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North America Is a Region, Too

An Integrated, Phased, and Affordable Approach to Air and Missile Defense for the Homeland

July 14, 2022

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U.S. air and missile defense efforts have long been characterized by a striking dichotomy. Defenses for the homeland have largely focused on long-range ballistic threats, while cruise missile defense and other air defense efforts have focused on regional and force protection applications to the exclusion of the homeland. This compartmentalization assumes that battles in one place will only consist of certain parts of the threat spectrum, and battles elsewhere will consist only of others. That lingering dichotomy creates a vulnerability that near-peer adversaries now seek to exploit. In a sense, the homeland-regional dichotomy ignores the fact that North America is a region, too. As with any other region, attacks on assets in North America could be designed to shape the political and military calculus of U.S. policymakers. This report explores the strategic significance of air and missile defense for the homeland, considers principles informing defense design, and develops and costs an architecture based on those principles.

This report was made possible by general support to CSIS. No direct sponsorship contributed to this report.

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Written By
Tom Karako
Senior Fellow, International Security Program and Director, Missile Defense Project
Ian Williams
Fellow, International Security Program and Deputy Director, Missile Defense Project
Wes Rumbaugh
Associate Fellow, Missile Defense Project
Ken Harmon
Advisory Board Member, Missile Defense Project
Matthew Strohmeyer
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Tel: 202.775.3242

Contact Paige Montfort
Media Relations Coordinator, External Relations
Tel: 202.775.3173
Related
Defense Strategy and Capabilities, Defense and Security, International Security Program, Missile Defense, Missile Defense Project

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