chellaney

  4. Israel's Imperative
    Efraim Karsh

  5. Pyongyang's Pressure
    Scott Snyder

  6. Tehran's Tocsin
    Anoushiravan Ehteshami

  7. Beijing's Bind
    Michael McDevitt

  8. Moscow's Matrix
    Alexander A. Pikayev

III Do Arms Races Matter Anymore?

  1. Return of the Nuclear Debate
    Leon Fuerth

  2. Do Arms Races Matter?
    Bruno Tertrais

  3. Action-Reaction Metaphysics and Negligence
    Keith B. Payne

  4. The New Arms Race
    Leon Sloss

IV Is Arms Control Dead?

  1. Is Arms Control Dead?
    Harold Brown

  2. The Demise of Arms Control?
    James Schlesingeri

  3. The Road Ahead
    Brad Roberts

  4. Strengthening Arms Control
    Thomas Graham

  5. An Inherent Lesson
    Stephen Cambone

  6. Arms Control in a New Era
    Rose Gottemoeller

  7. Renovation through Reassurance
    John Steinbruner