title: U. S. Nuclear Posture After the September 11th Attacks: The Dissolution of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and Its Strategic Implications
abstract: In late 2001, the United States announced plans to withdraw from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty in order to establish a missile defense network to help shield the country against further attacks from rogue states or non-state actors after the September 11, 2001 Attacks on the US by Al Qaeda.Up until that point, the ABM Treaty had served as a cornerstone for nuclear deterrence for thirty years, with that deterrence centered around the concept of mutual vulnerability, or 'mutually as