Neither Star Wars nor sanctuary : constraining the military uses of space / Michael E. O'Hanlon.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

O'Hanlon, Michael E.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Space warfare.

Astronautics, Military--United States.

Astronautics, Military.

United States.

Ballistic missile defenses--United States.

Ballistic missile defenses.

United States--Military policy.

Military policy.

World politics--21st century.

World politics.

Physical Description:

xiii, 173 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Washington, D.C. : Brookings Institution Press, 2004.

Summary:

Since the cold war, space has come to harbor many tools of the tactical warfighter. Satellites have long been used to provide strategic communication, early warning of missile launch, and arms control verification. The U.S. armed forces increasingly use space assets to locate and strike targets on the battlefield. To date, though, no country deploys destructive weapons in space, for use against space or Earth targets, and no country possesses ground-based weapons designed explicitly to damage objects in space. The line between nonweaponization and weaponization is blurry, to be sure -- but it has not yet been crossed. In Neither Star Wars nor Sanctuary, Michael E. O'Hanlon makes a forceful case for keeping it this way. The United States, with military space budgets of around $20 billion a year, enjoys a remarkably favorable military advantage in space. Pursuing a policy of space weaponization solely in order to maximize its own military capabilities would needlessly jeopardize this situation by likely hastening development of space weapons in numerous countries. It would also reaffirm the prevalent international image of the United States as a global cowboy of sorts, too quick to reach for the gun. O'Hanlon therefore asserts that U.S. military space policy should focus on delaying any movement toward weaponization, without foreclosing the option of developing space weapons in the future, if necessary. Extreme positions that would either hasten to weaponize space or permanently rule this out are not consistent with technological realities and U.S. security interests.

Contents:

2 A Brief Primer on Space and Satellites 29

3 Current Threats and Technology Trends 61

4 A Future Taiwan Strait Conflict 91

5 Arms Control in Space 105

6 Preserving U.S. Dominance while Slowing the Weaponization of Space 119.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0815764561

081576457X

OCLC:

54529750