{"id":39654,"date":"2025-06-08T11:15:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-08T11:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=39654"},"modified":"2025-06-09T06:19:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-09T06:19:10","slug":"golden-dome-dangers-an-arms-control-expert-explains-how-trumps-missile-defense-threatens-to-make-the-us-less-safe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/golden-dome-dangers-an-arms-control-expert-explains-how-trumps-missile-defense-threatens-to-make-the-us-less-safe\/","title":{"rendered":"Golden Dome dangers: An arms control expert explains how Trump\u2019s missile defense threatens to make the US less safe"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Matthew Bunn<\/a>, Harvard Kennedy School<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Donald Trump\u2019s idea of a \u201cGolden Dome\u201d<\/a> missile defense system carries a range of potential strategic dangers for the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Golden Dome is meant to protect the U.S.<\/a> from ballistic, cruise and hypersonic missiles, and missiles launched from space. Trump has called for the missile defense to be fully operational before the end of his term in three years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump\u2019s goals for Golden Dome are likely beyond reach. A wide range of studies makes clear that even defenses far more limited than what Trump envisions would be far more expensive<\/a> and less effective<\/a> than Trump expects, especially against enemy missiles equipped with modern countermeasures<\/a>. Countermeasures include multiple warheads per missile, decoy warheads and warheads that can maneuver or are difficult to track, among others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regardless of Golden Dome\u2019s feasibility, there is a long history of scholarship about strategic missile defenses, and the weight of evidence points to the defenses making their host country less safe from nuclear attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m a national security and foreign policy professor<\/a> at Harvard University, where I lead \u201cManaging the Atom<\/a>,\u201d the university\u2019s main research group on nuclear weapons and nuclear energy policies. For decades, I\u2019ve been participating in dialogues with Russian and Chinese nuclear experts \u2013 and their fears about U.S. missile defenses have been a consistent theme throughout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russian President Vladmir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping have already warned that Golden Dome is destabilizing<\/a>. Along with U.S. offensive capabilities, Golden Dome poses a threat of \u201cdirectly undermining global strategic stability, spurring an arms race and increasing conflict potential both among nuclear-weapon states and in the international arena as a whole,\u201d a joint statement<\/a> from China and Russia said. While that is a propaganda statement, it reflects real concerns broadly held in both countries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

History lessons<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Experience going back half a century makes clear that if the administration pursues Golden Dome, it is likely to provoke even larger arms buildups, derail already-dim prospects for any negotiated nuclear arms restraint, and perhaps even increase the chances of nuclear war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My first book<\/a>, 35 years ago, made the case that it would be in the U.S. national security interest to remain within the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, which strictly limited U.S. and Soviet \u2013 and later Russian \u2013 missile defenses. The United States and the Soviet Union negotiated the ABM Treaty as part of SALT I<\/a>, the first agreements limiting the nuclear arms race. It was approved in the Senate 98-2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ABM Treaty experience is instructive for the implications of Golden Dome today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why did the two countries agree to limit defenses? First and foremost, because they understood that unless each side\u2019s defenses were limited, they would not be able to stop an offensive nuclear arms race. If each side wants to maintain the ability to retaliate if the other attacks \u2013 \u201cdon\u2019t nuke me, or I\u2019ll nuke you\u201d \u2013 then an obvious answer to one side building up more defenses is for the other to build up more nuclear warheads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, in the 1960s and 1970s, the Soviets installed 100 interceptors to defend Moscow<\/a> \u2013 so the United States targeted still more warheads on Moscow to overwhelm the defense<\/a>. Had it ever come to a nuclear war, Moscow would have been even more thoroughly obliterated than if there had been no defense at all. Both sides came to realize that unlimited missile defenses would just mean more offense on both sides, leaving both less secure than before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, nations viewed an adversary\u2019s shield as going hand in hand with a nuclear sword. A nuclear first strike might destroy a major part of a country\u2019s nuclear forces. Missile defenses would inevitably be more effective against the reduced, disorganized retaliation that they knew would be coming than they would be against a massive, well-planned surprise attack. That potential advantage to whoever struck first could make nuclear crises even more dangerous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Post-ABM Treaty world<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, President George W. Bush pulled the United States out of the ABM Treaty in 2002<\/a>, seeking to free U.S. development of defenses against potential missile attacks from small states such as North Korea. But even now, decades later, the U.S. has fewer missile interceptors deployed (44) than the treaty permitted (100).