NATO and the Strategic Defence Initiative: A Transatlantic History of the Star Wars Programme

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Luc-André Brunet (The Open University)

NATO and the Strategic Defence Initiative

A Transatlantic History of the Star Wars Programme

Luc-André Brunet (The Open University)

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Paperback

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English

Routledge
27 May 2024

Military engineering

Series: Cold War History

This book explores the largely neglected issue of responses to the US Strategic Defence Initiative (SDI, or the 'Star Wars' missile defence programme) across NATO.

The chapters here explore the reactions of different Western allies to the announcement of the SDI in 1983 and especially the 1985 invitation to participate. While existing studies have explored the origins of the American programme and the role it may have played in ending the Cold War, this volume breaks new ground by considering the impact of the SDI on transatlantic relations in the 1980s. Based on newly available archival sources, this volume re-evaluates the responses of eight NATO member-state governments, as well as the Soviet leadership, to the SDI. In addition to looking at ‘top-down’ governmental reactions, the volume also explores the ‘bottom-up’ response to the SDI of civil society and peace activists on both sides of the Atlantic. The volume examines how the American initiative – derisively named ‘Star Wars’ by its detractors – provoked a crisis in relations with its allies during the final decade of the Cold War and how those tensions within NATO were ultimately resolved.

This book will be of much interest to students of Cold War history, strategic studies, foreign policy and international history.

Edited by: Luc-André Brunet (The Open University)
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
Weight: 480g
ISBN: 9780367617509
ISBN 10: 0367617501
Series: Cold War History
Pages: 252
Publication Date: 27 May 2024
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , Primary , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Luc-André Brunet is a Senior Lecturer in Contemporary International History, The Open University, and Co-Director of the Peace and Security Project at LSE IDEAS, UK.