Soft Power Relevance of Space Technology

Science diplomacy could be viewed as an important tool to engage states construc­tively. Science diplomacy is about the use of scientific collaborations amongst the nation-states to deal with the common problems faced and to build constructive international partnerships [8]. State’s interests in various issues related to S&T impact policy planning at the uppermost levels. The S&T issues usually dictate the strategic considerations of the state and vice versa. These issues significantly impact the socioeconomic development of the state. Naturally, they influence state’s domestic and international policies and impact budgetary provisions. More importantly ‘barter’ of technology amongst nation-states is found being used as a means for international power politics for many years. Various technology denial regimes have played an important role in shaping the geopolitics of the world over the years. In Asia, the growth trajectory of states like India was dwarfed due to the technological apartheid for many years in the past. Appreciating the role played by S&T in the overall development of major powers over the years, various developing states are found keen to acquire technology both for civil and strategic purposes. This demonstrates the ‘mechanism of attraction’ in regard to S&T.

Asian states are making important investments in the field of S&T for last few decades. Understanding the limitations of dependence on other states in regard to acquisition of new technologies, some of them have initiated the process of indigenisation. Significant investments are being made by them in research and development (R&D) fields for various technologies. Level of Asian investments in R&D is found almost at par with that of North America. China and Japan take the second and the third spot globally in their national S&T investments with only the

US being ahead of them. China has developed one of the best technological facilities in the world. They are notably making investments in the fields like nanotechnology, catalysis and cognitive sciences [9]. India has earned global reputation for its development of information technology sector, and it is now establishing itself in biotechnology field.

In South Korea, the government has elevated the stature of S&T minister to the level of deputy prime minister clearly giving an indication about the importance the state is giving to S&T development. India has launched a massive programme to expand its higher education base keeping long-term requirements in mind. Indonesia had held its first National Innovation Summit in the summer of 2006 obliquely to project its S&T ambitions. Singapore continues to advance as the world-class biotech hub in Asia. Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam have devised policies to advance S&T and are welcoming new ventures [9]. All this indicates that various developing states from Asia are having sufficient interests in matters related to S&T. The overall interests shown by developing states to connect with the ‘have’ states of technology for the transfer/purchase of technology indicate its importance to them. The ‘have’ states are found using this opportunity to realise their geopolitical and geo-economical aims. It is important to note that there are few developed technological powers in Asia too, which are engaging various developing states within and outside the region.

As mentioned earlier, the soft power could be put into effect by non-state actors like major industrial house too. The success achieved by an industrial house may create its admirers both at intra – and interstate levels. Some of such admirers would also like to emulate the business model developed by these industrial houses. While speaking at the 2008 Davos World Economic Forum, Mr. Bill Gates of Microsoft had argued that ‘there is a need to develop a new business model that would allow a combination of the motivation to help humanity and the profit motive to drive development. He called it “creative capitalism,” the capitalism leavened by a pinch of idealism and altruistic desire to better the lot of others’ [10]. Various actions taken by state and non-state actors like helping humanity to progress, offering developmental assistance, fulfilling social obligations, investing towards development of entrepreneurship, etc. are directly or indirectly, knowingly or unknowingly helping to place the soft power in effect.

One specific area of S&T which has shown ability to shape the global opinion in such a fashion that the states genuinely aspire to possess this technology, probably even envy the states possessing this technology and wish to conquer the high ground, is space technology. This technology has been viewed as symbol of power. If possession of nuclear technology is viewed as a symbol of hard power, then it could be argued that the possession space technology could be viewed as symbol of soft power. This technology has affected the formulation of socioeconomic agendas of various nation-states and that of some international institutions. It has also made a significant impact on the most important traditional component of hard power, namely, the military. This technology has played the key role of connecting continents and people. From education to meteorology to military to disaster management, the footprint of this technology is all pervasive.

In order to contextualise the relevance of space technologies from the soft power, perspective ex-NASA administrator Mike Griffin offers an interesting argument. Naturally, his argument would have a US bias, but the overall context could be appreciated under the global settings too. In specific terms, the USA is far ahead of any other state in regard to assets, investments and technological expertise in space realm. Hence, Griffin’s argument may not have the universality; however, still the basic spirit behind his argument needs to be noted.

