With interest and concern about US plans for a missile defence system growing rapidly amongst the general public and parliamentarians in Britain, Oxford Research Group produced this briefing paper in May 2001.

Of the many articles and reports that were published in 2000 and 2001, most focussed on the technical and financial aspects of the issue or the fate of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM treaty). We aimed to produce a balanced, straightforward, comprehensive briefing and distributed it widely to policymakers, key parliamentarians, members of the press and all US and British arms control and disarmament NGOs.