November 21, 2016
The Growing Competition in the Ocean of Space: Classic Maritime Strategy Applied to the Final Frontier
The United States needs a new lexicon that explains the space environment in clear terms. Whether Americans like it or not, space has morphed from ouraspirational “final frontier” to an area defined by growing international competition that could flash into a hot war. Recent actions by rising powers have left the United States and the West with the realization that they can no longer look to international law as the guarantor of peace in space. U.S. military commanders are now testifying to the emerging threats to U.S. interests in space and policymakers are contemplating how best to approach this competition – first swinging towards cooperation with foreign space programs and then away. The vastness of space, the extreme speeds associated with orbiting platforms, and the mathematical complexities of maneuvering place discussions on space tactics and strategy literally into the realm of rocket science.
Read the full article at The National Interest
More from CNAS
-
We Go High, We Go Low
Missiles and drones (slow missiles) put the bang in airpower. But given how many we used in Iran, what would U.S. magazines have to look like to, say, defend Taiwan from the C...
By Stacie Pettyjohn & Philip Sheers
-
Behind the Front Line
This report considers the near-term opportunities that exist for integrating agentic artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities across the Department of War. While integration ...
By Josh Wallin & Carlton Haelig
-
Sharper | Securing America’s Defense Industrial Base
Six months of war with Iran has depleted America’s munitions capacity, leaving stockpiles of interceptors and precision weapons dangerously low and demand above the replacemen...
By Cadence Barker & Charles Horn
-
Bloomberg Economics' Becca Wasser and Dina Esfandiary Talk Iran Conflict
With President Trump set to meet Gulf leaders on the sidelines of this week’s UN meetings, the Iran war is likely to take center stage. Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia and risi...
By Becca Wasser