The Medium Extended Air Defense System : a renaissance in trans-Atlantic armaments cooperation?

Abstract

The Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) is the only theater missile defense system being developed within NATO to defend forward-deployed maneuver forces and NATO territory from theater ballistic missile attack. To gain the extra funding needed to keep this expensive TMD system alive, and to improve its reputation for reliability in Alliance weapon programs, the United States convinced NATO Europe that MEADS would be the model for triggering a "renaissance in armaments cooperation." To NATO Europe, however, MEADS became a litmus test of America's credibility as a future armaments partner. MEADS' european partners threatened to end armaments cooperation and pursue a policy of European self-sufficiency, which might undermine NATO's cohesion, if MEADS should fail because of U.S. political and bureaucratic interests. This thesis examines U.S. and European decision-making concerning whether MEADS becomes the model for future trans-Atlantic armaments cooperation or the impetus for fragmenting NATO cohesion. It concludes that the West's common strategic interest in maintaining stability on the European continent and in countering the increasing menace from the proliferation of WMD and ballistic missiles will prevent a failed MEADS from threatening the near-term viability of the fifty year old trans-Atlantic alliance.