Analytical Review

Source:

Hertzfeld, Henry, der Dunk von, Robert Harding, and Joanne Gabrynowicz. "International Space Law Panel." The Whitehead Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations 11, no. 2 (2010): 7-26. http://search.proquest.com/docview/867268159?accountid=285.

                The Whitehead Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations (WJDIR) attended a panel discussion during October of 2009. The panel was called the International Space Law Panel and consisted of experts from different backgrounds, but each of their backgrounds was in some way tangent to Space Law; these experts’ names are Henry Hertzfeld, whom was the author of another one of my sources, Frans von der Dunk, Robert Harding and Joanne Gabrynowicz. The article is basically a synopsis with quotations of the questions asked by the WJDIR and the responses from each of the panel members. The questions posed by the WJDIR have quite a variety of topics such as the effectiveness and controllability of different types of weapons in space, the policies and viewpoints that the United States should take when cooperating with other countries regarding space, how international aid and assistance play a role in the abilities of underdeveloped countries to achieve space travel as well as what the roles of these underdeveloped countries should be when it comes to creating treaties that would potentially limit the more developed countries and how the advancements of technology in the near future could change the world’s view of space.

                As of right now, the only treaties in place regarding the limitation of weapons in space tend to concentrate on keeping strictly nuclear weapons out of orbit, as this was obviously a main concern during the times of the Cold War. These treaties are somewhat outdated because they do not completely specify what nuclear weapons are, the treaties merely reference them as WMD (weapons of mass destruction), or even mention other types of weapons, such as biological or chemical for example. However, the majority of the panel agreed that the definition of space weapons is very broad at the moment, thus it is very difficult to limit them. Also, they believed that it would be nearly impossible to control weapons in space once they were there and believed that space should be kept clear of such weapons, even though they thought it probably wouldn’t happen as once one country decides to put a weapon into space for its own protection, every other country will follow the trend in an attempt to protect its own wellbeing.

                During the cold war, international aid had one main hope, in persuading neutral countries to choose a side, either the US or the USSR. However, today, that is no longer the case, and the panelists believe that today financial aid and assistance can be much more mutually beneficial things. In fact, the panel believed that aid must be this way; otherwise it is simply one country gaining and the other country losing. Also, countries that do not have access to space should play a more limiting role in the creation of international treaties as they are obviously less affected by its outcomes and limitations; but, once a country became more prevalent in the “space scene” their influence would increase also.

                Another topic discussed by the panel is Obama’s new space policy that, in summary, says that the US needs to be and will be more international in its outlook and use of space, as opposed to the previous outlook of the United States during the Bush years, which tended to view space as solely a means of national security by the means of space superiority. The panel mentions that this type of cooperation will cause a greater amount of competition between the parties / countries involved. But, overall, this type of cooperation will be beneficial to the countries involved, even if a certain country’s space capabilities only range to putting simple satellites in orbit.

                The reason I picked this source was because it brought together a wide range of viewpoints and backgrounds and intellects and focused them on talking about a topic that could help to move my paper along. Also, it provides opinions that aren’t prevalent in some of my other important major sources.