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CIAO DATE: 6/5/2006
The Paths Ahead: Missile Defense in Asia
Jeremiah Gertler
March 2006
Abstract
In early 2005, Kurt M. Campbell, Director of CSIS' International Security Program, accompanied Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on a trip to Asia. Enroute, the Secretary and several of his close aides expressed an interest in learning more about the future of missile defenses in East Asia and the Subcontinent. Although familiar with the missile defense policies of countries in the region, they were concerned about how those policies were being implemented, whether the various national efforts were complementary or counterproductive, and how those efforts might affect the US approach to missile defense architecture.
These are questions well worth asking. Asia is home to two active exporters of offensive missile technology. At the same time, the technological capabilities of US allies and friends in the region have grown; all of the nations studied are capable of substantial contributions to their own defense. Yet diverse national interests, policies, and approaches have steered the nations of Asia in very different directions on the issue.
