Space-Derived Transparency: Players, Policies, Implications, and Synergies
Abstract
Space-derived transparency will become a common means of monitoring, preventing, and mitigating crises, verifying compliance with treaties and law, and enabling confidence and security building measures. Democratization and globalization, the proliferation of information technologies, the availability of commercial space high-resolution imagery, and the growing influence of NGOs invite this question: What is (space-derived) transparency and what effect does it have on US security policy? Three camps have emerged in the debate - Horaeists who seek to build a transnational society through complete transparency; Preservationists, mostly military, who fear the threat to national security, want to deny most space-derived information to non-traditional/non-state actors; and Synergists who seek to capitalize on the best of both camps. There is evidence suggesting that space-derived transparency is an inevitable trend and will resist even the best means of preservationist control. Space-derived transparency may change the dynamic of the security environment by introducing new players into the policy fomentation and implementation process. These players, if not properly schooled in imagery analysis or the potential effects of their use of misinterpreted space-derived imagery, could force policy makers to make fast, ill-considered decisions in order to respond to incidents. In some cases this fast response will defuse potential crises and in other situations these rushed decisions might result in policies without considering the potential consequences, which could turn incidents into crises. Space-derived transparency is a step forward into the future for each camp . . . the challenge for the United States lies in forging synergies in an increasingly transparent world while maintaining the balance between openness and security.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2001
- Accession Number
- ADA407812
Entities
People
- C. J. Kinnan
Organizations
- Air University