John Kristen Skogan

Militarization of Outer Space: Character and Background - Effects and Limitations?

For several decades now, the militarization of outer space has from time to time been presented and discussed as a new, and increasingly important feature of military development. Sometimes it has been the subject of more scrutinizing attention, and then often also warned against. The attention, and especially the warnings, increased, among other things, in the wake of President Ronald Reagan's initiative in 1983 about the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), often called “Star Wars” in news media coverage. Especially after the turn of the millennium, the militarization of outer space – space – has again been highlighted as a development trend that could come to characterize the future military landscape more strongly than before, especially at the level of great powers. And once again, warnings against this have often been issued. However, even though examples of such militarization are often mentioned in discussions and warnings about the militarization of outer space, the concept itself remains somewhat unclear: What does militarization here encompass, and what falls outside? The ambiguity has less to do with outer space itself, but rather lies in the use of the word militarization itself. Also used in other areas, this is a word that can easily contribute to ambiguity. It is usually used to indicate that something becomes subject to military use or interference and thereby exploited for military purposes. But it is not always easy to see clear boundaries for what can reasonably be called militarization in this respect. For example, is a civil airport with a military presence and activity there to be considered militarized? Or to put the question of reasonableness in this respect even more sharply: can military use, possibly extensive military use, for military purposes of a road network for civilian travel be claimed to constitute a militarization of this?

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