Strategic Thinking, Deterrence and the US Ballistic Missile Defense Project

Reuben Steff received his doctoral degree from the University of Otago, New Zealand. He has presented his research at international conferences, lectured on international relations and the Middle East, and has also written articles on nuclear energy and nuclear proliferation.

• Chapter 1 Deterrence Theory, World Order and Missile Defense; Chapter 2 The Emergence of the Missile Defense Project after 1945; Chapter 3 Holding the Line Against the Nuclear Warfighters? The Clinton Administration and the Containment of Rogue States; Chapter 4 The Paradigm Shift: The George W. Bush Administration’s Embrace of Missile Defense; Chapter 5 Finding the Middle Ground? The Obama Administration’s Consolidation and Expansion of Missile Defense; Chapter 6 Destabilizing Great Power Relations: Russian and Chinese Hard Balancing against US Missile Defense; Chapter 7 The Contours of the Missile Defense Debate in the Twenty-first Century; Chapter 8 The Persistence of the Missile Defense Project: Domestic and Systemic Drivers;

’A cutting edge body of work that comprehensively addresses an ongoing source of tension in international security today. Steff's work transcends the threshold of convention and brings a timely analysis (both historical and contemporary) to the area of missile defense and the responses from all US Administrations extending back to Truman. A must have for any international relations, international security, US foreign policy researcher, scholar and policymaker.’ Aiden Warren, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia ’Is the nuclear warhead on a ballistic missile just a new way of conducting a very old business or so utterly different that we have to re-invent the management of human affairs? The quest for defences against these weapons provides an illuminating vantage point from which to consider this existential question, and Reuben Steff makes very good use of it. Though a scholarly work, it is written in plain English and will reward the interested lay reader as well as professionals in the field.’ Ron Huisken, Australian National University, Australia ’This book examines the causes and consequences of the U.S. pursuit of ballistic missile defenses. In it, Steff shows how ideas, domestic politics, and changes in the international system have interacted as drivers of U.S. policy, and he highlights how U.S. missile defense efforts have led to negative reactions by Russia and China. This book will be of interest both to those who follow nuclear weapons policy debates and to students of international relations theory.’ Jeffrey W. Knopf, Monterey Institute of International Studies, USA