Webinars & Presentations
Outer Space Policy
Are you intrigued by the evolving public and private dimensions of outer space policy? Did you follow the Odysseus Moon lander, the first privately build spacecraft and first U.S. one to land on the moon in 50 years? Do you think about the potential for both cooperation and conflict among nations in outer space? If so, join the World Affairs Council’s Global Classroom Director and K-12 educator Ryan Hauck and the University of Washington’s East Asia Resource Center in a “Beyond the Headlines” lecture by Professor Saadia M. Pekkanen, Founding Co-Director of the Space Policy and Research Center. The lecture will be followed by a Q & A.
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- Time Detail:
- 4:30 - 6:30pm (PT)
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- Type of Course:
- Webinars & Presentations
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- Registration and Info:
Abstract
Outer Space Policy
Saadia M. Pekkanen
Space is critical to America’s preeminence in the world. But whether space can remain peaceful is not clear. Today, as the United States positions strategically in the civilian, commercial, and military space activities it confronts many ambitious states jostling for national advantages. There is also an intensifying bipolar rivalry between the United States and China who are far above the rest in the space domain. Unlike the old space race, these two contenders have to contend with three deeply-intertwined trends hat cut across the northern hemisphere and the global south. These are: (1) democratization that brings in a new set of nationalist players such as the UAE, India, South Africa, Brazil etc.; (2) commercialization that also brings new private entrants such as SpaceX, Planet Labs, ispace, etc. and beckons prosperity with unprecedented technologies and innovation; and, (3) militarization that bends those dual-use technologies into weaponization because of security dilemmas. Together, the changes in geopolitics and the emergence of these trends pose diplomatic challenges for peaceful prospects in space.
