Impact on Strategic Stability of Ballistic Missile Defense in Eastern Europe

While the United States and Russia have many disagreements, very few of these affect nuclear weapon policy. One that has recently done so, however, is the argument over ballistic missile defense systems in Europe. The United States has signed bilateral missile defense agreements with both Poland and the Czech Republic but none of the countries have yet ratified these arrangements. The uncertainty of the future of these systems, Russia's opposition to them, and 'most importantly' the complex interaction of how these agreements affect strategic stability will all be examined in this paper. A second aspect of this paper is an examination of the evolution and current definition of strategic stability itself. By providing historical context, it will be shown that the concept of strategic stability is still relevant today.