On Thursday 30 October Dr Dean Wilkening, Center for International Security and Cooperation, Stanford University, will speak on ‘The effectiveness of European missile defence’ from 10-11 am at Arundel House.
American plans to deploy a European ballistic missile defence system, with interceptors in Poland and an X-band tracking radar in the Czech republic, have met with stern opposition from Russia. Support within Europe was mixed until the Russian invasion of Georgia. This discussion meeting will examine the technical capability of this missile defence architecture to protect Europe from hypothetical long-range missile threats from Iran, to protect the United States from similar threats, and to intercept Russian ICBMs (as claimed by Russian opponents of the system). Alternate architectures that improve the coverage of Europe and reduce any concerns Russia might have regarding the system’s capabilities will also be examined.
Dean Wilkening directs the Science Program at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University. He holds a Ph.D. in physics from Harvard University and worked at the RAND Corporation prior to moving to Stanford. His major research interests include nuclear strategy and policy, arms control, the proliferation of nuclear and biological weapons, bioterrorism, ballistic missile defence, and energy and security. His most recent research focuses on the broad strategic and political implications of ballistic missile defence deployments in Northeast Asia, South Asia and Europe.
Prior work focused on the technical feasibility of boost-phase ballistic missile defence interceptors. His recent work on bioterrorism focuses on understanding the scientific and technical uncertainties associated with predicting the outcome of hypothetical airborne biological attacks and the human effects of inhalation anthrax, with the aim of devising more effective civil defences. He has participated in, and briefed, several US National Academy of Science committees on biological terrorism and consults for several US national laboratories and government agencies.
This meeting will be chaired by Mark Fitzpatrick, Senior Fellow for Nonproliferation and Disarmament, and will take place on the Fifth Floor at Arundel House, 13-15 Arundel Street, Temple Place, London WC2R 3DX.
If you would like to attend, please RSVP Clara Catherall on catherall@iiss.org or tel: 020 7395 9156