Shield of Dreams

by Cimbala, Stephen J.

• ISBN13: 9781591141167
• ISBN10: 1591141168
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-12-01
• Publisher: Naval Inst Pr

Summary

"Shield of Dreams examines the implications of missile defense deployment by the United States and Russia during the current and future decades. Under the Bush administration the United States began the process of deploying a global ballistic missile defense (BMD) and in 2007 announced plans to locate parts of the system in Eastern Europe. This plan, in turn, alarmed Russian president Vladimir Putin and contributed to a deterioration in U.S.-Russian relations and contributed to the Russian incursion into Georgia." "Cimbala discusses how a post-Bush/post-Putin era could open the door either to improved detente or to increased acrimony over such holdover issues as missile defense and NATO enlargement, the fate of the CFE (Conventional Forces in Europe) and INF (Intermediate Nuclear Forces) treaties, and U.S. hegemony in world politics. Russia's improved economy under Putin has raised its political self-confidence and made more resources available for military modernization, compared to the 1990s. Russia's previous willingness to take a back seat to U.S. and allied NATO countries on the world stage has been replaced by an assertiveness that emphasizes Russia's status as a formidable power. Russia's nuclear weapons greatly support their claim to be a world power." "According to the author, Russia considers the U.S.-Russian SORT (Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty) agreement of 2002 an important benchmark for modernizing its long-range nuclear forces. SORT comes into effect on the last day of 2012, and it requires the United States and Russia to decrease their numbers of operationally deployed nuclear weapons on intercontinental launchers to between 2,200 and 1,700 weapons. Cimbala considers how stable the U.S.-Russian nuclear deterrence and arms control relationship might be once these SORT levels are reached."--BOOK JACKET.

Author Biography

Stephen J. Cimbala is a distinguished professor of political science at Penn State-Brandywine.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	p. vii
Preface and Acknowledgments	p. xi
Abbreviations	p. xiii
Introduction: Missile Defenses in a New Nuclear Century	p. 1
Russian and American Nuclear Force Reductions	p. 19
Missile Defenses: The Priority of Politics	p. 36
Deterrence and Missile Defenses: Compatible or Antithetical?	p. 52
Missile Defenses in Context: Manageable Threat, Possible Opportunity	p. 72
Nuclear Disarmament: Can the United States and Russia Lead the Way?	p. 88
Nuclear Proliferation in Asia: Risks and Opportunities	p. 103
Ending a Nuclear War: Should We Even Try and Would Missile Defenses Help?	p. 121
Conclusion: Missile Defense and U.S.-Russian Nuclear Strategy	p. 145
Appendix: Methodological Notes	p. 155
Notes	p. 159
Bibliography	p. 177
Index	p. 187
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