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. pullout did not lead to an immediate arms buildup or the end of nuclear arms control. But Putin has complained bitterly<\/a> about U.S. missile defenses and the U.S. refusal to accept any limitation at all on them. He views the U.S. stance as an effort to achieve military superiority by negating Russia\u2019s nuclear deterrent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russia is investing heavily in new types of strategic nuclear weapons intended to avoid U.S. missile defenses<\/a>, from an intercontinental nuclear torpedo to a missile that can go around the world and attack from the south, while U.S. defenses are mainly pointed north toward Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"a
Russia maintains a large force of nuclear weapons like this mobile intercontinental ballistic missile. Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via APPEAR<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, much of China\u2019s nuclear buildup appears to be driven by wanting a reliable nuclear deterrent in the face of the United States\u2019 capability to strike its nuclear forces and use missile defenses to mop up the remainder. Indeed, China was so angered by South Korea\u2019s deployment<\/a> of U.S.-provided regional defenses \u2013 which they saw as aiding the U.S. ability to intercept their missiles \u2013 that they imposed stiff sanctions on South Korea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fuel to the fire<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Now, Trump wants to go much further<\/a>, with a defense \u201cforever ending the missile threat to the American homeland,\u201d with a success rate \u201cvery close to 100%.\u201d I believe that this effort is highly likely to lead to still larger nuclear buildups in Russia and China. The Putin-Xi joint statement<\/a> pledges to \u201ccounter\u201d defenses \u201caimed at achieving military superiority.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given the ease of developing countermeasures that are extraordinarily difficult for defenses to overcome, odds are the resulting offense-defense competition will leave the United States worse off than before \u2013 and a good bit poorer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Putin and Xi made clear<\/a> that they are particularly concerned about the thousands of space-based interceptors Trump envisions. These interceptors are designed to hit missiles while their rockets are still burning during launch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most countries are likely to oppose the idea of deploying huge numbers of weapons in space \u2013 and these interceptors would be both expensive and vulnerable. China and Russia could focus on further developing anti-satellite weapons to blow a hole in the defense, increasing the risk of space war<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Already, there is a real danger that the whole effort of negotiated limits to temper nuclear arms racing may be coming to an end. The last remaining treaty limiting U.S. and Russian nuclear forces, the New START Treaty<\/a>, expires in February 2026. China\u2019s rapid nuclear buildup is making many defense officials and experts in Washington call for a U.S. buildup in response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Intense hostility all around means that for now, neither Russia nor China is even willing to sit down to discuss nuclear restraints, in treaty form or otherwise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A way forward<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In my view, adding Golden Dome to this combustible mix would likely end any prospect of avoiding a future of unrestrained and unpredictable nuclear arms competition. But paths away from these dangers are available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It would be quite plausible to design defenses that would provide some protection against attacks from a handful of missiles from North Korea or others that would not seriously threaten Russian or Chinese deterrent forces \u2013 and design restraints that would allow all parties to plan their offensive forces knowing what missile defenses they would be facing in the years to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I believe that Trump should temper his Golden Dome ambitions to achieve his other dream<\/a> \u2013 of negotiating a deal to reduce nuclear dangers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matthew Bunn<\/a>, Professor of the Practice of Energy, National Security, and Foreign Policy, Harvard Kennedy School<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Matthew Bunn, Harvard Kennedy School President Donald Trump\u2019s idea of a \u201cGolden Dome\u201d missile defense system carries a range of potential strategic dangers for the United States. Golden Dome is meant to protect the U.S. from ballistic, cruise and hypersonic missiles, and missiles launched from space. Trump has called for the missile defense to be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":56,"featured_media":39655,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,8025,46,295,10,25,47,296,4,38],"tags":[3322,145,479,16503,885,891,886,860,11662,12654,2304,16443,255],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39654"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/56"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39654"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39654\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39656,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39654\/revisions\/39656"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39655"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}