ABSTRACT
A global capability to defend against limited missile strikes, such as is promised by Global Protection Against Limited Strikes (GPALS), will be essential to US security and international stability in the 1990s and beyond. The GPALS program announced by the President clearly is intended to respond to the threat that proliferation is beginning to pose to US security and international stability. The Patriot-Scud duels over the skies of Saudi Arabia and Israel foreshadowed the importance of missile defense capabilities for the future. The proliferation of ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction in the areas of greatest political instability and military friction has been a continuing trend since the mid-1970s. The Gulf War demonstrated to millions of Americans the terrible threat to civilians of even primitive missiles that mightcarry chemical warheads. The Cuban missile crisis offers historical confirmation of the constraints likely to be imposed on the US and its allies in the future by Third Party ballistic missiles.
