International Armament Cooperation and Theater Missile Defense: Why South Korea is Reluctant to Join the Club

摘要

The humpty-dumpty-like demise of the Soviet Union took with it the rationality of the bipolar framework from which US defense planners had operated since the end of World War II. Adding to the new challenges involving international security has been a series of Hobson's Choices as Senator John McCain stated in March 1996, the United States has: had to choose among cutting force strength, maintaining readiness, or funding force modernization within the constraints of continually declining defense budgets. The result has been reductions in all three areas, but particularly in force modernization.