Reagan launches 'Star Wars'

Historical Context Note

Lucas Paul Richert (University of Saskatchewan)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.4: American (US) Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary, 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Sofia Ahlberg (Uppsala University), Patrick Chura (University of Akron), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Dale Enggass (University of Utah), Christopher Hugh Gair (University of Glasgow), Matthew Hofer (University of New Mexico), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Justin Parks (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway), Nick Selby (University of East Anglia)

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Dates

Date of occurrence 1983-03-23

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United States (Location)

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The U.S. Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), later given the name ‘Star Wars’, was a military defensive program that would, if built, protect the United States of America against Soviet nuclear weapons. On 23 March 1983, President Reagan proposed the SDI to the American people on national television. The SDI was conceived as both a land and space-based laser system that was capable of interdicting incoming nuclear missiles. The laser technology, importantly, was not in existence at the time of the 1983 proposal. The SDI program sparked heated debate within the U.S. Congress, about both cost and technological viability. The SDI would later become a key bargaining chip in arms reduction talks with the Soviet Union. Critics, however, charged that the SDI signalled that the Reagan…

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136 words

Citation: Richert, Lucas Paul. "Reagan launches 'Star Wars'". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 October 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=3776, accessed 07 May 2024.]

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