The Strategic Defense Initiative

This history of the Strategic Defense Initiative shows how political, economic, strategic and cultural factors have interacted to shape SDI.

Edward Reiss (Author)

9780521410977, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 23 July 1992

264 pages
23.8 x 15.8 x 2.4 cm, 0.471 kg

'This is the best book I have read this year; a clear, cogent and coherent account of the evolution of the SDI, chronologically and thematically arranged to cover all its aspects … invaluable … irresistible.' Defence Analysis

This history of the Strategic Defense Initiative ranges across politics, economics, strategic studies and international relations, and provides the latest research into the SDI interest groups, the distribution of contracts, and the politics of influence. It discusses the wider contexts of 'Star Wars', such as alliance management, marketing, and domestic politics, and its military spin-offs, especially for anti-satellite (ASAT) and 'space control' programmes. The author tests the theoretical literature on the dynamics of the arms race by using SDI as a case study, and draws evidence from sources such as congressional hearings, interviews, the trade press, restricted briefing papers, and documents obtained under the US Freedom of Information Act. The book follows the fortunes of strategic defence into the changed global conditions of the 1990s, following the collapse of the Soviet bloc, the Gulf War, and President Bush's announcement of a refocused SDI, the Global Protection Against Limited Strikes (GPALS).

List of tables
Acknowledgements
List of abbreviations
Introduction
Part I. Conception: 1. Theory
2. The history of strategic defence in the USA
3. The 'SDI' speech
Part II. Construction: 1983–1985: 4. Contexts
5. Interest groups
6. The politics of influence
Part III. Consolidation: 1985–1988: 7. Contexts and constituencies
8. Interest and influence
9. Early deployment?
Part IV. Contexts and Conditions: 10. Europe
11. Military economy
12. The culture of 'Star Wars'
13. The selling of SDI
Part V. Conclusions: 14. Into the 1990s
15. The causes of SDI
Notes
Select bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: International relations [JPS]