Nuclear divergence between Britain and the United States: SDI and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty

Rees, Wyn; Bermant, Azriel

Abstract

This article draws on recently declassified documents on both sides of the Atlantic to reveal the depth of the disagreements between Britain and the United States over adherence to the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty during the 1980s. In the context of the radical Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), the Thatcher government feared that the dismissive attitude of the Reagan administration towards the ABM Treaty would undermine the role of arms control in providing mutual security and would have harmful consequences for the viability of Britain’s nuclear deterrent. Some British officials also suspected that the Reagan administration was manipulating alleged Soviet non-compliance with the Treaty as a pretext for abandoning it. The tensions between London and Washington on this issue were fundamental, as the Reagan administration perceived it as an obstacle which constrained the progress of SDI.

Citation

Rees, W., & Bermant, A. (2021). Nuclear divergence between Britain and the United States: SDI and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. Journal of Strategic Studies, 46(6-7), 1383-1405. https://doi.org/10.1080/01402390.2021.1907745

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 21, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Apr 8, 2021
• Publication Date: Apr 8, 2021
• Deposit Date: Apr 14, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 9, 2022
• Journal: Journal of Strategic Studies
• Print ISSN: 0140-2390
• Electronic ISSN: 1743-937X
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 46
• Issue: 6-7
• Pages: 1383-1405
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01402390.2021.1907745
• Keywords: Political Science and International Relations; Sociology and Political Science
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/5438317
• Publisher URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01402390.2021.1907745
• Additional Information: This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Strategic Studies on 08/04/2021, available online: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01402390.2021.1907745.