Abstract
By proposing the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), Ronald Reagan co-opted the rhetoric of the nuclear freeze movement and reversed the relationship that had previously existed between himself and his anti-nuclear opponents. Prior to Reagan’s announcement of SDI, the nuclear freeze movement played the role of the ethically principled critic, denouncing Reagan for perpetuating the nuclear arms race and the policy of Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD). By adopting a proposal for space-based missile defenses, Reagan took on the role of the peace-loving nuclear critic. \r \r The Strategic Defense Initiative eclipsed the ethical appeals of the nuclear freeze movement, promising the eventual abolition of nuclear weapons. Ironically, the nuclear freeze movement found itself promoting MAD, because its own proposal to halt the arms race would do nothing to change the dynamic of offensive nuclear deterrence between the United States and the Soviet Union. Although Reagan openly advocated the expansion of the U.S. nuclear arsenal, he was able to justify his strategic modernization plan as a temporary measure, necessary to preserve America’s security until his missile shield could be put in place. \r \r Reagan thus reordered the ethical terms of debate. He appealed to the public’s traditional moral sensibilities to win their support for a policy that, on its face, ran counter to those sensibilities – a policy that adhered to a Machiavellian ethics of necessity and served to ensure Reagan’s own political success.