Spacepower for Australias Security - Grand Strategy or Strategy of Grandeur

• Main Author: Lovett,Darin J
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Subjects: artificial satellites; Australia; international relations; Military strategy; national security; Space defense; space situational awareness; Space systems; Space warfare; spacepower

Spacepower For Australia's Security - Grand Strategy Or Strategy Of Grandeur? contends that Australia needs to incorporate spacepower as an element of its grand strategy. An analysis of the meaning of strategy and grand strategy in the modern context of twenty first century power leads to a proposition that a more complex world requires a different view of strategy, one viewed through a systems lens. The effectiveness of risk analysis to strengthen national security is evaluated and shown to be deficient for complex systems with highly improbable but highly consequential events. An alternative view for developing strategy for complex systems is proposed that contributes the concept of system resilience. A theory of spacepower is developed following a comparison between the land, air, sea and cyber domains. Spacepower emerges as a unique element of national power, and an essential element of grand strategy for the twenty first century. An understanding of the unique territory of space, the dimensions of strategy relevant to spacepower and Australian national security, and outputs from the space system supports the thesis that space systems underpin modern society to such an extent they form an important, yet presently overlooked element of grand strategy.