Abstract
Many experts agree that deploying anti-missile defense systems in the Asian region has wide and unpredictable consequences. On the one hand, there are voices in Taiwan, Japan and the US which argue that the ongoing missile build-up in the region has to be answered by systems which can protect both allies and friends. On the other hand, the status of the technology designed to intercept missiles and warheads in flight is not ready for deployment, and it might take years if not a decade to put such capabilities in the field. During this period it would be easier to deploy more offensive missiles then an effective missile defense could ever counter. Up to now the Bush II administration has only presented a mixture of ideas, undeveloped architectures, and immature technologies which are based more on political concepts than on existing technologies. This contribution highlights the strategic concepts, the planned architecture and the ongoing debate in South Korea, Taiwan and Japan about the usefulness of missile defense systems in the Asian context.