By Deploying Weapons in Space, is the U.S. Opening a Theater of Engagement That Could Disadvantage t

Since man's initial contact with space in 1957, the U.S. and Russia have flirted with putting weapons in space. Today, two camps exist in the space weapons debate: sanctuary and weaponization. The sanctuary camp argues that space should remain free of weapons because it is in the best interest of the United States. The weaponization camp feels the U.S. dependence on space is too great to leave assets there unprotected. Weaponization is especially important because of the large dependence of the U.S. military on space for force enhancement purposes. This thesis examines some of the major arguments by evaluating them against the U.S. instruments of national power: diplomatic, information, military, and economic. According to this thesis' research, deploying weapons in space would disadvantage the United States in the long term. The evaluation of the options presented in chapter 3 led to the choice of continuing research and development with a limiting treaty (Option 3A) as the highest scoring option.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.

This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.

As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.