Missile proliferation

Nature

Missile proliferation refers to the spread of missile technology and delivery systems, particularly those capable of carrying weapons of mass destruction, among states and non-state actors. This trend poses significant global security risks by increasing the likelihood of armed conflict, destabilizing regions, and complicating arms control efforts. The uncontrolled dissemination of ballistic and cruise missiles undermines international treaties and enables actors with hostile intentions to threaten or coerce others. As a result, missile proliferation is widely regarded as a major challenge to international peace, necessitating coordinated diplomatic, legal, and technical measures to prevent further escalation.

Incidence

There is no shortage of ideas for how to tackle missile proliferation. The real question is one of international will. The United States is unlikely to sit idly by while its own territory or those of its core allies in Europe, Asia or the Middle East are threatened with missile attack by nations such as North Korea, Iraq or Iran. To accept that vulnerability, as the U.S. sees it, would be to forfeit a good part of America's power and prestige in the world. The issue, then, is whether those threats will be mitigated by the brutal and unilateral assertion of superpower might; or whether the international community can devise other means of defusing what is literally an explosive problem.

Claim

As Saddam Hussein has shown – in the bombardment of Teheran that closed the Iran-Iraq war, and in the attacks on Israel that almost broke apart the alliance in the Gulf war – a tactical missile (even just a Scud with a modest high-explosive warhead) can have strategic consequences.

Counter-claim

Missile proliferation is vastly overblown as a global concern. Nations have the right to defend themselves, and the spread of missile technology is simply a natural progression of military advancement. Fears about instability are exaggerated; deterrence has kept peace for decades. Resources wasted on controlling missile proliferation would be better spent on real issues like poverty and healthcare. Frankly, this so-called “problem” is little more than political theater.