First, we will defend the homeland: The case for homeland missile defense
Abstract: Post-Cold War homeland missile defense strategy has focused on defending against ballistic missile threats from rogue states. But now, with nuclear and conventional missile threats from Russia, China, and North Korea worsening—and President Trump calling for the Department of Defense to develop a “Golden Dome” defense of the homeland—the old approach will no longer suffice. So argue Rob Soofer and Mark Massa, who will make the case for a limited, preferential defense of the US homeland against these growing threats based on a recent Atlantic Council report on this subject.
Dr. Robert M. Soofer is a nonresident senior fellow in the Forward Defense program of the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, where he leads its Nuclear Strategy Project. He is also an adjunct professor at Georgetown University’s Center for Security Studies, teaching courses in nuclear strategy, missile defense, and arms control. He serves as a consultant for the Sandia, Los Alamos, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories as well as the Institute for Defense Analyses. Soofer was deputy assistant secretary of defense for nuclear and missile defense policy from April 2017 to January 2021. Previously, Soofer served in the US Senate, including as a professional staff member and Republican staff lead for the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Soofer received his doctorate in international relations from the University of Southern California and is a graduate of the National War College. He was awarded the Department of Defense Exceptional Civilian Service Medal and Distinguished Public Service Medal and is the author of Missile Defenses and Western European Security (Greenwood Press, 1988).
Mr. Mark J. Massa is the deputy director for strategic forces policy of the Forward Defense program within the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security. A founding member of Forward Defense, Massa supports the director in the management of the program’s strategy, budget, personnel, and impact. Massa leads Forward Defense’s portfolio of work on strategic forces issues, including nuclear strategy, space security, missile defense, and long-range conventional strike. His writing and commentary have appeared in the Hill, Defense News, RealClearDefense, Forbes, Air and Space Forces Magazine, the National Interest, CNBC, Sky News, and CTV News. Mr. Massa earned his master of arts from Georgetown University’s security studies program. He received a bachelor of science in foreign service magna cum laude from Georgetown University with a degree in Science, Technology, and International Affairs. He was awarded honors in his major for a senior thesis on a theory of nuclear ballistic missile submarine strategy.
Technical Contact: Brad Roberts
Event Manager: Katie Thomas, thomas94 [at] llnl.gov (thomas94[at]llnl[dot]gov)
