Review by Booklist Review
In the alphabet soup of government programs, most Americans seem more concerned about the SSA (social security) or the IRS (potential tax cuts) than NMD, the proposed high-tech defense against incoming nuclear weapons. This may be shortsighted, since both presidential candidates supported a form of missile defense, and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is a strong cheerleader for the program. This book may be a good way for readers to evaluate the range of options. Lindsay was director for global issues and multilateral affairs in 1996^-1997; O'Hanlon was a Congressional Budget Office staffer. They describe the debate over the past 15 years, explain the concepts and systems involved in missile defense, examine the threat the system is designed to meet, clarify alternative architectures, and spell out the international politics of missile defense. Lindsay and O'Hanlon propose "a limited, two-tier national defense against `rogue' regimes," a program they feel could be effective. Nonspecialists will appreciate the authors' appendixes: a glossary, and the text of relevant treaties, U.S. and international statements, and reports. --Mary Carroll
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
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. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
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 (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Booklist Review
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Review by Library Journal Review