Mike Griffin develops his argument at the backdrop of national security. He raises few basic questions in order to reach his analysis. He asks, ‘What is the value to the US of being involved in enterprises which lift up human hearts everywhere when we do them? What is the value to the US of being engaged in such projects, doing the kinds of things that other people want to do with us, as partners? What is the value to the US of being a leader in such efforts, in projects in which every nation capable of doing so wants to take part? I would submit that the highest possible form of national security, well above having better guns and bombs than everyone else, well above being so strong that no one wants to fight with us, is the security which comes from being a nation which does the kinds of things that make others want to work with us to do them. What security could we ever ask that would be better than that, and what give[s] more of it to us than the space programme?’ [11]. It is important to note the context against which Mike Griffin was making his argument. The US space shuttle Atlantis took its last flight during July 2011. Unfortunately, presently the USA has no platform available to undertake any manned space mission. NASA administrators were aware few years back that such situation would arise in near future if they do not react in time. Hence in 2007, while highlighting the need to continue working on an alternative to the space shuttle, he had argued that human ‘spaceflight is an instrument of soft power: a way of demonstrating US leadership not just in space, but on Earth as well’ [11]. It is important to note that space shuttle could be only one of the instruments to depict the relevance of soft power status; there are various other vital instruments available in the space arena having potential to display the soft power status. The abrupt shutting down of the space shuttle programme has considerably dented the US space dominance, indirectly affecting its soft power status in the outer space arena.

The phenomenal success achieved by the USA in space arena over the years has helped them significantly towards retaining the technological leadership of the world. Particularly, its achievement with its civilian space programme has allowed it to boost its soft power status. It is also important to analyse in detail whether the concentration by the USA towards developing more space technologies for strategic purposes in space has undermined its soft power status. In the twenty- first century, with the increasing global influence from its strategic competitors, particularly Russia and China in the space field, the US influence is showing certain signs of withdrawal. It may not happen immediately but eventually it could happen.

The argument put forth by Joseph Nye in his 2004 article [12] is found becoming more relevant in 2011-2012. He had said that the USA should appreciate that the soft power is not just a matter of ephemeral popularity. It should allow the USA to obtain the outcomes it desires. If the USA becomes very unpopular that being pro-

USA is considered as a kiss of death, then it means the state is losing its legitimacy in the eyes of others. Unfortunately, the USA is becoming unpopular because of its global policies. The post 9/11 US policies have not been appreciated by many (individuals and states) and have ended up in making the USA unpopular in the world. Apart from fighting the so-called global war against terrorism, the USA is also concerned about threats emerging from few state actors. The role of the US administration during the Arab Spring (2011-2012) and its approach towards the Libya uprising has added to its unpopularity. The US ‘fervour’ to undertake global policing and their ‘selective’ usage of policies in regard to democracy and human rights has not been appreciated by many.

To address the likely threats emerging from the states like Iran and North Korea, the USA is developing and simultaneously deploying the architecture for the ballistic missile defence systems. Establishing such system has direct impact on the matters related to space weaponisation. This is leading the USA to distance itself from participating towards development of any global arms control and disarmament agenda in space arena. Also, their resolve to preserve dominance in military space is consuming its resources. On the other hand, new competitors are entering in the sectors dominated by the USA for many years like global satellite navigation. On the whole, the USA appears to have started losing some ground in commercial space area and also in the field space exploration. This could lead eventually towards the USA losing its leadership in space field and indirectly affect its soft power standing. This may not happen in near future; however, such possibility in the longer run could not be ruled out.

The ‘field of space’ is rapidly becoming globally active with few Asian states realising impressive achievements. ‘Technonationalism’ has been the impetus for their space programmes [13]. Various spacefaring Asian states are found success­fully using their expertise for the purposes of commercial activates. Witnessing their impressive success, many states within and outside the region are getting attracted towards their capability and expertise. Space technology savvy Asian states are found using this opportunity to focus for commercial proposals from such states. They are also found helping few states financially to develop their space programmes. There is a geopolitical significance behind such engagements. In short, they are found using competitive socioeconomic, scientific and strategic pursuits for such engagements. The following section of this chapter examines the space policies of China from the point of view of understanding their relevance to exert soft power influence.