The system that was initially planned in the Czech Republic and Polen is blocked by the Russians who see it as a threat to their national security. In April, President Obama delivered a speech in Praque where he said he would press ahead, but the project needed to be 'proven and cost effective' adding there would be no need for such a system in the absence of threats from Iran and North Korea. And so, Obama linked the existence of such a system to the progress on nuclear control of Iran and North Korea; a linkage which gw considers too dangerous to motivate a cooperation with the Russians, as any cooperation on such highly sensitive issues as safety is too difficult to manage in practice, and could result in a diplomatic blow should it fail to produce expected results. Therefore, gw favors an alternative solution, one that would not depend on any sort of cooperation, all the while protect Europe and keep a door wide open for dialogue with our Russian friends. The proposed plan would relocate the missile shield to Southern Europe. Read gw's plan on Missile Shield Europe 2009.