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Outer Space Beckons Humanity to a Peaceful Future

(Former professor Dr. Gregori Khozin is a political scientist, historian and futurist who currently serves as director of the Moscow-based Center for Global Problems. Carol Sue Rosin, head of the World Government's space commission, recently interviewed Khozin in Washington, where he holds the post of visiting scholar at George Washington University. Following is an edited and condensed version of Khozin's response to some of Rosin's questions.)

What lessons may we learn from the first four decades of space activity?

First, that the national interests that dominated space programs, though they produced some results, will not be a promising rationale for space activity in the future. Competition, military rivalry and mutual distrust reduce the efficiency of all important projects, both on planet Earth and in space. Sustainable partnership is the only feasible option for the future.

Second, military missions in space are a waste of talent and are the source of increasing tensions. Of course, we cannot avoid using space assets for security, but this will not be security sustained by military means. Humankind moves forward to comprehensive security. We should cooperate politically, economically, ecologically, militarily and as humanitarians for our survival.

We should leave for history this painful effort to militarize space, that is, to saturate us with weapons. The most dangerous dimension of the militarization of space was and is the "Star Wars" program and all similar projects connected with making space a battlefield of the future.

As humankind approaches the threshold of the third millennium, we see signs that people are ready to change their patterns of thinking. Such a positive development may be followed by radical transformation in societies, in the world economy, and in international relations.

Thirdly, countries that went into space relying on their own capabilities did not understand that cooperation in space cannot be the last priority after military, political, ideological, and other concerns. Traditionally, what remained after all those other objectives would be cooperative ventures. This is wrong. Cooperation, most especially in space, should come first!

Space technology will thus serve not only the immediate participants in any joint ventures, but all humanity. We must begin the trek of post-Cold War partnership in space and re-evaluate all probable missions and imaginable forms of cooperation.

This issue is very simple: either you work for the benefits of all humanity or you run business as usual. You can't call it cooperation when my interest will be satisfied to a greater extent than yours. Partnership in space may prove difficult but it is the only acceptable alternative.

A Unique Technology

No other technology can provide us with so complete a picture of events unfolding on this planet. All prior forms of information were fragmentary and reached the customer after a time-lag. Space gives us the whole picture of what is going on in the entire biosphere of our planet. It provides us with the possibility of quick reaction to minimize the consequence of disaster. The proper use of remote sensing information may give us the chance to forecast possible breakdowns in technical, natural and social systems. Space technology is a reliable means of control for refined use of natural resources.

But space assets cannot be fully efficient when used solely in the interests of spacefaring nations. Space technology can serve humankind only on a global scale.

In this respect, what the United Nations does for space is not enough. The U.N.'s Outer Space Committee tries to set rules and explain to nations what is potentially available through space technology. But talking about what is possible is not enough. The time has come to speak about what should be done and how.

Cooperation between the U.S. and Russia after the Cold War, as well as multilateral space projects, could become a model for large-scale joint efforts on the part of all members of the world community.

Previously, space technology was used primarily for military purposes, and the rest of society had access to it only on a very limited scale. Now, the priorities of national and international space activity should be selected with due account taken of the interests of world society.

We cannot put aside all concerns about military protection of a nation, but to a still greater extent we cannot accept that space should be limited solely to military purposes.

The lessons of the space age may be summarized into the following prescriptions: demilitarization of space; enhancing the efficiency of space activity by increasing the return on investments in space programs in the form of services to the entire world community; directing space assets to the cause of sustainable development of the planet Earth.

Russia's philosophical and cultural legacy incorporates the phenomenon of "cosmism," which is space-related philosophy. It offers a vision of the history and future of humanity from the perspective of space. It may serve as a bridge into the future because it provides a conceptual and philosophical basis from which humanity can go beyond nationalistic, irrational, military-dominated and other limited ways of thinking while preparing to join the Community of the Universe. The time has come to prepare ourselves for interactions with civilizations more advanced than ours. This vision will help us move towards a constructive, eco-rational, nonviolent, culturally diverse civilization of the future.

In other words, the next stage of space activity will not be only by means of further physical penetration of outer space, but will involve to an even greater degree the continued exploration of "spiritual space."

Visions of the Future

People in many countries are thinking of forming a World Space Commission, a kind of branch of a World Government which will help implement concepts of space activity more humanitarian and value-oriented than those which guided us during the past four decades.

It is time to work with a new generation of leaders in different countries, including the military. Let's try to make political and military leaders think in new categories. A vision from space will give us radical new approaches to the problems facing us. We need to develop a solid body of laws for space which will help us use space assets to resolve earthly problems. This mission must be implemented with participation by specialists, not only by politicians.

Humanity cannot stop its history. Neither can it drop the idea of exploring space. Going into space means doing your best to improve yourself individually as well as the entire social organization and the very paradigm of thought. As the human species thrust deeper and deeper into space, earthly civilization feels itself becoming compatible with the highest standards of intelligence, not only here on Earth but in the limitless universe.


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