Missile defense, an issue that has poisoned US-Russia relations, could be a “game-changer” that transforms ties if the two sides cooperate on a shared system, says a report by former top officials from both sides of the Atlantic.
Recent headlines in both countries have been reminiscent of the Cold War, with the Russians threatening to deploy missiles aimed at countering a proposed US missile shield, and the US responding that it will build the system, come what may.
The planned US shield, endorsed by NATO, would deploy US interceptor missiles in and around Europe in what Washington says is a layered protection against missiles that could be fired by countries like Iran.
Moscow says this could undermine its security if it becomes capable of neutralizing Russia’s nuclear deterrent.
Now an international commission that has been working on the matter for two years has designed a basic concept for cooperation with the help of military professionals from both sides.
The new proposal by the Euro-Atlantic Security Commission says the US, NATO and Russia could share data from radars and satellites about missile attacks and so provide one another with a more complete picture of any attack than countries would have on their own.
However, the parties would remain responsible for shooting down any missiles that threaten them. They would keep sovereign command-and-control over their own missile interceptors.
“While the Russians are somewhat skeptical about whether Iran is a threat ... the Russians are very strident about their worries about Pakistan, which has ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons,” said Stephen Hadley, a co-chairman of the working group that produced the proposal. He served as national security adviser to former US president George W. Bush.
Hadley said a working group of experts from the US, Europe and Russia concluded that there was enough of a threat from the proliferation of nuclear weapons capabilities and ballistic missiles with a range of up to 4,500km to conclude that defenses were needed.
“Constructing defenses takes a long time and the last thing you want to be — if you are doing defenses — is late to the party,” he said in an interview.
Hadley co-chaired the missile defense group together with Volker Ruehe, a former defense minister of Germany, and Vyacheslav Trubnikov, a former Russian deputy foreign minister and retired general.
The design of the shared system was created by Henry “Trey” Obering, a former chief of the US Missile Defense Agency, and Viktor Esin, a former chief of staff of the Russian Strategic Rocket Forces.
The missile defense proposal was part of a larger report by the Euro-Atlantic Security Commission that said the US, NATO countries and Russia should cooperate on the Arctic, energy issues and regional conflicts as well as missile defense. It is being unveiled this weekend at an annual international security conference in Germany.
“Successful cooperation on ballistic missile defense would be a game changer,” the proposal said. “It would go a long way toward overcoming the legacy of historical suspicion and achieving the strategic transformation that is needed.”
“Cooperation on missile defense would establish a pattern for working together, build trust and encourage further cooperation in other areas,” it added.
Hadley said the commission’s proposal would protect sensitive technologies by letting each side set up screens to filter radar and satellite data before it is shared.
“We would talk about what is being screened out, so people would know what they are not getting,” he said. “We do that all the time, in cooperation with countries all over the world.”
The main reason that efforts to cooperate on missile defense have so far failed is Moscow’s concern that some of Washington’s yet-to-be-deployed or developed interceptors could be aimed at Russia’s strategic missiles, said Tom Collina, research director for the Arms Control Association in Washington.
“Until these concerns are addressed, Moscow is unlikely to begin the trust-building process that [the report] suggests,” Collina said.
Sam Nunn, the former US senator who co-chairs the Euro-Atlantic Security Commission, acknowledges the proposal doesn’t address all the issues that could arise, but said: “I think you could solve other problems as you go down the line.”
“If people work together on the first stages of this, the light bulbs will go off, [and] people will say: ‘Hey, we need to work together on the other stages too,’” Nunn said.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was