Defending America:The Case for Limited National Missile Defense [Hardcover]

James M. Lindsay (Author), Michael E. O'Hanlon (Author), Michael E. O'Hanlon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 30, 2001

Arms control and missile defense are once again at the forefront of the American national security agenda. Not surprisingly, the debate has broken down along well-worn lines. Arms control advocates dismiss the idea of missile defense as a dangerous and costly folly. Missile defense advocates argue that the U.S. should move aggressively to defend itself against missile attack.With clear and lively prose free of partisan rhetoric, Defending America provides reliable, factual analysis of the missile defense debate. Written for a general audience, it assesses the current and likely future missile threat to the United States, examines relevant technologies, and suggests how America's friends and foes would react to a decision to build a national missile defense. Lindsay and O'Hanlon reject calls for large-scale systems as well as proposals to do nothing, instead arguing for a limited national missile defense.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In a potential blueprint for President George W. Bush's defense team, the authors construct an argument for a limited missile defense system. Such a shield has hovered over U.S. political discourse since Ronald Reagan proposed Star Wars in 1983, but the authors, senior fellows at the Brookings Institution, note that Lyndon B. Johnson first raised the idea in 1967. Lindsay (Congress and Nuclear Weapons), formerly of the National Security Council (during Clinton's presidency), and O'Hanlon (Technological Change and the Future of Warfare), who teaches at Columbia and Georgetown and has worked for the Congressional Budget Office, weigh three possibilities: a complete shield, as proposed by Reagan; no shield; and the limited one they favor. Their plan includes interceptors to shoot down missiles early in their flight, and midcourse interceptors like those President Clinton proposed. They admit their proposal's weaknesses including possible negative reactions from Russia and China but ultimately decide that such a system is both feasible and secure enough to defend the U.S. against attacks from "rogue nations" such as Iraq, Iran and North Korea. "The fact the United States cannot defend itself perfectly against every threat is no reason to give up the effort," Lindsay and O'Hanlon assert. They include appendixes of past weapons treaties and U.S. intelligence estimates of threats posed by other nations. Policy wonks will devour this thorough, academic book; other readers seeking a conservative, interventionist treatment of a hot topic will also benefit. (May) Forecast: A dry, rigorous study, this has narrow appeal, but will receive attention and trickle down into public debate.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

The major controversial defense issue for the new Bush administration is the development of a national missile defense system, popularly known as the "Star Wars" defense during the Reagan administration. The authors, who are senior fellows in Foreign Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution, favor a smaller system that might not be as threatening to China and Russia. They discuss the concepts of defending America, the threats it faces, and system programs and architectures. The complicated and expensive technical and political issues that need to be solved before the system can be deployed are analyzed and courses of action proposed. At the end, one can find the texts of treaties, joint agreements, and official statements. The main points of this study are also summarized in the Brookings Policy Brief of the same title (www.brookings.edu). The authors convincingly show that the diplomatic costs really do restrict America to a limited missile defense. This well-argued work should go on the shelf next to James J. Wirtz and Jeffrey A. Larsen's Rocket's Red Glare: Missile Defenses and the Future of World Politics (Westview, 2001) and Roger Handberg's Ballistic Missile Defense and the Future of American Security (Praeger, 2001). Daniel K. Blewett, Coll. of DuPage Lib., Glen Ellyn, IL
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 200 pages
• Publisher: Brookings Inst Pr (April 30, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0815700083
• ISBN-13: 978-0815700081
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #892,127 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A persuasive and fascinating case, September 6, 2001

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Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Defending America:The Case for Limited National Missile Defense (Hardcover)

In Defending America: The Case For Limited National Missile Defense, authors James Lindsay and Michael O'Hanlon collaboratively offer cogent and practical recommendations on building an effective missile defense system. Their suggested plan requires a critical change in the 1972 ABM Treaty and highlights the so-called "boost-phase interceptors" for land, sea, or air. Preferring extensive research and development efforts to a system rushed out the door, these authors make a persuasive and fascinating case. Those who disagree with their views are even more highly encouraged to read Defending America, for it is substantively important to know all sides of the debate over this controversial, critical, and contemporary national issue.