Norway has been a member of the Atlantic Alliance since its inception. It has been a loyal member, often named ‘best in the class.’ There is no rule without exceptions, however, during President Reagan’s rearmament drive in the 1980s, Norway entered the list of so-called footnote countries on the Strategic Defence Initiative popularly referred to as ‘Star Wars’ issue, and the social democratic party joined its European sister parties in opposing the deployment of new intermediate-range missiles on European soil.