How Executive Decision Works
More on Politics in Atlantic Unbound and The Atlantic Monthly
M E M O R A N D U M
| To: | The President of the United States |
| From: | D. N. Forser, Chief of Staff |
| Re: | Missile Defense |
| Date: | January 30, 2001 |
Dear Mr./Ms. President:
Your predecessor, the talented but uneven Mr. Clinton, has done you a favor and handed you a problem all in one. He gave you a complex legacy in deferring a decision about building a missile-defense system. The good news is that you don't have to live with the consequences of his decision on this matter. The bad news is that you have to make the decision yourself.
Whether, and how, to build missile-defense systems is the closest thing to a genuine paradox that modern defense policy presents. There are strong practical and theoretical arguments on both sides of the question. Your advisers are deeply split on the issue -- as defense-policy leaders from both parties have been for a generation, and as the public that elected you is as well. The strongest argument in favor of building such a system is that it could help protect the United States against surprise attack and perhaps even nuclear destruction. To fail to pursue such protection for your people, even if the protection is less than complete, would be to neglect your fundamental responsibility.
The strongest argument against the system is that it would, perversely, expose the nation to more rather than less risk of attack and destruction. Not even the strongest supporters of missile defense say that it could offer complete protection against any kind of threat. By the complex logic of nuclear deterrence, any system of less-than-total protection actually makes the nation more vulnerable, because it forces other nations and threatening groups into more aggressive strategies than they might otherwise pursue. If this sounds complicated -- hey, that's nuclear strategy for you.
Two of your advisers have written memos advocating opposite courses of action. You'll want to read them before you make your decision. Good luck.
A. Scrap Missile Defense: It Can't Work; Diplomacy Can (Read a memo in favor of Option A.)
B. Protect the Nation From the Ultimate Threat (Read a memo in favor of Option B.)
All material copyright © 2000 by The Atlantic Monthly Group. All rights reserved.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |