The U.S. has deployed the USS Shiloh, a missile defense-capable ship, to Japan in a symbolic first step in a joint U.S.-Japanese program to try to shield Japan and the region from missile attack.
The author looks at what impact U.S. cooperation with Japan on theater missile defense will have on the Asian security dynamic.
Russia plans to develop an extensive missile defense system, which could include space-based components, according to Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov. ?We will definitely develop theater missile defense systems, as well as space defenses,? Ivanov said.
A U.S. diplomat suggests that the United States and Russia work jointly on developing a controversial ballistic-missile shield, signalling an end to one of the sharpest diplomatic disputes between the two countries since the end of the Cold War.
Moscow has proposed a joint effort on missile defense with the United States according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.
On the eve of a widely expected new war against Iraq, Israel is deploying one of the most sophisticated missile defense systems in the world, has its own spy satellite and radar warning system and has created a vast Home Front Command to prepare citizens and medical services for potential attacks.
Alarm over North Korea's missile and nuclear weapon programs is pushing Japan toward joining the United States in trying to develop a missile defense program.
The author argues that the U.S. should continue funding for the RAMOS project, a cooperative effort with Russia to enhance early warning satellite technology.
The author, a Former U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, evaluates the case against missile defense and concludes that in the current geopolitical environment, a limited, cooperative missile defense system between the U.S. and Russia would do more to enhance international stability than it would to harm it.
While the Bush administration's missile defense plans have triggered opposition in Europe and Asia, at least half a dozen countries are cooperating with the Defense Department on research projects that could play an important role in America's anti-missile system.