able future. They therefore argued that it repre-
sented a massive waste of resources. Others saw SDI
as a waste of resources even if it worked, because it
diverted funds from other government programs
that should receive a higher priority.
Some foreign-policy critics saw SDI
as an open provocation to the Soviets
that might trigger a new arms race.
Antiwar advocates postulated that
SDI actually increased the chance of
a nuclear war. They feared that the
United States, safe behind its SDI
shield, might be more inclined to
launch a nuclear attack on the Soviet
Union, because the Soviets would
not be able to inflict similar damage
in a counterstrike. It also seemed
possible that the Soviet Union might
consider launching a preemptive at-
tack against the United States before
SDI became operational and Soviet
nuclear weapons became useless. An-
other major criticism of SDI was its
potential violation of the 1972 Anti-
Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty, which
placed limitations on American and
Soviet missile defense systems. Sup-
porters of SDI claimed that the
ABM Treaty applied only to ground-
based systems and not to the space-
based systems envisioned by Presi-
dent Reagan.
Impact Research continued on SDI
throughout the 1980’s. With the fall
of the Soviet Union, however, the
project lost much of its purpose.
Many pro-Reagan analysts claim that
SDI helped bankrupt the communist
system, as the Soviets were forced to
spend money they could not afford
on technology designed to match or
overcome the initiative.
Subsequent Events Later presi-
dents continued antiballistic missile
research, but for regional defense
against missiles launched by terrorist
groups or rouge nations. In 1993,
President Bill Clinton renamed SDIO
the Ballistic Missile Defense Organi-
zation (MBDO), reflecting its reduced mission from
global to regional defense. Even this more modest
program remained controversial, however, because
it continued to violate the ABM Treaty and was ac-924 Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) The Eighties in America
Excerpts from Ronald Reagan’s televised speech regarding the Strategic
Defense Initiative, delivered March 23, 1983:Let me share with you a vision of the future which offers hope.
It is that we embark on a program to counter the awesome So-
viet missile threat with measures that are defensive. Let us turn
to the very strengths in technology that spawned our great in-
dustrial base and that have given us the quality of life we enjoy
today.
What if free people could live secure in the knowledge that
their security did not rest upon the threat of instant U.S. retali-
ation to deter a Soviet attack, that we could intercept and de-
stroy strategic ballistic missiles before they reached our own
soil or that of our allies?
I know this is a formidable, technical task, one that may not
be accomplished before the end of the century. Yet, current
technology has attained a level of sophistication where it’s rea-
sonable for us to begin this effort. It will take years, probably
decades of efforts on many fronts. There will be failures and
setbacks, just as there will be successes and breakthroughs.
And as we proceed, we must remain constant in preserving the
nuclear deterrent and maintaining a solid capability for flexi-
ble response. But isn’t it worth every investment necessary to
free the world from the threat of nuclear war? We know it is....
I call upon the scientific community in our country, those
who gave us nuclear weapons, to turn their great talents now to
the cause of mankind and world peace, to give us the means of
rendering these nuclear weapons impotent and obsolete.
Tonight,...Iamdirecting a comprehensive and intensive
effort to define a long-term research and development pro-
gram to begin to achieve our ultimate goal of eliminating the
threat posed by strategic nuclear missiles. This could pave the
way for arms control measures to eliminate the weapons them-
selves. We seek neither military superiority nor political advan-
tage. Our only purpose—one all people share—is to search for
ways to reduce the danger of nuclear war.
My fellow Americans, tonight we’re launching an effort
which holds the promise of changing the course of human his-
tory. There will be risks, and results take time. But I believe we
can do it.A Vision of the Future