The Eternal Promise of Missile Defense

About

Speaker: Sanne Verschuren, Assistant Professor of International Security, The Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, Boston University

Despite nearly seventy years of research and development in the United States, missile defense continues to face high, if not insurmountable, technological challenges, is financially burdensome, and has resulted in negative outcomes for strategic stability. Hence, the speaker asks: What explains the continued and widespread support for missile defense among U.S. policymakers? Contrary to arguments about American cultural features, public appeal, and organizational politics, she examines two conditions that can explain the persistence of missile defense: technological malleability and patterns of ignorance.

Using original interview and archival evidence, the speaker contrasts two crucial cases to better understand these dynamics, specifically the entrenchment of national missile defense during the Obama Administration (2008–2016) with the decision to limit the development and deployment of missile defense under the ABM Treaty during the Nixon Administration (1969–1972).

Open to Harvard ID Holders Only: Admittance will be on a first come–first served basis. Coffee &Tea Provided.

Contact

For more information, email the International Security Program Assistant at susan_lynch@harvard.edu.