Asymmetry, volatility, and escalation : the potential for American military responses to Chinese offensive action in space

Abstract

The potential for conflict in space or related to space systems is an under-researched issue. Space conflict could dramatically affect States and individuals, and therefore can be situated in the escalation, great power rivalry, and human security bodies of knowledge. A normative policy analysis of the potential for conflict resulting from space contestation between the United States and China will seek to determine if volatility in space is qualifiable. Using the stated positions of the U.S. and China, inquiries into strategic priorities, hazards and risk, and legal mechanisms for conflict escalation aim to pragmatically respond to this gap and indicate where, if at all, potential for space conflict escalation exists. A discussion of the results situates them within the strategic rivalry between the United States and China and leads to practical recommendations for further research in this new set of problems in a new domain.