Discuss the Strategic Defense Initiative
The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) started in 1983 as a program under President Ronald Reagan. The main intention of the program was to implement a missile system so that it can reduce the rate of missile attacks from neighboring countries especially those in the Soviet Union. Therefore, this implies that U.S came up with this program in order to respond to the nuclear attack that they encountered from the afar. Notably, they later dismissed this program thus ending up to only existing as chapters in history books. However, with the main aim of the program being to act as a defense system against any form of attack, dissimilar things such as political pressure, internal and external conflicts, led to its failure. Consequently, this enabled U.S to conclude that they should implement a large anti-ballistic missile system in order to be an effective defense system in the state (United States, 1992).
How the United States and the Soviet Union applied the competitive escalation paradigm
Both United Stated and the Soviet Union used the competitive paradigm to solve different problems that were affecting them. For example, U.S applied the phenomena in explaining rising investment in decisions in line with the cumulative past investments. The state further applied the paradigm in highlighting poor decision making experiences in different sectors including business, politics and gambling. It also enabled U.S to show a lot of interest in the military conflicts with countries such as Vietnam and Iraq. Notably, the paradigm was also beneficial to Soviet Union as it supported it in implementing rational decisions as well as justifying their decisions. Finally, it led to the implementation of technology thus enhancing competence and competition in the state, thus supporting the formation of varying strategies (Slomp&Slomp, 2011).
References
Slomp, H., &Slomp, H. (2011).Europe, a political profile: An American companion to European politics. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO.
United States. (1992). Strategic Defense Initiative: What are the costs, what are the threats? : hearing before the Legislation and National Security Subcommittee of the Committee on Government Operations, House of Representatives, One Hundred Second Congress, first session, May 16 and October 1, 1991. Washington: U.S. G.P.O.
