Missile defence is likely to be one of the chief topics of discussion at the next NATO Heads of State and Government summit in Bucharest, and could represent a major step for the Allies. US negotiations with Poland and the Czech Republic on the installation in those countries of missile defence assets have livened the debate.

From SDI to Missile Defence

Anti-missile systems were first considered by the Americans in the 1950s, and in launching the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) in 1984 the United States began the ambitious development of a missile defence system. The end of the Cold War and a Democratic presidency later put the brakes on this development and led to the abandonment of a number of programmes despite the support of the Republicans and part of US defence industry for the development and refinement of such a system. On a political level, the 1998 Rumsfeld Commission Report broadly prepared the way for abandoning the ABM Treaty and a substantial increase in the budget dedicated to the anti-missile shield.

With the return to power of the Republican administration in 2001, establishing missile defence of territory and population again became a major issue for the United States, closely linked to three main factors: the firm resolve of the United States to preserve the integrity of its territory following the traumatic events of 11 September 2001, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (among others, prompted by the North Korean and Iranian crises) and the rise in terrorism, even though any link between the latter and a ballistic missile threat has never been clearly established.⁽¹⁾