Middle powers and the evolution of the outer space regime: an analysis of Latin American contributions in the UN

Abstract

This article provides a historical reassessment of the contribution of middle powers to the evolution of the outer space regime. We argue that the traditional focus by scholarship on superpower competition and on the five founding treaties has led to an underappreciation both of the role of smaller powers and of the normative developments within the regime beyond hard law. Our analysis focuses on Latin American middle powers and reveals that they influenced the regime’s commitment to norms of non-appropriation and openness to all countries irrespective of development levels and have played a constructive role in sustaining multilateralism in the face of great power deadlock. The article is based on a mixed-methods approach, through which we quantitatively identify an original four-phase chronology of the regime’s evolution in the UN and discern consistent Latin American emphases on each period via qualitative analyses of primary sources, interviews and observation of negotiations. It outlines a new chronology of the space regime and detects the contribution of Latin American middle powers to its evolution, given their concern with safeguarding multilateral talks threatened by great power rivalry, along with their pursuit of institutionalisation, de-escalation and influence through managerial positions.