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Back
The year 1982 was a desperate time for the
U.S. defense community. The United States had no effective system
to protect itself completely from a Soviet attack with
nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles, which the Soviet
Union possessed in large quantity, and the doomsday philosophy of
mutually assured destruction seemed inescapable. But people in the
Reagan administration, including Reagan himself, were not content
with what they viewed as a morally unacceptable status quo. When
Adm. James Watkins, a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, asked
him, Wouldnt it be better if we could develop a system that would
protect, rather than avenge, our people? the presidents commitment
to the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) became certain. The
administration created an SDI office, procured funding, and
directed scientists to work on technologies capable of destroying
incoming missiles. It is a peculiar fact, then, that the actual
products of science and technology played relatively minor roles in
the effort to rid the world of the fear of nuclear warfare with
lasers, antimissile missiles, and battle stations in space. In
Washington, Moscow, London, and elsewhere, interplay between
peoples desires and fears molded the strange psychology that gave
SDI its unusual place in world history. The Soviets had been
experimenting with exotic antimissile programs since the 1960s and
had concluded they were not viable. Still, amid the economic
implosion threatening their country in the late 1980s, SDIs
possibilities rankled the Soviets. Ultimately, SDI reflected
Western political idealism, a powerful ingredient in the struggle
to finally conquer the terrors of the Cold War and to allay the
threat of nuclear holocaust. The Star Wars Enigma tells this
dramatic story. |
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| ISBN-10: 1574889818 ISBN-13: 9781574889819 |
Hardback - May 2006 |
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£16.50
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