advantage on a single nation; it is impossible for a nation to seize or destroy the
wealth of another or for a nation to enrich itself by subjugating another”.
19
According to Angell, the integration of the European economies and consequently
the creation of a global one would become so comprehensive and irreversible that
conflicts would become impossible. His book became a bestseller and was translated into 25 languages, and Angell went on to become a Nobel-Prize laureate in
1933 for his economic theory.
Unfortunately, the Realpolitik of the twentieth century disavowed his theory.
The growing, although still fragile economic interdependence between nations
increased mutual fears of other nations. Between 1914 and 1945, 130 million
people died in Europe as a result of two world conflicts and civil wars in Russia
and Spain.
20
The story after WWI is emblematic. In WWI alone, 15 million Europeans died.
When the war was over, France and England imposed huge economic sanctions on
Germany and prevented its rearmament. John Maynard Keynes, part of the British
delegation at the Versailles Conference, wrote a pamphlet The Economic
Consequences of Peace
21
in which he worried about the effect such mandates
would have on Germany. He predicted that its economy would soon collapse, but
his words remained unheard, and he went on to witness the fall of the Weimar
Republic and the advent of Nazism, which in a few years plunged the world back
into another devastating war.
The world changed drastically after WWII, as the power of the atomic bomb
and its technological rarity among nations shaped a new geopolitical order. The
two strongest superpowers, the US and Russia, competed global supremacy. In
that context of confrontation,
22
space exploration took shape in a twofold path: a
military conflict hidden from the public view and a more evident and spectacular
one that culminated with the Moon landing. However, the US victory in the Space
Race of the sixties was not decisive: it took twenty more years for the Soviet
Union to fall for good.
In the first half of the twentieth century, the US had very limited global power,
and in the second half, it was heavily invested in fighting against the Russians.
19
Lane, Norman Angell. 2012. The Great Illusion – A Study of the Relation of Military Power
to National Advantage. Editor Forgotten Books.
20
Caracciolo, Lucio, and Vittorio Zucconi. 2014. La guerra dei cent’anni. La Domenica di
Repubblica n° 462.
21
Keynes, John Maynard. 1919. The Economic Consequences of the Peace. London: Macmillan
& Co.
22
The term Technopolitics defines a hybrid mix of technology and politics that produces new
forms of power and unfolds with narratives of national and social identity. Edwards, P.N. and
G. Hecht. 2010. History and the techno-politics of identity: The case of apartheid South Africa.
Journal of Southern African Studies 36 (3).
Technopolitics of Space Between History and Realpolitik 71
wealth of another or for a nation to enrich itself by subjugating another”.
19
According to Angell, the integration of the European economies and consequently
the creation of a global one would become so comprehensive and irreversible that
conflicts would become impossible. His book became a bestseller and was translated into 25 languages, and Angell went on to become a Nobel-Prize laureate in
1933 for his economic theory.
Unfortunately, the Realpolitik of the twentieth century disavowed his theory.
The growing, although still fragile economic interdependence between nations
increased mutual fears of other nations. Between 1914 and 1945, 130 million
people died in Europe as a result of two world conflicts and civil wars in Russia
and Spain.
20
The story after WWI is emblematic. In WWI alone, 15 million Europeans died.
When the war was over, France and England imposed huge economic sanctions on
Germany and prevented its rearmament. John Maynard Keynes, part of the British
delegation at the Versailles Conference, wrote a pamphlet The Economic
Consequences of Peace
21
in which he worried about the effect such mandates
would have on Germany. He predicted that its economy would soon collapse, but
his words remained unheard, and he went on to witness the fall of the Weimar
Republic and the advent of Nazism, which in a few years plunged the world back
into another devastating war.
The world changed drastically after WWII, as the power of the atomic bomb
and its technological rarity among nations shaped a new geopolitical order. The
two strongest superpowers, the US and Russia, competed global supremacy. In
that context of confrontation,
22
space exploration took shape in a twofold path: a
military conflict hidden from the public view and a more evident and spectacular
one that culminated with the Moon landing. However, the US victory in the Space
Race of the sixties was not decisive: it took twenty more years for the Soviet
Union to fall for good.
In the first half of the twentieth century, the US had very limited global power,
and in the second half, it was heavily invested in fighting against the Russians.
19
Lane, Norman Angell. 2012. The Great Illusion – A Study of the Relation of Military Power
to National Advantage. Editor Forgotten Books.
20
Caracciolo, Lucio, and Vittorio Zucconi. 2014. La guerra dei cent’anni. La Domenica di
Repubblica n° 462.
21
Keynes, John Maynard. 1919. The Economic Consequences of the Peace. London: Macmillan
& Co.
22
The term Technopolitics defines a hybrid mix of technology and politics that produces new
forms of power and unfolds with narratives of national and social identity. Edwards, P.N. and
G. Hecht. 2010. History and the techno-politics of identity: The case of apartheid South Africa.
Journal of Southern African Studies 36 (3).
Technopolitics of Space Between History and Realpolitik 71