Road to a National Political Strategy for Missile Defense of Europe

One of the best ways to prevent the impact of a weapon of mass destruction is to prevent its delivery. Ballistic missile delivery of a weapon of mass destruction remains one of the most difficult threats to counter. This is partly due to technology and partly due to politics and economics. The ground based anti-ballistic missile system being prepared for installation in Europe is the most promising technology for a durable, reliable counter to a WMD tipped ballistic missile launched at Western Europe. Typically a defensive system has few detractors, but in the case of ballistic missile defense (BMD), there is much more at work than designing and building a weapons system. To implement a ground based anti-ballistic missile system for Europe, the United States has to develop a political strategy that will emphasize the cooperative, NATO, character of the program; the sharing of responsibility for the system; and the merits of basing interceptors permanently in Europe.