We explain what the strategic defense initiative was promoted by Ronald Reagan in the United States. In addition, its characteristics and consequences.
What was the strategic defense initiative?
The Strategic Defense Initiative (IDE), also known as Star Wars (“Galaxies War”), it was An American defense program against possible nuclear attacks of Soviet intercontinental ballistic missiles in the context of the Cold War. It was promoted by President Ronald Reagan in March 1983.
The strategic defense initiative was a true strategic revolution because I left behind the ideas of nuclear deterrence, terror balance and mutual destruction insured that had characterized relations between the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR) during most of the Cold War.
To implement the strategic defense initiative, research and The development of technology capable of intercepting the potential Soviet ballistic missiles In different flight phases. The necessary budget for this development was approved by the US Congress but motivated intense debates and criticisms.
The possibility of developing a defensive shield that protects the entire American population of any nuclear attack was demonstrated unattainable.
In 1987, Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev signed a nuclear armament reduction treaty. Anyway, research and evidence derived from the strategic defense initiative continued, although their strategic objectives changed when the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991.
Key points
- The Strategic Defense Initiative (IDE) was an American program for the development of a defensive system against a potential attack with intercontinental ballistic missiles by the Soviet Union.
- It was promoted by US President Ronald Reagan in 1983, when relations with the Soviet Union in the framework of the Cold War tensed after years of relaxation.
- The IDE was called “Galaxias War” by some journalists because it proposed, among other innovations, the development of lasers and space bases with defensive purposes. While she was very criticized, the American rearme policy forced the USSR to leave the arms race.
The historical context
Before Ronald Reagan arrived in the presidency of the United States in 1981, the cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union crossed a stage of distension. Due to the nuclear development of both countries and the risk that had involved the crisis of the missiles of Cuba in 1962, The doctrine of insured mutual destruction had led to relaxation in relationships Between both powers.
However, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979 caused the American refusal to ratify the Salt II agreements of Armament Reduction that had been signed between the two countries in June 1979.
In 1980, the United States government launched a boycott against the Moscow Olympic Games and prohibited the sale of grain to the Soviet Union. Therefore, when Reagan came to the presidency of the United States, The distension had given way to the confrontation .
Reagan was committed to restoring United States arms hegemony through a modernization of conventional and nuclear technology. In a speech of March 8, 1983, He called the Soviet government “the Empire of Evil” .
From now on, he implemented a policy aimed at fight communism in various parts of the world such as South America, Africa and Asia. In addition, he announced the Strategic Defense Initiative (IDE).
The consequences of the strategic defense initiative
Reagan launched the strategic defense initiative in a televised speech on March 23, 1983. In said speech, Reagan asked the American scientific community to develop an antimile defense that will guarantee the protection of the territory of the United States before any nuclear attack.
The strategic defense initiative, which contemplated among other things the development of lasers and space missile systems, It was quickly called by some journalists “Guerus de las Galaxias” ( Star Wars ) in reference to the title of a famous film of the time.
The strategic defense initiative received important criticisms in the United States. The scientific impossibility of creating a “protective umbrella” was raised That he was able to detect and destroy all the missiles directed towards a specific territory, in this case, the American. Economists highlighted the enormous economic cost of this program for the United States economy at that historical moment.
In spite of everything, the strategic defense initiative raised a challenge of enormous magnitude to the Sovietic Union A, whose economy was through serious problems. The American rearme, and especially the developments promoted by the strategic defense initiative, made aware of Soviet leaders of The impossibility of continuing the arms race with the United States .
The turn Mijaíl Gorbachov gave to the international policy of the Soviet Union which had to guide its resources to the solution of the serious internal economic difficulties, It was largely a consequence of this American rearme.
American technological developments continued over the years, although their strategic objectives changed after the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War in 1991.
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References
- Britannica, Encyclopaedia (2023). Strategic Defense Initiative. Britannica Encyclopedia. https://www.britannica.com/
- Freedman, LD (2023). Strategy Nuclear. Britannica Encyclopedia. https://www.britannica.com/
- Powaski, Re (2000). The Cold War: the United States and the Soviet Union, 1917-1991. Criticism.
- United States Department of State (SF). US-Soviet Relations, 1981-1991. Office of the Historyn. https://history.state.gov/
