Star Wars Rebooted : Global Missile Defense in 2017

At present and for the near future, missile defense (MD) is not in peril of dismemberment. Indeed, the level of political consensus on the need for a missile defense runs high, as demonstrated by the Obama administration since 2009.1 But there probably will be questions about the most appropriate policy and technical options going forward when the President and administration take office in 2017 either as incumbents or new arrivals. While the debate in Washington will probably concern such matters as whether the United States needs a maritime or land-based MD and where within the program the Nation should place its budgetary chips in what could become a very tense financial atmosphere, events elsewhere around the globe may confront the 2017 administration with some delicate strategic dilemmas and force it to make difficult choices.

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