Through a techno-nationalist lens, this paper will assess the growing China-European Union (EU) space axis, and its implications for international space cooperation and competition. Techno-nationalism, the idea that technological strength is an effective determinant of national power in a harshly competitive world,3 informs both Chinese and U.S. perceptions of China's space development. Using this lens elevates all space activities—manned, unmanned, military and scientific—to the strategic level. It is our contention that because of the increasing China-EU space axis, the U.S. must reevaluate its approach to China: away from the containment approach, which has thus far predominated, toward an approach which would offer the U.S. the opportunity to influence, and thereby decrease the importance of, the emerging axis.
展开▼
