Abstract
In contemporary world politics, the strategic importance of space as a technological, commercial, and physical domain is growing rapidly. The number of countries involved in space has also dramatically expanded over the past two decades. This chapter examines the driving forces for advancing strategies and securitizing space in West Asia, a region rarely examined in the context of space, through the theoretical lens of membership in the space club. Since the early days of the space age, membership in the space club was considered a measure of power and high standing. Over the years, global politics and technological advancement introduced significant changes in global space activity. As a result, the social construction of the space club changed, leading to its expansion. In the context of this change, the chapter provides an overview of overall space activity in West Asia. It compares the perspectives regarding membership in the space club of Israel, an established spacefaring nation, with that of the UAE, an emerging spacefaring nation.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | The Oxford Handbook of Space Security |
| Editors | Saadia M. Pekkanen, P. J. Blount |
| Place of Publication | New York, NY |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press |
| Chapter | 23 |
| Pages | 435-454 |
| Number of pages | 20 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9780197582701, 0197582702, 9780197582688, 0197582680, 9780197582695, 0197582699 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9780197582671, 0197582672 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 22 Feb 2024 |