The International Politics of Missile Defence
| Published date | 01 September 2001 |
| Date | 01 September 2001 |
| Author | Peter Gizewski |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070200105600310 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
PETER
GIZEWSKI
The
international
politics
of
missile
defence
A
response
to
Harvey
IN
HIS
ARTICLE,
'The
international
politics
of
missile defence:
a
response
to
the
critics'
in
this
journal
(autumn
2000), Frank Harvey
critiques
the
arguments
made
by
opponents
of
current United
States
plans
for
a
lim-
ited
deployment
of
national
missile
defences
(NMD).
According
to
Harvey,
such
arguments
are
weak,
frequently
misleading,
often
logical-
ly
inconsistent,
and, at
times,
beside
the
point.
Consequently,
he
con-
tends
that
the
case
against
missile
defence
is
not
sufficiently
convincing
to challenge
seriously
a
continuation
of
the
American
programme.
Harvey
provides
a
much-needed stimulus
to
more
informed
debate
on
an
increasingly
salient
and
important
issue,
but
many
of
his
con-
tentions
do
little
to
undermine
decisively
the
various
concerns
that
missile
defence
has
generated.
Nor
for
that
matter,
do
his
arguments
against
the
critics
translate
into
a
strong
case
in favour
of
deployment.
In
fact,
at
the
end
of
the
day,
his
contentions
raise
as
many
problems
as
the
arguments
he
challenges.
IMPACT
ON
EXISTING
REGIMES
The
author's
treatment
of
claims
that
NMD
threatens
the
demise
of
existing arms
control
and
disarmament
regimes
offers
a
case
in
point.
Independent
consultant
specializing
in
international
security
affairs.
The
author
recently
com-
pleted
a
study
on
urban
violence
in
the
developing
worldfor
the
Office
of
Transnational
Issues,
United
States
Central
Intelhlgence
Agency.
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL
Summer
2001
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