Theater Missile Defense in Japan: Implications for the U.S.-China-Japan Strategic Relationship

Authored by Colonel Patrick M. O'Donogue.

September 2000

63 Pages

Brief Synopsis

Colonel Patrick M. O'Donogue (U.S. Army War College class of 2000) considers a topic of key importance to U.S. national security. Perhaps no security matter (with the exception of National Missile Defense) is as contentious globally as Theater Missile Defense (TMD). The question of U.S. assistance to Japan to develop and deploy a TMD is particularly complex and controversial.

Foreword

This study, written by Colonel Patrick M. O’Donogue, USMC, as a strategy research project, considers a topic of key importance to U.S. national security - Japan’s agreement to cooperate with the United States on the development of a theater missile defense (TMD). China vigorously opposes this plan and insists that U.S. development of TMD and national missile defense systems will destabilize its strategic relationship with the United States. China’s concerns center primarily on Japan’s and Korea’s development of deployable upper-tier missile defense capabilities and technology, along with equipment transfers of any kind to Taiwan.

Colonel O’Donogue, a member of the Army War College Class of 2000, does a remarkable job of addressing this matter in a thoughtful, articulate, and comprehensive manner. The Strategic Studies Institute is pleased to publish his study as part of our Letort Paper series.

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