Unlike some Hollywood fantasy or plot in a Tom Clancy novel, the threat of a missile attack on a major U.S. city is all too real. The President, Members of Congress, and all other Americans need to be aware of the problem and motivated to make missile defense a priority. In America at Risk, Heritage analyst James H. Anderson explains the strategic, legal, and moral dimensions of the missile defense issue in terms that every American can understand. Omitting confusing policy jargon and bewildering acronyms, he details the threat from Third World rogues and the real danger of accidental or unauthorized launches from Russia or China. The hard truth is that America today is unable to defend itself from even one missile attack. But the good news is that an effective missile defense system is within reach and affordable.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From the Publisher
The threat of a missile attack on the United States may seem remote to most Americans, but unpredictable states like North Korea are developing missiles capable of reaching American soil in less time than it takes to watch the evening news. More than two dozen nations, including Iran, Iraq, and Libya, have missiles either deployed or in development. Add in the possibility of accidental or unauthorized launches from Russia or China--which could strike anywhere on American soil--and the need for immediate action becomes clear.
Readers of America at Risk will learn how the United States got into its current predicament--through continuing allegiance to the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty. But with the demise of the Soviet Union in 1991, any obligation the United States had to the terms of the ABM treaty disappeared.
This pocket-sized book explores the major objections to missile defense such as "it will never work" and "it's too expensive" and shows them to be intellectually bankrupt. Given today's technological advances, an effective missile-defense system comprised of both sea- and space-based components is both practical and affordable. A sea-based system would upgrade the capabilities of the Navy's Aegis defense system, which was developed two decades ago to protect the U.S. fleet from cruise missiles.
This year, the Defense Department's Ballistic Missile Defense Organization threw its support behind a sea-based approach. In May, the Washington Post reported that a classified Pentagon concludes "sea-based national missile defenses could be built with existing technology and would add both flexibility and firepower to the land-based system proposed by President Clinton."
About the Author
James H. Anderson, was a Heritage defense policy analyst at The Heritage Foundation from 1997 to 1999. Previously, he worked as an Associate Professor of International Relations at the Command and Staff College, Marine Corps University. He holds a doctorate in international relations from Tufts University and the rank of major in the Marine Corps reserves.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What Every Congressman-and Voter-Needs to Know,
By CCH excerpting TLS (Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: America at Risk: The Citizen's Guide to Missile Defense (Mass Market Paperback)
In a little over a hundred pages, Dr. Anderson has delivered a "brief" worthy of the best on Capitol Hill about the complex issues of SDI and missile defense at the end of the 1990s. With major Presidential candidates supporting missile defense now, and many of our allies asking for protection against enhanced missile threats, it is vital that taxpayers and policy makers alike know about the political and strategic issues involved. The author, recently a teaching colleague of mine, is an excellent analyst, and this new little book is a gem.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must-read for every responsible citizen.,
By James Crabtree (flakkommander@yahoo.com) (El Paso, Texas) - See all my reviews
This review is from: America at Risk: The Citizen's Guide to Missile Defense (Mass Market Paperback)
This book puts in perspective the current threat posed by hostile nuclear missiles: That the threat has INCREASED rather than decreased, that the United States has more to lose now than ever from a nuclear attack, and that the prospects for a viable defense are better than ever before. Dr. Anderson also spells out in no uncertain terms the greatest obstacle to a National Missile Defense: President Bill Clinton. The President's foreign policy is not content with providing however many millions of dollars in aid for a nation which openely supports the anti-American Iraqi and Serbian regimes, but he also wishes to appease a Russia which posesses and increasingly unstable nuclear arsenal in the interests of following our "obligations" to an ABM treaty signed in the seventies and abrogated by the USSR within a few years of its adoption. Instead, he wishes to rely on our nuclear deterrent. President Clinton, apparently, does not agree that it is morally wrong to offer defense over vengeance for the American people. I disagree with some technical details of Dr. Anderson's proposed missile defense (a ground-based weapon system would be essential to its success) but other than that I would not hesitate to recommend this book.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Great Piece of Work!,
By A Customer
This review is from: America at Risk: The Citizen's Guide to Missile Defense (Mass Market Paperback)
A must read for anyone concerned about the security of the United States. Easy to read, it makes complex issues and technology easy to understand. I highly recommend this book.
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