Long-Range Ballistic Missile Defense in Europe

Hildreth, Steven A. ; Ek, Carl

Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service.

关键词: Defense policy;    Ballistic missile defenses;    Weapons systems;    Nuclear weapons;    Arms race;   

RP-ID  :  RL34051
RP-ID  :  RL34051_2009Jun22

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

Successive U.S. governments have urged the creation of an anti-missile system to protect against long-range ballistic missile threats from adversary states. The Bush Administration proposed deploying a ground-based mid-course defense (GMD) element of the larger Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) in Europe to defend against an Iranian missile threat. The proposed U.S. system has encountered resistance in some European countries and beyond. The GMD plan has also affected U.S.-Russia relations. Former President Putin and his successor, Vladimir Medvedev, have argued that the proposal would reignite the arms race and upset U.S.-Russian-European security relations. This report discusses these issues, as well as the pending related budget requests.