Space power governance,war and diplomacy: The new challenge for states

Abstract

This article addresses the issue of space power and highlights the fact that space is becoming an arena with fervent competition among states to increase their geopolitical influence and acquire the advantages that space economy offers. Outer space is a domain characterized by highly complex conditions and high fluidity, in which the presence of public and private actors, and the convergence of national interests can lead to the escalation of perpetual political–economic tensions and culminate in armed confrontation with counter-opponents, changing/defending the current international balance of power. Globalization and competition among states have increased the need for a more comprehensive characterization of outer space and contributed to a growing awareness that space is an autonomous and heterogeneous dimension with strategic significance since it can affect a country’s vital sectors transversally. Although a subject of geopolitical interest, the concept of space power has not yet been uniquely defined.

The authors try to define this concept in strict connection with national power and support the idea that it has assumed, over time, an increasingly multidimensional connotation and is closely interrelated with the other components of state power – diplomatic, informational, military and economic (DIME) as each contributes to it and establishes interactions from which the components draw mutual benefits and opportunities. In addition, the article suggests a new approach to national policy to the states that requires governments to deploy all available national resources/means from a broader ‘country system’ perspective to favour the introduction of an innovative framework adapted to the new needs to increase the certainty of operating and ensuring equitable benefits from outer space’s opportunities. The Italian case study represents a valuable example of a country that tries to approach the national policy by considering the contribution of all the instruments of national power and all resources to guarantee a systemic approach that makes space power governance more effective and sustainable, and enables a better management of national power, even in crises situations.