The Bush administration's proposed placement of U.S. anti-ballistic missile units in Poland and the Czech Republic—ostensibly for the defense of Europe against rogue regimes (for example, Iran and North Korea)—has further exacerbated a deteriorating U.S.-Russian relationship, and has given rise to what some even have called a "new Cold War."
With so much at stake, the Carnegie Council invited four defense experts—two American and two Russian—to analyze the current strategic balance, and to chart a course that could lead the two nations from the current impasse. Their comments appear here in two co-authored papers.
Also included here is a response to the U.S. article by Lt. Gen. Henry A. Obering III, USAF, Director of the Missile Defense Agency, Office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense.
The Council is grateful to the Alfred and Jane Ross Foundation, whose generous support has made this project possible.
Missile Defense Malfunction: Why the Proposed U.S. Missile Defenses in Europe Will Not Work Philip Coyle, Victoria Samson The U.S. proposal to establish missile defense sites in Poland and the Czech Republic has exacerbated relations with Russia to a degree not seen since the Cold War, despite the fact that the system has no demonstrated capability to defend the U.S., let alone Europe.Response To "Missile Defense Malfunction": Setting the Record Straight ONLINE EXCLUSIVE Lt. Gen. Henry A. Obering III "Coyle and Samson systematically misrepresent or ignore key facts to bolster their arguments against deploying defenses in Europe to protect our allies and forces in that region against an emerging intermediate and long-range Iranian ballistic missile threat," says Lt. Gen. Obering.
On U.S. Plans to Deploy ABM Systems in Europe and Possible Compromise Solutions ONLINE EXCLUSIVE Petr B. Romashkin, Pavel S. Zolotarev The current state of Russian-American relations in the area of missile defense—specifically the proposed placement of U.S. missile defense systems in Poland and the Czech Republic—cannot be evaluated without taking a retrospective look at the problem.
