Blog: Peace

During the lifetime of this Parliament, Tony Blair will have to decide whether to let the United States use two bases in Yorkshire as part of President Bush's controversial plan for a National Missile Defence system (NMD) or Star Wars, as it has become known.

The development of Star Wars is likely to make the world a more dangerous place. Any attempt by the US to build a missile shield is expected to spur countries such as China into an arms race to try to overcome the shield, and to jeopardise nuclear arms control agreements with Russia.

Building the shield, sharpening the sword

Greenpeace's origins as a peace and environmental organisation were built from its founding rationale: its opposition to the building of nuclear weapons.

When U.S. President Clinton, pressured by political considerations, initiated plans for a National Missile Defense System, he proposed a limited land-based system, costing $60 billion and consisting of 100 interceptor missiles located in Alaska, backed by a network of early warning satellites, ground-based radars and battle management computers. In the words of former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, the system would be designed to shoot down "a few tens" of incoming missiles.

Greenpeace opposes the U.S. Star Wars Missile plan because such a system would ignite a new nuclear arms race. Should the plan go ahead Americans will spend hundreds of billions of tax dollars for a technically flawed scheme that offers only the illusion of protection. There will also be increased nuclear dangers in a world where there are far more nuclear weapons as countries such as China bolster their nuclear arsenals to overcome Star Wars. "Star Wars" sole beneficiaries will be U.S.