Security Dilemma of the American Ballistic Missile Defense

Abstract

The article deals with the former US President Bush’s plan for the so-called third pillar of the American missile defense system in Poland and the
Czech Republic in the context of American-Iranian and American-Russian
relations. We assess the explanatory power of different but
interconnected (neo)realist conceptualizations of security dilemma and
deterrence. Specifically, the study evaluates the relative importance of
classical security dilemma versus imperialist security dilemma and the
explanatory power of three different modalities of deterrence. The paper
further shows how Iran and Russia balanced the United States. We also
argue that the American missile defense system was not primarily
motivated by defensive realist worries about security, but rather by an
offensive realist struggle for power and gains at the expense of others.