Astroimpolitic: Organizing Outer Space by the Sword

Abstract

This paper is offered as a rejoinder to New Frontiers, Old Realities by Dr. Everett Carl Dolman, published in the Spring 2012 edition of Strategic Studies Quarterly. In it, Dolman portends, "[t]he coming war with China will be fought for control of outer space." In support of this argument, he divines the lessons of history as viewed through the inseparable lenses of neoclassical geopolitical theory and realist theory. The proposed solution is the disquieting nostrum advanced a decade ago in his book Astropolitik: Classical Geopolitics is the Space Age, namely: the United States should preemptively seize low-earth orbit, weaponize and dominate the domain, and thereafter reign as a benign space hegemon — a global police force for the heavens. What is novel about New Frontiers, Old Realities is the perceived problem driving this solution — an ascendant China and the hegemonic war with the United States that will inevitably result therefrom. It is with this connection that the seductively simple, yet deeply flawed logic of inevitability triggers a dangerous orthodoxy, one that could lead to an entirely unnecessary and preventable self-fulfilling prophecy. While future Sino-U.S. relations will likely be marked by intense competition, war with China is not inevitable, whether for control of outer space or otherwise.