This history of the Strategic Defense Initiative ranges across politics, economics, strategic studies and international relations, and provides the latest research into the SDI interest groups, the distribution of contracts, and the politics of influence. It discusses the wider contexts of 'Star Wars', such as alliance management, marketing, and domestic politics, and its military spin-offs, especially for anti-satellite (ASAT) and 'space control' programmes. The author tests the theoretical literature on the dynamics of the arms race by using SDI as a case study, and draws evidence from sources such as congressional hearings, interviews, the trade press, restricted briefing papers, and documents obtained under the US Freedom of Information Act. The book follows the fortunes of strategic defence into the changed global conditions of the 1990s, following the collapse of the Soviet bloc, the Gulf War, and President Bush's announcement of a refocused SDI, the Global Protection Against Lim
An account of Anglo-Portuguese diplomatic and commercial relations between 1691 and 1708. Any study of this aspect of the War of the Spanish Succession hinges on the diplomatic despatches of the Methuen family. John Methuen was appointed English Minister in Lisbon in 1691 and later became Ambassador. He was succeeded by his son Paul in 1706. Through their combined trade acumen and understanding of Portugal they became influential figures in European politics. Their ability greatly strengthened English resistance to the threat of French dominance in Europe. Their best-known achievement is the Methuen commercial treaty of 1703 which cemented the Triple and Quadruple offensive alliance of the same year. Commercial weakness was a fundamental cause of the eventual French defeat.
