Safe Heavens : Military Strategy and Space Sanctuary Thought

By Major David W. Ziegler, USAF

Book Id: WPLBN0002170881
Format Type: PDF eBook:
File Size: 0.4 MB
Reproduction Date: 10/24/2012

Title:	Safe Heavens : Military Strategy and Space Sanctuary Thought
Author:	Major David W. Ziegler, USAF
Volume:
Language:	English
Subject:	Non Fiction, Military Science, Aerospace
Collections:	Authors Community, United States
Historic Publication Date:
Publisher:	Air University Press

Member Page:	Air University Press
Citation APA MLA Chicago David W. Ziegler, Usa, B. M. (n.d.). Safe Heavens : Military Strategy and Space Sanctuary Thought. Retrieved from http://gutenberg.cc/

Description
National leaders are debating the merits of American weapons in space. A decision to operationally deploy such weapons would reverse the United States’s long-standing commitment to space as a sanctuary. That sanctuary—the idea that space should remain relatively unthreatened by weapons—has been challenged in the past but for the most part still exists today. Further weaponizing space, though, could change that and introduces important issues. The political, military, social, economic, and diplomatic ramifications of American space weapons demand that strategists carefully consider all sides of this critical debate. Current defense literature, however, indicates analysts and leaders have been slow to develop the arguments supporting a space sanctuary. This omission could undermine the military community’s appreciation for all aspects of both problem and solution. In turn the quality of the space strategy eventually pursued might suffer. This study attempts to understand the argument against weapons in space. It asks the question: Could pursuing a space sanctuary policy in the immediate future benefit the national interest? This study answers the question by articulating the strongest possible argument for a space sanctuary strategy today.

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION . . . . . 1 DEFINITIONS . . . . 5 SPACE WEAPONS AND THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE . . . . 9 CONTEMPORARY US POLICY AND SPACE WEAPONS . . . . 21 THE SANCTUARY ARGUMENT . . . . 27 CONCLUSIONS . . . . 47