star wars and strategic defence initiative
- The Strategic Defence Initiative (SDI) - Also known as "Star Wars"; wanted to have a defense umbrella over the US to shoot down incoming missiles from space
-Soviets could not afford to keep up with this kind of science
-The arms race would not fizzle out until Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in the USSR in 1985
-Soviets could not afford to keep up with this kind of science
-The arms race would not fizzle out until Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in the USSR in 1985
summary
The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), also known as Star Wars, was a program first initiated on March 23, 1983 under President Ronald Reagan. The intent of this program was to develop a sophisticated anti-ballistic missile system in order to prevent missile attacks from other countries, specifically the Soviet Union. With the tension of the Cold War looming overhead, the Strategic Defense Initiative was the United States’ response to possible nuclear attacks from afar. Although the program seemed to have no negative consequences, there were concerns brought up about the program “contravening” the anti-ballistic missile (ABM) of the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks years before. For this reason, in conjunction with budgetary constraints, the Strategic Defense Initiative was ultimately set aside.