SDI — its history and offspring PDF

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Books private insurance if necessary. The Uses of Outer Space to develop a set programme because of the role it play- idea of an international compensation of principles for the use of nuclear ed on the international political scene fund is predicated upon payments power sources (NPS) there is no di...

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Books private insurance if necessary. The idea of an international compensation fund is predicated upon payments made by launching States in proportion to the number of space objects they have launched in the past and on a per launch basis in the future calculated by reference to the size of the object, the orbit it would inhabit, the size of the State's population and its GDP. Unfortunately, there is no suggestion of who should administer this system nor any development of its mechanics. Part One concludes with a summary (p 80) of the three qualitative contributions made by the Liability Convention to the development of international law. Thus, States have forfeited their rights to demand exhaustion of local remedies, they have revoked the immunity defence, and they have e s t a b l i s h e d the s a n c t i o n of nonexoneration from liability for violations of international law. Part Two discusses the only application of the Liability Convention to date ie to the Cosmos 954 incident. The circumstances surrounding the incident and diplomatic correspondence between Canada and the then Soviet Union as victim State and launching State respectively are recounted concisely. Though there is reference to the Canadian initiative in the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful

Uses of Outer Space to develop a set of principles for the use of nuclear power sources (NPS) there is no discussion of the latter. This is an omission given that consensus was reached on the NPS principles in 1992, the year of publication of the book. Part Three deals in considerable detail with the work of the International Law Commission on draft articles on International Liability for Injurious Consequences Arising out of Acts not Prohibited by International Law. The seminal influence of the Liability Convention on the work of the ILC on this topic is catalogued. In particular, the various reports of the successive special rapporteurs are detailed, including the several incarnations of the draft articles. The discussion in the 48 page chapter (16) dealing with this matter might have benefited from being subdivided and one gains the impression that the material could have been synthesized more. Overall, this is a well researched and documented book written in a crisp and readable style. Its chief merit is in blending analogies from other legal environments to set the context for the Liability Convention.

Andrew J. Young Solicitor London, UK

S D I - its history and offspring THE STRATEGIC DEFENSE INITIATIVE by Edward Reiss

Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1992, 249 pp, £30 Many of us have followed the Space Defense Initiative (SDI) programme from its infancy to its recent demise. I felt that my memory of the events was fairly complete. Surprisingly, I was fascinated by this short book (202 pages with 40 pages of notes) presenting an integrated historical review of SDI from the Ballistic Missile Defense

SPACE POLICY August 1993

era to the Global Protection Against Local Strike (GPALS) supported by the Bush administration. This book is especially timely in light of the fact that further modifications of the strategic programme are expected under President Clinton. This book is twenty-third in the list of Cambridge Studies on International Relations series, which is aimed at publishing scholarly texts on a variety of international issues and related policies. This b o o k is their first attempt at dealing with a space-related subject. SDI was a very important issue in the 1980s. History will remember the

programme because of the role it played on the international political scene and also perhaps for its impact on the collapse of the Warsaw pact. It is however difficult to tell, at this point in time, if history's recollection will be a fond one. The exercise undertaken by Reiss in analysing the history of SDI and its offspring is certainly relevant; this political, cultural, economic and not so technical review of the Strategic Defense System was done at a time when the debate still raged on its appropriateness and value for the 1990s. It will provide future historians with access to details that are sometimes romanticized or forgotten over time. The book's multiplicity of perspectives generate thought-provoking synergy and a new consciousness of strategic defence. The book is divided into five main sections. It starts with an overview of the arms race, of its politics and of the debates over the US imperative for developing the Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD). This section concludes with the events that led to President Reagan's 1983 State of the Union address and 'quixotic quest to eliminate the threat of nuclear weapons'. The study continues with a political and management analysis of the two first years of the SDI programme. Section 3 covers 1985-88: the consolidation period. The context of SDI with its European connection, military economics and 'star wars' culture is reviewed before the conclusions in the last section. The author proceeds through a multi-faceted history of the programme in close analogy with the 15-20 years weapons innovation process cycle he introduces: technocratic initiative; consensus building; promotion of the concept with the military leaders; formulation of a strategic case; and high level political endorsement. But he goes further, into the assessment of the roles and influence of the SDI actors (including their flagrant conflicts of interests), in the social and economics benefits of the programme, as well as on the selling of SDI to the US and allied populations. Reiss is hard on the SDI players. He believes the SDI programme is technically wrong, its promoters (mana-

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gers and scientists) too interested in their own interests and careers, the political review process biased by regional d i s t r i b u t i o n and P r e s i d e n t Reagan out of touch with SDI's reality. Reagan is presented as dedicated to ridding humanity of the 'horrendous legacy of the Mutual Assured Destruction policy'. The scope of the SDI programme is shown to be more oriented towards limited coverage and continuity of the spirit of the 'expired' Ballistic Missile Defense programme rather than to Reagan's 99.9% efficient space shield. The new direction given by the Bush Administration to the programme towards theatre defence as well as the success of Patriot missiles in the Gulf W a r helped realign the divergent programme politics and management. The description of the aerospace management culture and the industrialscientist-military networks are exact and well articulated. This book, because of its critical overview of the sector written by an outside scholar, should be required reading for all aerospace corporation executives. SDI management under Lt.-Gen. ' A b e ' Abrahamson is described by the author with some disapproval (especially with regard to the management of the conflicts of interest policy). From this reviewer's point of view

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Abrahamson's stewardship generally seemed to have been quite effective and the morale and funding of the SDI Office (SDIO) were kept high. Abrahamson, according to Reiss, was no empire builder. His strategy was to diffuse the research funds among the various military c o m m a n d centres (especially the Air Force and the Army) and distribute the contracts to regions well represented politically. The author tacitly approves of the industry strategy consisting in letting President Reagan perform most, if not all, the selling of the programme and of the attempt to steer the programme towards an early, albeit partial, deployment. This strategy, combined with the positive cultural image of 'star wars' presented by Reagan, helped SDI survive the multiple credibility attacks from academic circles and propeace movements. Reiss explains that, for many within SDIO, one of the programme's objectives was to serve as a bargaining chip in arms reduction talks. Otherwise, SDI could only serve to raise the stakes of the superpowers" strategic arms poker game, resulting in an expensive spiral of technology research and deployment leading to a deadly d e s t a b i l i z a t i o n of the arms r~ce equilibrium. As we know, history has shown that the first scenario was valid.

The description of the science community partial to SDI by the author is a caricature correct in many ways. SDI scientists, and especially Edward Teller, are shown as opportunists and vision driven professionals. The historical overview of SDI corn eludes with G P A L S and the iniluence of the Gulf War on the development of the programme. Even if the Patriot Missile System was not specifically developed within SDI, it nevertheless demonstrated the validity of transforming the Strategic Defense Initiative into a theatre initiative. I have enjoyed the book. There are some repetitions and the author is polarized in his opinions but he nevertheless delivers a good product. The ample notes will provide scholars with a solid bibliography. The study will reach and interest historians, cconomists and political scientists interested in space but it will also be valuable as an educational tool to young officers and engineers planning aerospace management careers.

Richard Boudreault Technologies Aerospatiales 3045 Boulevard Pierre Bernard Montreal, QC, HIL 4R4 Canada

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