Theater Missile Defense in Nordostasien: Strategischer versus politischer Imperative

In: Die Friedens-Warte: Journal of International Peace and Organization, Band 76, Heft 4, S. 435-452

Abstract

Washington's strategic rationale for a Northeast Asian Theater Missile Defense (TMD) system has been sound. Since the end of the Cold War, American bases & allies have increasingly come under the threat of Chinese & North Korean missiles. At the same time, joint TMD-development promised a reaffirmation of the US-Japan alliance that had been strained by both endemic trade conflicts & Tokyo's search for a new regional & international role. The problems with TMD are the result of politics interfering with this strategic rationale. First & foremost in this context has been Washington's incremental abandonment of its "strategic ambiguity" in the Taiwan Strait, a policy driven by mutually contradicting domestic developments on the island, in the People's Republic of China, & in the US itself. The present antiterrorist effort notwithstanding, the politicized TMD project is likely to stay & to continue straining great power relations in Northeast Asia. Adapted from the source document.