Introduction 1. The Origins of the US Ballistic Missile Defence Debate (1945-1989) 2. The Missile Defence Pragmatist - George H. W. Bush (1989-1993) 3. Bill Clinton and the End of the Star Wars Era (1993-1997) 4. Party Politics and Republican Pressure for Deployment (1997-2001) 5. George W. Bush, ABM Treaty Abrogation and Deployment (2001-2005) 6. Expanding and Integrating the US Missile Defence Programme (2005-2009) 7. The Reluctant Convert - Barack Obama (2009-2012) Conclusion: Normalisation and Acceptance

Andrew Futter is Lecturer in International Politics at the University of Leicester, and has a PhD in Internatoinal Relations from the University of Birmingham, UK.

This book examines the transformation in US thinking about the role of ballistic missile defence in national security policy since the end of the Cold War.