Ballistic Missile Proliferation

The proliferation of ballistic missiles that can deliver weapons of mass destruction halfway across the world is a matter of growing urgency and concern, as is the fate of agreements limiting the development of such deadly weapons. The Bush administration’s scrapping of the ABM Treaty and pursuit of a huge National Missile Defense initiative are dramatic evidence of this concern. Yet there remains much uncertainty about the viability of missile defense. If defenses fall short, strong security regimes will be necessary to contain missile proliferation. Since 1987, more than thirty states have agreed to restrict their transfer of missiles and related technologies under the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). During the MTCR’s first decade, several regional powers were thwarted from advancing their missile ambitions. Subsequently, however, states such as North Korea, Iran, Pakistan, India, and Israel have tested medium-range missiles and others have expanded their missile arsenals. Dinshaw Mistry critically examines the successes and limitations of the MTCR, and suggests five practical ways to strengthen the regime. The author’s exhaustive research offers new and detailed insights on the technology and politics of missile programs in Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Pakistan, India, Israel, Egypt, South Korea, Taiwan, and other countries. Mistry also shows how international cooperation, security regimes, and U.S. foreign policies of engagement and containment with these states can halt their missile programs. Mistry’s book is the first comprehensive study of the MTCR and of international efforts to contain missile proliferation. Policymakers, scholars, and the general reader will find this book a valuable contribution to the subjects of arms control, ballistic missile proliferation, multilateral cooperation, and international security regimes. For the author's update, go to http://www.washington.edu/uwpress/books/UpdateApril2009.pdf

This book addresses the current concern that ballistic missile technologies are spreading throughout the world. It examines the missile and missile-armament programs and technologies, and the ability of countries to acquire such technologies. The concluding chapter investigates international efforts to control ballistic missile proliferation.

During the presidency of George Bush (1989-93), the proliferation of nuclear chemical and biological weapons, and the ballistic missiles capable of delivering them, rose greatly in significance as issues on the American security agenda. In the missile field, this became evident by the efforts of certain elements in the executive branch and several congressmen to improve domestic and international implementation of the Missile Technology Control Regime. The Politics of Ballistic Missile Nonproliferation examines the political, bureaucratic and systemic issues that interacted to determine the outcome of these efforts.

The proliferation of ballistic missiles in the Third World has posed a new type of challenge to policy makers in the United States. More than twenty Third World countries either possess surface-to-surface missiles or are trying to develop or acquire them. Current trends suggest that the number of countries with missiles will increase in the 1990s and that the capabilities of the available systems will also grow. W. Seth Carus assesses the threat of such proliferation to United States military forces as well as those of its allies operating in the Third World. The book studies the military utility of these missiles to the countries that possess them and covers the various military responses of Third World countries to missile proliferation. Carus also examines the various attempts the United States has made to slow the proliferation of ballistic missiles. Washington has joined many of its allies in the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), a suppliers agreement designed to restrict exports of missiles and missile technologies to the Third World. According to Carus, efforts have been made to persuade the Soviet Union, China and other countries to abide by the provisions of the MTCR. After discussing the bilateral talks with proliferating countries, Carus also analyzes the attempts made to derail specific missile programs and the difficulties involved in controlling missile technology.