This text analyzes why some states have chosen to cooperate with the U.S. on Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) while others have adopted a non-cooperative posture, evidenced by diverse levels of balancing. It discusses the politics of unipolarity, deterrence policies of the U.S. and key states, WMD proliferation, balancing, and the security dilemma.

Chapter 1. Missile Defense Politics: Unipolarity, the Security Dilemma and the Balancing Debate
Chapter 2. Russia and Lavrov's "Law of Politics"
Chapter 3. China and the Nuclear Politics of Power Transition
Chapter 4. Iran's Response to Missile Defense
Chapter 5. North Korea's Nuclear Quest
Chapter 6. U.S. Missile Defense: Security at a Price

Nicholas Khoo is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Politics at the University of Otago, New Zealand.
Reuben Steff is a Lecturer in the Political Science and Public Policy Programme at the University of Waikato, Hamilton.