Foreword
For the last half century, America’s national defense has been based on deterrence — the ability to respond with overwhelming force to a nuclear attack. During the Cold War, peace between the United States and the Soviet Union relied on this policy of "mutual assured destruction." But with the fall of the Iron Curtain and the emergence of new and more widespread security threats, support has grown for a national missile defense (NMD) system that would protect the United States from attacks by "rogue" states like North Korea, Iraq, or Iran. The purpose of such a system would be to…
