Global Security Implications of Joint Missile Surveillance
The Committee on International Security Studies has
completed a study and published a report on the potentially pathbreaking, yet
currently non-operational, joint US-Russian center for the exchange of missile
data. Under the direction of CISS cochair John Steinbruner (University of
Maryland), academic experts from the United States, Canada, and Russia,
industry scientists, and government officials evaluated the potential
effectiveness and limitations - technical, administrative and political - of
the proposed Joint Data Exchange Center (JDEC). The study group explored why
such a system is needed and how it can be improved. Published in 2001, the
report outlines the results of the study and in particular notes the role JDEC
could play in helping each side move away from continued reliance on
rapid-reaction nuclear deterrent forces, and in reducing international concerns
about the potential impact of a national missile defense system.
An agreement to establish JDEC was signed at the June
4, 2000 summit between Presidents Clinton and Putin. The two leaders committed
their nations to share data supplied by US and Russian satellites on missile
launches. With clear implications for US-Russian relations, the Center could
also have an effect on relations between the US and China.
This study was supported by a grant from the John D.
and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
CISS Publishes Occasional Paper on Joint Missile
Surveillance
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