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Oberg, James. Space Power Theory. Maxwell AFB, AL: USAF Air University, 2001. [ 5 quotes ]

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Chinese Economy Limits Their Civil Space Power Ambitions
 
A strong Chinese economy remains elusive. Well-publicized rocket failures make marketing of its commercial launch capability difficult. The Chinese have the ability to overcome their technical difficulties, but economics will limit China as a space power until the domestic economy can provide greater levels of government and commercial funding. ( More ... )
Oberg, James. Space Power Theory. Maxwell AFB, AL: USAF Air University, 2001. [ 5 quotes ] [ page 64 ]
Importance of Securing Space Resources Will Outweigh Treaty Obligations
 
When and why is it in the interest of nations to make and abide by such treaties, and as deemed necessary, withdraw from such treaties (with or without notice)? In one way, it is easy to answer these questions according to an old Roman proverb: “Salus rei publicae supremus lex est”—“the health of the republic is the supreme law.” In other words, regardless of treaties or rules, governments will do whatever they can to preserve the sovereignty and well being of the state they rule. However, as the American entries into the War of 1812 and World War I illustrate, when the leaders of a state do whatever they must to win a war for survival, they can provoke neutral states into joining the conflict against them. Given the growing importance of space systems for economic, national security and environmental purposes, damaging or destroying them could trigger widespread violence on Earth.
Oberg, James. Space Power Theory. Maxwell AFB, AL: USAF Air University, 2001. [ 5 quotes ] [ page 85 ]
Space Arms Control Efforts Will Quickly Become Out of Date
 
Enthusiasm for today's, or even tomorrow's, solutions must be tempered with the knowledge that tomorrow's wrong choice was the one that seemed so obviously correct yesterday. Yet decisions cannot be avoided, and a slow, cautious approach may be as wrong a policy of space activity as may be a headlong rush. Like the language and policies of space treaties, prescriptions for action are likely to soon become so outmoded as to be of little other than historical value in just a decade or so. ( More ... )
Oberg, James. Space Power Theory. Maxwell AFB, AL: USAF Air University, 2001. [ 5 quotes ] [ page 159 ]
Technology Advancements Have Made Past Arms Control Irrelevant
 
As is familiar to any serious student of previous international treaties dealing with technological questions, treaties usually persist long after the technological assumptions or specific crises behind them have become obsolete. Thus the reinterpretation of ambiguous wording based on unanticipated technical developments can lead to the existence of a set of "shadow treaties" which diverge from the original in different directions depending on the interpretations and intentions of the different parties involved. Because of the rapidity of revolutionary change in space activities, treaties can age extremely quickly and can become ambiguous and asymmetrically restrictive within only a decade or two. ( More ... )
Oberg, James. Space Power Theory. Maxwell AFB, AL: USAF Air University, 2001. [ 5 quotes ] [ page 78-9 ]
Space Weapons will Inevitably be Deployed for Defense
 
It is almost certain that sometime early in the 21st Century, the fielding of space-based weapons will occur under the auspices of defense, in much the same manner as the nuclear weapon buildup that occurred within the latter half of the 20th. And, like nuclear weapons, once fielded, there will be no reversing course. This too is an historical lesson of warfare. ( More ... )
Oberg, James. Space Power Theory. Maxwell AFB, AL: USAF Air University, 2001. [ 5 quotes ] [ page 150 ]