The Space Age ushers in a time when humans can transcend traditional wars and conflicts on Earth. We have an opportunity to reach for the stars and see ourselves as one harmonious species ( e pluribus unum) on our small pale blue dot. I see human movement into space as an example of the logic and experience of cooperation and our Darwinian heritage of altruism as well as competition (hopefully in the future, commercial and not national rivalry).
After the Space Age began with Sputnik on October 4, 1957, the United States was caught up in a competitive prestige race with the Soviet Union, but rather than let this race deteriorate into a zero-sum game, the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 committed the U.S. to, inter alia, “peaceful purposes for the benefit of all mankind.” The U.S. is to be “a leader” (not “the” leader) in “the conduct of peaceful activities.” Further, the principal space treaty, the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, commits states to explore space “for the benefit and in the interest of all countries.” Thus, the U.S. and other states party to the treaty ( there are ninety-eight) forsee win-win outcomes over time. The logics of win-lose and lose-lose are still present, but over time I expect non-zero sum, win-win games to characterize the Space Age. Ultimate non-zero-sumness will arrive when humanity becomes a multiplanetray species and when we recognize ourselves as one people rather than conflictual subsets of our species.
Dr.
Jonathan
Fuller
Galloway
Professor Emeritus of International Relations
Lake Forest College / International Institute of Space Law
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