By Steve Andreasen
Since the late 1960s, missile defence has reliably reappeared at the nexus of defence and foreign policy for American and Russian leaders. Today, like the immortal phoenix bird, missile defence has risen again as a central issue in global security policy. For Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev – now joined by Nato – the stakes associated with finding a truly cooperative path forward on missile defence during crucial policy reviews over the next three months have never been higher.
What is now clear is that further progress in transforming Nato, improving US-Nato-Russia relations and nuclear threat reduction is dependent in large part on developing a cooperative approach to missile defence, within Nato and between Nato and Russia. Unfortunately, the historic track record on missile defence cooperation is not promising.