Ballistic Missile Defense and Offensive Arms Reductions: A Review of the Historical Record

Steven A. Hildreth
Specialist in Missile Defense

Amy F. Woolf
Specialist in Nuclear Weapons Policy

The United States and Russia signed the New START Treaty on April 8, 2010, and it awaits Senate consideration. The preamble to the Treaty contains a "provision on the interrelationship of strategic offensive arms and strategic defensive arms." This statement does not contain any limits on current or planned U.S. missile defense programs. However, some analysts have questioned whether Russia's threat to withdraw from New START if the United States expands its missile defense capabilities might have a "chilling effect" on U.S. missile defense plans and programs. 

Ballistic missile defenses have been an issue in U.S.-Soviet and U.S.-Russian arms control talks since the 1970s. During the Cold War, the nations sought to balance limits on offensive weapons and defensive weapons so that they could maintain "strategic stability," which refers to the ability of each side to launch a retaliatory strike after absorbing a first strike by the other side. Most analysts argued that missile defenses would undermine stability by protecting the attacking nation from the effects of a second strike; some argued that defenses could enhance stability by undermining the effectiveness of the first strike. The former construct was evident in the Strategic Arms Limitation talks (SALT), where the United States and Soviet Union agreed to limit both offensive forces and ballistic missile defenses. The latter formula was evident in the Reagan Administration's advocacy of the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). 

During the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START) in the 1980s, the Soviet Union sought to link limits on offensive weapons to limits on ballistic missile defenses and SDI. The United States rejected this linkage, and the 1991 START Treaty did not contain any limits on missile defenses. The Soviet Union issued a unilateral statement indicating that it would withdraw from START if the United States violated the 1972 ABM Treaty. However, when the United States withdrew from the ABM Treaty in 2002, Russia did not withdraw from START. 

Moreover, during the 1990s, when the United States faced Russia's threat to withdraw from START, the U.S. commitment to missile defense strengthened. In the early part of the decade, U.S. missile defense programs focused on the threat posed by shorter- and medium-range missiles, like those the United States encountered during Desert Storm. However, growing concerns in the latter half of the decade about long-range ballistic missiles fueled an increase in emphasis and growing funding on national missile defenses. The Clinton Administration initiated a program, known as 3+3, that explored the technical feasibility of deploying such defenses in the early part of the 2000s. When the Bush Administration took office, it withdrew the United States from the ABM Treaty and began to deploy long-range missile defense interceptors in Alaska and California. 

A review of the budget data on ballistic missile defenses shows that U.S. funding for these programs grew steadily through the 1990s. Funding has leveled off in the past 10 years, but support for missile defense has been strong across the political spectrum in the United States. Congressional appropriations have nearly equaled the budget requests for these programs each year. The Obama Administration has also emphasized its support for ballistic missile defenses, in both its Ballistic Missile Defense Review and its budget request for FY2011.


Date of Report: May 25, 2010
Number of Pages: 25
Order Number: R41251
Price: $29.95

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