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15 J. Legis 171 (1988-1989)
SDI Sucesses and SDI Failures: A European Perspective

handle is hein.journals/jleg15 and id is 177 raw text is: SDI SUCCESSES AND SDI FAILURES: A EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE* Hans-Henrik Holm** INTRODUCTION: THE SDI DEBATE IN EUROPE The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), or Star Wars as the newspapers have dubbed it, has proven to be perhaps the most important new weapons program since the development of the nuclear bomb. Naturally, it has also become the subject of very intense debate and widely differing interpretations. Some advocates argue that the program has been very successful, developing more quickly than anyone had anticipated. In a New York Times interview printed on March 3, 1985, Lieutenant General James Abrahamson, until last fall the director of the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization, said, There is very little question that we can build a very highly effective defense against ballistic missiles some day. The question is how soon and how affordable, and what degree of effectiveness can initial steps allow us. In the January 20, 1987, edition of Neue Zuricher Zeitung, former Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger said that he favours moving quickly towards deploying phase one, a combi- nation of landbased ABM systems, airborne infrared sensors and space-based kinetic kill vehicles. Critics, however, have argued that SDI is the major impediment to stopping the arms race. As a February 20, 1986, Guardian editorial put it, The major obstacle to a reduction in strategic nuclear weapons is now the Americans' attachment to SDI. .. . SDI, DETERRENCE AND THE WESTERN ALLIANCE Some say SDI will precipitate a collapse of the North American Treaty Organization (NATO) and its forty-year alliance. A foreshadowing of this ap- peared at the NATO meeting in May of 1986; both Norway and Denmark footnoted the communique produced by the meeting with a strong disapproval of SDI and its ramifications. Critics point to such activites by NATO's member nations as evidence of the alliance's gradual weakening. On the other hand, others argue to the contrary that NATO remains in good shape. Indeed, according to some, SDI will strengthen the alliance. Furthermore, while some suggest that nuclear deterrence will be enhanced as a consequence of SDI, numerous critics argue that it will in fact be destroyed. These critics anticipate that any defensive buildup will make isolationism a more * This article is presented under the auspices of the International Law Society of Notre Dame Law School. ** Professor and Head, Department of World Politics, Danish School of Journalism; Lecturer, Institute for Statsundskab (Political Science), Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.

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