[Samuel] Huntington implies that other nations would only enter an arms race to preserve the balance of power. But what if that balance of power was already overwhelming in favor of one side to begin with? Currently the United States has no peer in the world either economically or militarily. The United States has become the world's sole remaining superpower. If the United States added space weapons to its already massive arsenal of weapons, would this change the balance of power sufficiently to require other nations to respond? This is doubtful. Any other nation -- China, Russia, France, and others -- would have to simultaneously develop a robust terrestrial military capability while at the same time engaging in an arms race in space. Having the ability to control space without at least a minimally effective force on the ground would be impractical. The Russians and the Chinese currently are the closest competitors to the United States when it comes to military power. The collapse in 1989 of the Soviet Union demonstrated to the world that entering an enormously expensive arms race (which space weapons would certainly be) would have catastrophic results for a nation. No nation today has the combined military or economic wherewithal to enter an arms race in space with the United States.

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Hyten, John E. A Sea of Peace or a Theater of War: Dealing with the Inevitable Conflict in Space. Urbana-Champaign, IL: Program in Arms Control, Disarmament and International Security, April 2000. [ 8 quotes ]