Caleb Gonzales
Professor Marks
US Government 2305
8 December 2015
Strategic Defense Initiative Long time ago in a galaxy not to far away, President Ronald Reagan initiated the Strategic Defense Initiative, or Star Wars, as coined by critics. The initiative was formed on the 23rd of March in the year of 1983. The initiative was proposed at the time as a U.S. strategic defense system against Soviet Union Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles, or ICBMs, by intercepting the missiles or warheads at various phases of their launch. The initiative would have required an advancement in technology systems, but yet those were still to be developed or researched. The initiative would had have components of both space and Earth based laser battle stations, …show more content…
Most critics referred to this as Star Wars, which is based on the popular sci-fi movie franchise. Many historians attribute the term Star Wars to a Washington Post article published March 24, 1983, the day after the speech, which quoted Senator Ted Kennedy describing the proposal as “reckless Star Wars schemes.” Critics called this project “unrealistic.” Some critics used that term derisively, implying it was an impractical science fiction fantasy. Despite President Reagan requesting the media to use its official name, the Star Wars name did much damage to the program’s …show more content…
It never came close to helping rid the world of nuclear weapons as Reagan hoped it would, but the Strategic Defense Initiative wasn't a complete failure. Many professors argued that initiative forced the Soviet Union to stretch its defense spending to the breaking point to match the United States' efforts which ultimately lead to the end of the Cold War. The initiative also forced negotiations on nuclear arms reduction between countries, leading to the signing of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and dismantling thousands of conventional and nuclear weapons. Thanks to the initiative, it changed the United States' approach to missile defense. Probably one day, this vision of Reagan might become a reality later in the far
Professor Marks
US Government 2305
8 December 2015
Strategic Defense Initiative Long time ago in a galaxy not to far away, President Ronald Reagan initiated the Strategic Defense Initiative, or Star Wars, as coined by critics. The initiative was formed on the 23rd of March in the year of 1983. The initiative was proposed at the time as a U.S. strategic defense system against Soviet Union Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles, or ICBMs, by intercepting the missiles or warheads at various phases of their launch. The initiative would have required an advancement in technology systems, but yet those were still to be developed or researched. The initiative would had have components of both space and Earth based laser battle stations, …show more content…
Most critics referred to this as Star Wars, which is based on the popular sci-fi movie franchise. Many historians attribute the term Star Wars to a Washington Post article published March 24, 1983, the day after the speech, which quoted Senator Ted Kennedy describing the proposal as “reckless Star Wars schemes.” Critics called this project “unrealistic.” Some critics used that term derisively, implying it was an impractical science fiction fantasy. Despite President Reagan requesting the media to use its official name, the Star Wars name did much damage to the program’s …show more content…
It never came close to helping rid the world of nuclear weapons as Reagan hoped it would, but the Strategic Defense Initiative wasn't a complete failure. Many professors argued that initiative forced the Soviet Union to stretch its defense spending to the breaking point to match the United States' efforts which ultimately lead to the end of the Cold War. The initiative also forced negotiations on nuclear arms reduction between countries, leading to the signing of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and dismantling thousands of conventional and nuclear weapons. Thanks to the initiative, it changed the United States' approach to missile defense. Probably one day, this vision of Reagan might become a reality later in the far