Introduction: Rewiring the "Nation": The Place of Technology in American Studies

Abstract

early July 2006 the government of North Korea tested a long-range ballistic missile that was supposed to be able to deliver a nuclear warhead as far as Alaska. The missile test did not go well for North Korea. The longrange missile fell into the sea just minutes after launch.1 President George W. Bush's reaction to the news of the test was to boast that the freshly deployed (albeit limited) U.S. missile defense system would most likely have been able to protect the western continental United States from such a missile. Yes, I think we had a reasonable chance of shooting [the North Korean missile] down, Bush said at a news conference in Chicago two days after the failed Korean test. At least that's what the military commanders told me.2 Just the day before, Bush had reinforced his commitment to a missile defense system. Because I think it's in I know it's in our interests to make sure that we're never in a position where somebody can blackmail us, Bush said at a news conference in Washington, D.C., after meeting with Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper. so we'll continue to invest and spend. And since this issue first came up, we've made a lot of progress on how to toward having an effective system. And it's in our interest that we continue to work along these lines.3