by Kingston Reif Published by Foreign Policy in Focus on October 26, 2009 On September 17th, President Barack Obama announced changes in the American missile defense program seeking a more proven and cost-effective system than that introduced by the Bush administration. Such changes are part of Obama’s new comprehensive foreign policy based on an assessment […]
Obama’s Options on Missile Defense
by Travis Sharp Published in The Register Citizen (Connecticut) on September 21, 2009 While media elites and professional pundits love to frame public policy debates as epic battles of conservative and liberal worldviews, judgments about national security rarely boil down to two stark alternatives. The president typically considers at least a handful of distinct options […]
President Obama’s Revamped European Missile Defense Offers Better Security
by Robert G. Gard, John Isaacs, Kingston Reif, and Travis Sharp September 17, 2009 In response to the Pentagon’s announcement today that it intends to modify plans for the U.S. missile defense system in Europe, experts at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation concluded that the decision is technically and politically wise. The Obama administration intends to […]
Bargaining Chip or Gas Mask? Prospects for Missile Defense
by John Isaacs and Travis Sharp Published by the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs (July 2009) The symbolic age of American invulnerability came to an abrupt end in August 1949 when the Soviet Union announced that it had successfully tested the atomic bomb. For the first time in its history, the continental United States was […]
Obering’s Missile Defense Exaggerations
by John Isaacs On November 12, Lt. General Henry Obering, head of the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), gave a press briefing where he wildly exaggerated the capabilities of U.S. missile defense systems. Gen. Obering: Our testing has shown not only can we hit a bullet with a bullet, we can hit a spot on the […]
