Tag: Spacepower

Britain’s National Space Council: Putting the ‘bloody Union Jack’ on top of spacepower?

Dr. Bleddyn Bowen This is a re-post from SpaceWatch.Global, a digital magazine and portal for those interested in space, where Dr. Bowen has a regular column. At the recent UK Space Conference in Wales it was announced (again) that the UK Government will set up a National Space Council (NSpC), having first signalled that intent… Read More Britain’s National Space Council: Putting the ‘bloody Union Jack’ on top of spacepower?

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Better the devil you know? Galileo, Brexit, and British defence space strategy

DR BLEDDYN E. BOWEN Bleddyn Bowen is a Lecturer in International Relations and expert in space warfare, space policy, and the politics of outer space at the School of History, Politics, and International Relations at the University of Leicester. He was published in several academic journals, contributed op-eds to numerous professional outelts including the LSE’s… Read More Better the devil you know? Galileo, Brexit, and British defence space strategy

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Space Warfare in the Pentagon: In Support of an Independent Space Corps

DR BLEDDYN BOWEN The US Department of Defense and the House of Representatives have been abuzz of late regarding the question of setting up an independent space corps within the US Air Force (USAF).  The House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee unveiled their intention to legislate this space corps loosely along the lines of the… Read More Space Warfare in the Pentagon: In Support of an Independent Space Corps

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Missile Defence and Spacepower: A Panel Proceeding at ISA 2017

Dr. Bleddyn Bowen This blog post is a short summary of a panel, on which I presented a paper, at the 2017 International Studies Association Annual (ISA) Convention in Baltimore, Maryland. The panel I was kindly invited to present on was titled ‘Missile Defenses, Space Weapons, and Advanced Conventional Weapons: Strategic Choices in Troubling Times… Read More Missile Defence and Spacepower: A Panel Proceeding at ISA 2017

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China’s space weapons test ten years on: Behemoth pulls the peasants’ plough

DR BLEDDYN BOWEN This post is based aspects of a forthcoming paper presented at the ISA Annual Convention 2017 in Baltimore, MD. Ten years ago, on 11th January 2007, a road-mobile SC-19 Chinese antisatellite (ASAT) weapons test renewed interest, debate, and occasional polemic hysteria, in the role of space weapons in international security and Sino-US… Read More China’s space weapons test ten years on: Behemoth pulls the peasants’ plough

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It’s about reaching the decision, not victory: strategic theory and the difficulty of taking action

DR BLEDDYN E. BOWEN As students of the Defence Studies Department grapple with strategic theory this winter, a useful way to begin is to consider the purpose of strategic theory and the work of ‘that dead Prussian’. One perspective on this issue is that we are engaging with why reaching decisions in war is difficult… Read More It’s about reaching the decision, not victory: strategic theory and the difficulty of taking action

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From Sparta to Space: Astropolitics and IR Theory

DR BLEDDYN BOWEN What does the world of Thucydides have in common with that of Wehrner von Braun or Sergei Korolev; of the realm of the trireme with the Delta IV rocket? Much like the popular misconception that satellites in orbit have ‘escaped’ the influence of Earth’s gravity, there is a common perception that outer… Read More From Sparta to Space: Astropolitics and IR Theory

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Clausewitz in Orbit: Spacepower Theory and Strategic Education

BLEDDYN BOWEN The politics of war and peace in space is an overlooked field. Space is a quiet and lonely place in war studies – despite space systems performing critical infrastructure roles in war, peace, politics, economics, and nuclear stability. In the mid-1990s John Sheldon and Colin Gray bemoaned the fact that there is no… Read More Clausewitz in Orbit: Spacepower Theory and Strategic Education

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