On Tuesday, 26 April 2022, the European Neighbourhood Policy Chair in Natolin hosted a special guest speaker – Dr Adam BOWER, Assistant Professor at the School of International Relations of the University of St Andrews and Visiting Scholar at the ENP Chair in Natolin. Dr BOWER offered a half-hour presentation on his ongoing research: "Preventing an Arms Race in Outer Space: Current Challenges and Future Prospects", and discussed it with present students and the public.
About the lecture:
We are in the midst of a revolution in outer space activities, with a dramatic expansion of state and commercial operations generating concerns for competition and congestion in Earth orbit and beyond. Major space powers now regard outer space as a warfighting domain and are developing capabilities to target space systems. In this light, there are increasing worries that geopolitical tensions may extend armed conflict into space, risking the destruction of valuable space systems and the creation of debris that would further imperil the safety and sustainability of Earth's orbit. This talk first surveyed the current trends in military space operations and the existing international institutions designed to prevent an arms race in outer space. It then proposed opportunities to enhance space security governance through new multilateral diplomatic initiatives.
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