Amidst increased sequestration cuts and North Korean threats of hostility, U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel expressed deep concern on Thursday over the increased danger that North Korea now poses requiring the U.S. to be prepared for “any eventuality.” Hagel’s concern is in agreement with Heritage Foundation expert Bruce Klingner, …
Thirty years ago, President Ronald Reagan put forth a vision to reduce the danger of nuclear war by launching the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). Representative Doug Lamborn (R–CO), member of the House Armed Services Committee, continues to pursue this vision on Capitol Hill. Lamborn, co-chair of the Missile Defense Caucus, …
North Korea never stops threatening its enemies. The belligerent dictatorship routinely threatens to turn Seoul, the capital of South Korea, into a “sea of fire.” Recent videos have threatened America with nuclear annihilation. Of course, after countless threats aren’t followed with action, the world wonders when to believe it. The …
Ronald Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) speech in 1983 launched a program to eliminate the threat posed by a nuclear attack and set the groundwork for today’s missile defense system. On March 19, The Heritage Foundation and the George C. Marshall Institute co-hosted an event commemorating the 30th anniversary of …
The Obama Administration’s decision to reinstate 14 ground-based interceptors (GBIs)—which it reduced in its first term—is a necessary but not sufficient response to the North Korean ballistic missile threat. North Korea’s ballistic missile testing and bellicose rhetoric prompted the Administration to augment the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) program. This decision …
A recent National Journal article discussed the likelihood of an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) over the United States with skepticism, asking whether such activists and politicians are “[d]oomsday preppers or congressional visionaries” and claiming that the “the debate over the urgency remains stuck in a theoretical realm.” But the EMP threat …
Today, The Heritage Foundation commemorates and honors Dr. William Van Cleave, who passed away on Friday. Dr. Van Cleave, former Marine, was an astute champion of U.S. national interests and an experienced negotiator on strategic issues. As a participant in the U.S.–Russia Strategic Arms Limitation Talks negotiations in the 1970s, …
Russia’s objections to U.S. missile defense development and deployment have been on the agenda of consecutive American Administrations starting with Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. For President Obama, it became a high priority as Moscow turned missile defense disagreement into a principal bone of contention. But he threw it under …
