УДК 9(93/94)

Anna R. Fofanova

Lomonosov Moscow State University (Moscow, Russia),

e-mail: annafofanova@gmail.com

 

The Strategic Defense Initiative in Assessments оf the US Scientific Community

 

Abstract

Introduction. The article is devoted to the problem of assessments of 1983 R. Regan’s the Strategic Defense Initiative in US scientific circles.

Materials and Methods. The study is based on materials from the US Congress sessions, legislation acts, scientific reports on the Strategic Defense Initiative, and press materials. General historical methods – problem-chronological and historical-genetic methods are used in the article.

Results.  The author examines the main projects and research development that were to become the basis of the United States missile defense. It is analyzed the arguments of those members of the scientific community who actively support the presidential initiative and those who criticized it.

Discussion and Conclusion. It is shown that the US scientific community played an important role in the formation of goals and objectives, technical content, and most importantly, the promotion of the Strategic Defense Initiative in American society and political circles. At the same time, another part of the scientific intellectuals became the main force of movement for stopping funding of the program and de-escalation in American-Soviet relations.

Keywords: the USA, Foreign Policy of the United States, R. Reagan, SDI, Strategic Defense Initiative, Star Wars.

For citation: Fofanova A. R. The Strategic Defense Initiative in Assessments оf the US Scientific Community. Gumanitarian: aktual’nye problemy gumanitarnoi nauki i obrazovaniia =  Russian Journal of the Humanities. 2024; 24(3): 235–248. (In Russ.).

Acknowledgements: The research was carried out with the support of the Moscow State University Development Program, project No. 23-Ш01-17 “The influence of the arms race on world politics, scientific and technological progress and the environment”.

 

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