Monday, April 27, 2015
SDI and Star Wars
The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), also known as Star Wars, was a program first initiated on March 23, 1983 under President Ronald Reagan. The intent of this program was to develop a sophisticated anti-ballistic missile system in order to prevent missile attacks from other countries, specifically the Soviet Union. With the tension of the Cold War looming overhead, the Strategic Defense Initiative was the United States’ response to possible nuclear attacks from afar. Because Reagan was adamantly against MAD, he was determined to establish SDI, as it was an important part of his defense policy to end MAD. Not only was SDI important to ending MAD, but (in Reagan's eyes) a strategic initiative to neutralize the Soviet military and their nuclear defenses. Although the program seemed to have no negative consequences,people criticized it for being unrealistic and unscientific, which is why it was nicknamed "Star Wars" It included some abstract and farfetched ideas, many of which included lasers. Although Reagan was determined to get Star Wars going, the idea was eventually abandoned.
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Reagan told Gorbachev that he would share the SDI technology with him. Do you think Reagan would have given the USSR the technology if the US was able to develop it?
ReplyDeleteWhat are the laws/restrictions on this kind of technology today?
ReplyDeleteI think Reagan didn't want to lose the opportunity to build SDI, so he told Gorbachev he would share it with him. If Reagan ever built the SDI he would make sure the USSR knows, but he would make sure he had the upper hand and keep the technology to himself. Unless he got something better, the SDI technology will stay in the US.
ReplyDeleteI think the purpose of SDI was to prove that America was still ahead of the Soviet's in the space race and technology race in the world. It was for our nation's pride. Because the soviets had built satellites before us and launched a man into space before us, Raegan and the United States were determined to become the first to build something like the SDI, to put America ahead in the space race.
ReplyDeleteThe only difference between a madman and a genius is whether or not they actually end up succeeding. Star Wars had a lot of promise and could definitely be pulled off with today's technology. Of course, it would still require a large amount of funding (which it won't get until some need for it is created). Even though smear campaigns which described SDI as "unscientific" and "unrealistic" were able to contribute to the program's cancellation, SDI still played an important role in the Cold War. The added economic pressure created by forcing the Soviets to do research of their own was a large factor in the collapse of the Soviet Union.
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