23 March 1983: Ronald Reagan launches ‘Star Wars’

US president, Ronald Reagan announced the start of research into the Strategic Defence Initiative (SDI), dubbed “Star Wars” by the press, on this day in 1983.

President Reagan Holding Up Bumper Sticker During Meeting
(Image credit: Bettmann / Getty Images)

For almost the entire Cold War, the USA and the Soviet Union had relied on “Mutually Assured Destruction” (Mad) to protect each of them from a nuclear attack from the other. The theory went along the following lines: "You have nuclear weapons. So do I. If you use your nukes against me, I'll use mine against you. So, let's neither of us use them." That works just fine until somebody does use them.

And it wouldn't be just the combatants whose destruction would be assured. You could pretty much kiss the entire planet goodbye. So, as a survival policy, relying on everybody to keep their cool isn't exactly a good one.

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Chris Carter
Wealth Editor, MoneyWeek

Chris Carter spent three glorious years reading English literature on the beautiful Welsh coast at Aberystwyth University. Graduating in 2005, he left for the University of York to specialise in Renaissance literature for his MA, before returning to his native Twickenham, in southwest London. He joined a Richmond-based recruitment company, where he worked with several clients, including the Queen’s bank, Coutts, as well as the super luxury, Dorchester-owned Coworth Park country house hotel, near Ascot in Berkshire.

Then, in 2011, Chris joined MoneyWeek. Initially working as part of the website production team, Chris soon rose to the lofty heights of wealth editor, overseeing MoneyWeek’s Spending It lifestyle section. Chris travels the globe in pursuit of his work, soaking up the local culture and sampling the very finest in cuisine, hotels and resorts for the magazine’s discerning readership. He also enjoys writing his fortnightly page on collectables, delving into the fascinating world of auctions and art, classic cars, coins, watches, wine and whisky investing.

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