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The three main space powers, the USA, China and Russia, agree with the mantra that ‘space is a war-fighting domain’ and all have versions of a ‘space force’. The rationale is that they can’t allow one of the others to call the shots in space, as it has become an integral part of warfare on Earth. Satellites are part of surveillance, targeting, missile delivery and nuclear early-warning systems. These three, along with India, have successfully tested anti-satellite weapons by firing a ballistic missile from Earth and destroying one of their own satellites. Machines designed to clear space debris can grab defunct satellites with their robotic arms, but this means they could seize a rival’s working satellite, a possibility that will tempt countries to create defensive measures. France is already talking about deploying ‘bodyguard satellites’. Finally, a Conversation on the Future of Physical Geography II is planned for the Chicago annual meeting to continue the thoughtful discussion from Tampa, and especially to hear more from early career scholars on how to enhance physical geography within the AAG. Please watch the AAG Geogram for information on location and time, and send along suggestions for discussion topics. Space: the biggest geopolitical story of the coming century - new from the multi-million-copy international bestselling author of Prisoners of Geography and The Power of Geography
When discussing how he manages to keep his book engaging and accessible for a wide audience, Marshall described how he realised that “almost everything is interesting”. He said it only really becomes hard “when I don’t understand something”. This created problems when writing his new book because “I don’t understand science, and there’s some science in this book and I had to go over and over it until I thought I understood it, and then write it […] in a way that I thought I might understand”.On the other hand, we have future conflicts and geopolitical tensions. Marshall has always been highly adept in this field and he runs through some hypothetical scenarios between the big three. Based on the previous and current history, some of them do feel quite plausible. A narrow fly-past of a western moon-base and a Chinese satellite that sabotages others in its radius. Our push to explore the cosmos will likely bring both new advancements and greater anxiety among the masses. This stirring book shows why astropolitics matters for everyone on Earth—not just the scientists and the dreamers.” — Dr Bleddyn E. Bowen, author of Original Sin and War in Space Space: the new frontier, a wild and lawless place. It is already central to communication, economics, military strategy and international relations on Earth. Now, it is the latest arena for human exploration, exploitation - and, possibly, conquest. We're heading up and out, and we're taking our power struggles with us. China, the USA and Russia are leading the way. Expanding the last chapter of his previous book in the Prisoners of Geography series, Tim Marshall tapped into what will become the latest stage of aggression and argued with good grounds that the Star Wars is probably more than sci-fi.
A chilling, insightful exploration of the political and military implications of our presence in space.” — Brian Clegg, author of Final Frontier We’re now well advanced in the new space race. The previous one was driven by the desire of both the USSR and the USA to prove that their political system was superior by getting to the Moon first. Now it’s more about the military and commercial opportunities space provides geopolitical rivals. Despite this, Marshall reflected on how when he was reporting, he felt in danger “most of the time”. He described how “one time I thought I might be getting kidnapped by ISIS” and there were “a couple of close misses.” Space is already central to our economies and as the realisation grows that satellites are part of our critical military and commericial infrastructure, the temptation to arm them with laser weapons will grow. Marshall is a journalist for the BBC and Sky News. [1] In the book, he focuses on ten areas that he considers to be potential hotspots in the future due to their geography, for reasons including climate change, ethnic strife and competition for resources. The areas in focus are Australia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, Greece and Turkey, the Sahel (the transition zone on the edge of the Sahara desert), Ethiopia, Spain and outer space. [2]Then when you get to the moon, that’s more geography. There’s plains and mountains, caves and tunnels and there’s rare earth minerals, precious metals and water.” Even topography, geographers note, isn’t as immutable as geopoliticians suppose. Zeihan, a vice-president at Stratfor for 12 years (“You can only speak at Langley so many times”, he sighs in a recent book), has long insisted that the outsize power of the US can be attributed to its “ perfect Geography of Success”. Settlers arrived in New England, encountered substandard agricultural conditions where “wheat was a hard no”, and were fortunately spurred on to claim better lands to the west. With those abundant farmlands came “the real deal”: an extensive river system allowing internal trade at a “laughably low” cost. These features, Zeihan writes, have made the US “the most powerful country in history” and will keep it so for generations. “Americans. Cannot. Mess. This. Up.” This is the latest (third) instalment in the author’s “Prisoners of Geography” series, which gives a fascinating account of how geographic realities influence the decision making of nation-states. In this instalment the author opens the question of how the drive to discover, explore space will lead to great new opportunities but also very real flashpoints between the great powers on Earth. Written with insight and great wit, this is an essential take on power, politics and the future of humanity from the UK's most popular writer on geopolitics.' The Daily Telegraph
There are many very positive things going on in space about solar power, medical experiments, which will benefit all of humankind. But I just wanted to write a book that talked about where we are now, that there’s a geography to this and there’s an international relations to this. Tim Marshall was Diplomatic Editor and foreign correspondent for Sky News. After thirty years’ experience in news reporting and presenting, he left full time news journalism to concentrate on writing and analysis. We don’t have the laws really governing the moon. A brief example, we, the UK are part of the Artemus Accords, which are US-led. I loved the first section about the history of our understanding of space. From Ancient Greece, The Abbasids to The Renaissance up to the space race it was all fascinating when all put in its context. I also quite enjoyed the China chapter and Marshals writing style is always digestible, informative and a pleasure to read. There’s radiation belts, there’s vast oceans of distance superhighways, where you can slingshot around a planet to to take advantage of its gravity, to speed you up etc.
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Plus, if you want to make a difference to the world, studying geography is a good place to start. Geography careersoffer opportunities to develop solutions to some of the most pressing issues for modern society, including climate change, natural disasters, overpopulation, urban expansion, and multicultural integration.
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