A roundtable of academics and practitioners, organised by Matteo Gerlini and Giulio Pugliese, will discuss satellite governance and examine its potential as a point of conflict or cooperation in international relations.
Outer space is a critical element of the international system. Will the ongoing changes in international relations affect the governance of satellite space? Are satellite applications only a harbinger of new competition among global players, or can elements of cooperation prevail?
References to the space race as a conflictual dynamic abound - and rightly so. From the launch of Sputnik to the present day, occupying space has shaped the competition and strategy of the world's powers.
Nevertheless, the use of satellite technology offers potential for stability and shared development. In a panorama that necessarily includes transnational aggregations of public and private capital as main players, the advantages that satellite technology can offer for international cooperation and dialogue are manyfold. Take, for example, remote sensing, on which the JRC-EC has worked, or the importance of satellites for arms control. Can these applications be the Archimedean foothold to lift satellites into peaceful skies, or are the (satellite) constellations destined for conflict?
This roundtable will address this question.
This event is backed by contributions of the EUI Robert Schuman Centre and the Department of Political and International Sciences of the University of Siena.
The Alcide De Gasperi Centre supports researchers working in areas related to the history of European integration and cooperation. It coordinates networks of historians, facilitates the use of primary sources and increases public interest in the history of European integration.
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