ABSTRACT
After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the internal debate in the US over missile defense receded, as America emerged as the sole global superpower. Meanwhile, the strategic environment underwent a seismic change as a result of the deepening process of globalization. This phenomenon contained the potential to facilitate the proliferation of ballistic missile and nuclear weapon capabilities to small ‘rogue states,’ which could lead to a unipolar system in disequilibrium.5 According to the warfighters, the US was the only state capable of providing order in this emerging second nuclear age, by preventing or countering nuclear proliferation.6 Thus, it was essential that the US retain a position of global primacy by preventing the emergence of new mutual deterrence relationships that would constrain its action. This necessitated new offensive military capabilities and BMD systems. Together, these would provide unidirectional deterrence: a oneway deterrent capability that would deny other states the ability to deter the US from projecting power globally.7 With this on hand, a unipolar system would be returned to a state of equilibrium even in the face of nuclear proliferation.
