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Missile Defense

Russian military leaders have expressed concern about US plans for a national missile defense system. Will defense technology be limited by possibilities for a strategic imbalance? Is this just SDI all over again?

lunarchick - 02:18am Mar 28, 2001 EST (#1587 of 1593)
lunarchick@www.com

He says that it costs money and takes enormous skill to guide scientific papers through the peer review process and to get them properly checked and edited.

http://www.Newscientist.com/dailynews/news.jsp?id=ns9999552

lunarchick - 02:23am Mar 28, 2001 EST (#1588 of 1593)
lunarchick@www.com

A MIR (mere) drop in the Ocean http://www.Newscientist.com/dailynews/news.jsp?id=ns9999549

rshowalter - 07:58am Mar 28, 2001 EST (#1589 of 1593)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

Yesterday afternoon, as part of a letter that I hope may lead to further discussion, I sent this:

"I don't believe anyone, on either the American side or the Russian side, has anything remotely resembling an understanding of the barriers to contact, communication and understanding that exist between us.

"It is possible that a great many misunderstandings, not entirely innocent, perhaps, on either side, but partly innocent on both sides, have occurred, and persist. I have a particular bias -- in the area of nuclear weapons these barriers could destroy us all.

"Certainly opportunities are lost. Looking at the situation from the position of ExxonMobil exclusively, it would be in the interest of the company if people in it knew how to talk to Russians, at various levels, including informal levels, better than they can now do. It might be worth many tens or hundreds of millions to them, and the lack of it might cost the company similar or larger sums.

"I'll be making an effort to get this information conveyed to ExxonMobil, if only as a reconnaisance to yeild information about how barriers of this kind are constructed.

"But it is already clear that communication that should be direct and easy is very difficult indeed, and in a world where NO ONE can deal intellectually with the complexities of the sociotechnical systems they face, this is sheer loss to us all.

rshowalter - 07:59am Mar 28, 2001 EST (#1590 of 1593)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

"I'd like a chance to discuss this more with you, because of your expertise as a negotiator, and because you know Russia so well. I'd also be grateful for a chance to talk to XXXXXXXXXXX -- both for his advice, which I'd deeply value, and because he may know how to get an email adress. He also might know whether this might interest Lee Raymond (CEO of ExxonMobil)-- I think perhaps it might.