Salih Booker

About the author: Salih Booker is the executive director of Africa Action, an advocacy group on African affairs.

President George W. Bush made the wrong decision when he announced in December 2001 that the United States would be withdrawing from the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty. The decision reflected the influence of unilateralists in the Bush administration who oppose virtually all international treaties or systems of collective security. By discarding the ABM Treaty, America signals its contempt for world opinion and makes it impossible to engage other nations in diplomatic arms control efforts.

George W. Bush's abrogation of the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty on December 13 [2001] was a reckless act taken without regard for the consequences—it has dealt a severe blow to the idea of a world order grounded...