European Missile Defense and Russia

Strong Russian opposition to U.S. plans for ballistic missile defense (BMD) in Europe is likely to intensify further through 2015-16 as Phase III of the European Phased Adaptive Approach is implemented. This monograph examines a number of fundamental reasons—some valid some spurious—why Russia is alarmed at U.S. BMD plans and provides recommendations for managing the missile defense dialog with Russia in the future in order to mitigate potentially damaging responses.