Strategic Defense and Deterrence Project
Since its inception, the Center has supported the deployment of a system to protect the U.S. against ballistic missile attack, as well as supporting the maintenance of an effective nuclear deterrent.
Ballistic Missile Defense
In the early 1990’s, the Center for Security Policy was practically alone in demanding that the U.S. free itself from the Cold War ABM Treaty. Under then chairman Douglas Feith, the Center developed the principal legal rationale for withdrawing from the treaty.
A successful launch of a ground based interceptor missile. 14 December 2005
In 2002 the Center’s years of hard work paid off when President George W. Bush formally withdrew the United States from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty and officially began deploying of a viable defense system against incoming ballistic missiles.
The Center continues to advocate for missile defense through numerous meetings with congressional and executive branch personnel, issuing reports on strategic defense, and sponsoring educational forums.
Effective Nuclear Deterrence
 |
LGM-118A Peacekeeper missile system being tested at the Kwajalein Atoll. The white lines are the re-entry vehicles. One Peacekeeper can hold up to ten independently tageted warheads. |
Thanks in part to the information produced and distributed by the Center and the intellectual contributions of many members of its National Security Advisory Council and its larger network of security policy practitioners (notably, former Secretary of Defense James Schlesinger and five of others who held that post — including two previous recipients of the Center’s “Keeper of the Flame” award: Caspar Weinberger (1991) and Donald Rumsfeld (1998)), a majority of the Senate voted in 1999 not to approve ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty — the first time in history any arms control agreement has been defeated in Congress.
The Center believes that U.S. national security requirements and the condition of the Nation’s aging stockpile dictate that modernization of the U.S. nuclear arsenal is required. The following areas in which such modernization is most needed include: assuring the future effectiveness of the “Triad” of land-, sea- and bomber-based nuclear forces; enhancing the U.S. theater nuclear forces capacity; and the need for a concerted effort to recruit, train and retain the personnel needed to manage large-scale construction programs that will be essential if the Nation is to meet future plutonium “pit” manufacturing, tritium and other requirements associated with the maintenance of a safe, reliable and effective nuclear deterrent.
Mr. Gaffney is the host of Secure Freedom Radio, a nationally-syndicated radio program heard weeknights throughout the country. He is an associate author of highly acclaimed Shariah: The Threat to America and the publisher of over a dozen other books and monographs from the Center for Security Policy Press.
In April 1987, Mr. Gaffney was nominated by President Reagan to become the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy, the senior position in the Defense Department with responsibility for policies involving U.S.-USSR relations, nuclear forces, arms control, missile defense policy and U.S.-European defense ties. He acted in that capacity for seven months during which time, he was the Chairman of the prestigious High Level Group, NATO’s senior politico-military committee. He also represented the Secretary of Defense in key U.S.-Soviet negotiations and ministerial meetings.
From August 1983 until November 1987, Mr. Gaffney was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Forces and Arms Control Policy under Assistant Secretary Richard Perle.
From February 1981 to August 1983, Mr. Gaffney was a Professional Staff Member on the Senate Armed Services Committee, chaired by the late Senator John Tower (R-Texas). And, in the latter 1970’s, Mr. Gaffney served as an aide to the late Senator Henry M. “Scoop” Jackson (D-Washington) in the areas of defense and foreign policy.
Mr. Gaffney holds a Master of Arts degree in International Studies from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service.
Mr. Gaffney’s leadership has been recognized by numerous organizations including: the Department of Defense Distinguished Public Service Award (1987), the U.S. Business and Industry Council’s Defender of the National Interest Award (1994), the Navy League of the United States’ Alfred Thayer Mahan Literary Achievement Award (1999), and the Zionist Organization of America’s “Louis Brandeis Award” (2003), the Western Conservative Summit’s Stephen H. Long Award (2015), the Council for National Policy’s George Washington Military Leadership Award (2016) and the IMPACT Award from Ginni Thomas and United in Purpose (2017).
Mr. Gaffney was born in 1953 and resides in the Washington, D.C. area.
- The UN transforms itself into a world government - September 22, 2024
- Hezbollah is engaged in terrorism, not Israel - September 22, 2024
- Israel must seize the day - September 20, 2024