xvi
It is not the object of this book to analyse the broader meaning of the term
Geopolitics, but it is useful to understand some of its peculiarities to apply it to
space exploration. According to the Italian economist Paolo Savona, author of
several books on the topic, geopolitics is defined as “the discipline that studies
political facts with respect to their dependence on the physical environment, its
inhabitants and their internal and international institutional articulation”.
Technological innovations have always influenced physical and social relations,
introducing new ways of living and confrontation that have suddenly or gradually
modified the political actions of nations. From the use of fire in the prehistoric era
to the invention of the internal combustion engine, these discoveries have been
instrumental in supporting political and economic objectives, even if their invention was the result of ingenuity driven by pure scientific curiosity.
Many analysts have precisely indicated the birthdate of modern geopolitics:
January 25, 1904. On that day, Sir Halford Mackinder explained before the Royal
Scientific Society of London his Heartland theory, reported in the book The
Geographical Pivot of History. The theory went that whichever nation controlled
Eastern Europe would control the Heartland – the core of Eurasia – and subsequently, this nation would control all of Europe and Asia, finally dominating the
entire world.
In those same years, US admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan, a renowned naval historian, strategist, and geopolitical theorist, explained his theory on world domination by focusing instead on the oceans – simply, whoever conquered the seas
would control the world. Both Mackinder and Mahan’s statements have proven
true throughout history, but today in the third millennium, space has become the
new Heartland, where Mackinder and Mahan’s theories will merge into extraterrestrial confrontation among nations for a terrestrial domination.
We will discover in the course of this book how space exploration, which began
in the middle of the last century, has been and will be an activity with a strong
geopolitical value, to the point that every nation that wants to affirm its power in
the world cannot help but develop an autonomous and ambitious space program.
Rome, Italy
Marcello Spagnulo
Preface
It is not the object of this book to analyse the broader meaning of the term
Geopolitics, but it is useful to understand some of its peculiarities to apply it to
space exploration. According to the Italian economist Paolo Savona, author of
several books on the topic, geopolitics is defined as “the discipline that studies
political facts with respect to their dependence on the physical environment, its
inhabitants and their internal and international institutional articulation”.
Technological innovations have always influenced physical and social relations,
introducing new ways of living and confrontation that have suddenly or gradually
modified the political actions of nations. From the use of fire in the prehistoric era
to the invention of the internal combustion engine, these discoveries have been
instrumental in supporting political and economic objectives, even if their invention was the result of ingenuity driven by pure scientific curiosity.
Many analysts have precisely indicated the birthdate of modern geopolitics:
January 25, 1904. On that day, Sir Halford Mackinder explained before the Royal
Scientific Society of London his Heartland theory, reported in the book The
Geographical Pivot of History. The theory went that whichever nation controlled
Eastern Europe would control the Heartland – the core of Eurasia – and subsequently, this nation would control all of Europe and Asia, finally dominating the
entire world.
In those same years, US admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan, a renowned naval historian, strategist, and geopolitical theorist, explained his theory on world domination by focusing instead on the oceans – simply, whoever conquered the seas
would control the world. Both Mackinder and Mahan’s statements have proven
true throughout history, but today in the third millennium, space has become the
new Heartland, where Mackinder and Mahan’s theories will merge into extraterrestrial confrontation among nations for a terrestrial domination.
We will discover in the course of this book how space exploration, which began
in the middle of the last century, has been and will be an activity with a strong
geopolitical value, to the point that every nation that wants to affirm its power in
the world cannot help but develop an autonomous and ambitious space program.
Rome, Italy
Marcello Spagnulo
Preface