Star Wars: A Defense Expert's Case against the Strategic Defense Initiative

1986 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 182
Author(s):  
Andrew J. Pierre ◽  
Robert M. Bowman
Keyword(s):  
Strategic Defense Initiative ◽  
Star Wars ◽  
Strategic Defense

Space Power and Information Superiority: A New Medium for Cultural Policy

2002 ◽  
Vol 102 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rod Giblett
Keyword(s):  
New Media ◽  
Cultural Policy ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Strategic Defense Initiative ◽  
International Treaties ◽  
Global Commons ◽  
Star Wars ◽  
Strategic Defense ◽  
Critical Account

Space is again a hot topic, with the resurrection of Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative or ‘Star Wars' missile shield, albeit under a new name. Integral to this drive and vital to its success are the deployment and use of communication technologies, and the control of flows of information. Both of these take place in orbital, extraterrestrial space, a new front for warfare and a new medium for the new media of cyberspace and the internet. This paper traces this recent development and gives a critical account of the nationalist and militarist rhetoric in which it is couched. I argue that ‘weaponisation’ of space is in contravention of a number of international treaties. I conclude that ‘astroenvironmentalism’ should be a broadly based popular movement of resistance to these moves, and of action for the global commons of space owned by none and shared by all.

scholarly journals Star Wars or Strategic Defense Initiative: What's in a Name?

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 430-447 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anette Stimmer
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Security Policy ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Strategic Defense Initiative ◽  
Missile Defense ◽  
Policy Proposal ◽  
Star Wars ◽  
Cast Doubt ◽  
Strategic Defense ◽  
Elite Interviews

Abstract Popular culture can influence debates over security policy. This article studies the use of Star Wars in the debate over Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). The term Star Wars was widely used to refer to SDI during debates in the 1980s. Scholars have pointed to both disabling and enabling effects of popular culture on political debates. This article refines these effects and introduces a third effect that comes from the widespread use of popular culture: a neutralizing effect that turns popular culture references into descriptive shorthands. Studying these dynamics contributes to our understanding of why popular culture is or is not used as a framing device and how it is used and perceived by decision-makers. I rely on content analysis of newspaper articles, congressional records, and political speeches and incorporate findings from elite interviews and the norm literature to conduct my analysis. I find that critics capitalized on linkages between the movie franchise and the policy to frame Reagan's missile defense system as Star Wars and to criticize his policy proposal. This science-fictionalization soon constituted the sociopolitical context surrounding Reagan's missile defense initiative. Most decision-makers perceived the Star Wars label to have a disabling effect as it cast doubt on the viability and desirability of SDI. Opponents initially tried to mobilize this effect, whereas most proponents argued against the label or refrained from using it. Few tapped into the enabling potential of Star Wars to communicate the potential benefits of SDI. The introduction of the professional term SDI helped proponents mitigate science-fictionalization in expert settings, while among the public the widespread use of the Star Wars label neutralized its meaning and turned it into a descriptive shorthand.

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