This happened in the 1960s and 1970s prior to the signing of the ABM Treaty (Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty); in the 1980s with the Strategic Defense Initaitive (SDI); and in the 1990s, following the Gulf War, with the GPALS project (Global Protection Against Limited Strikes). Today the NMD project (National Missile Defense)-re-designated MD (Missile Defense)- with the arrival of the Bush Administration- might well, unlike its forerunners, be progressively deployed.

It could re-map strategic relations among the main world players, especially after the September 11th terrorist attacks.

This content is published in French: Les Défenses antimissiles et la sécurité internationale au XXIe siècle