Space Arms Control or Space Behavior Control? The Competition between American and Chinese Ideas of an International Space Order

Abstract

The weaponization and battlefieldization of outer space is becoming increasingly evident. China and the United States have obvious differences in their proposals for maintaining space security. China advocates a legally binding international treaty according to international law to limit outer space armament based on multilateralism with the framework of the United Nations at its core. The United States advocates establishing voluntary rule‐based agreements within the allied system as rules for the international community to constrain space behavior. The contest between China and the United States over how to maintain space security is in actuality a competition between the two countries over what type of international space order to establish. In the foreseeable future, the outcome of the competition between the two countries could be that an international space order based on US rules prevails, partially absorbing China's rules.