It is tempting to think of our endeavors in space as linking humanity to a collective and cooperative future. But first there will continue to be competition for supremacy in outer space. The satellites are not just there to beam back our television pictures, or to predict the weather: they also spy on other countries, to see who is moving where and with what. In addition, America and China are engaged in developing laser technology, which can be used as weapons, and both seek to ensure that they have a missile system that can operate in space and nullify the competition’s version. Many of the technologically advanced nations are now making preparations in case they need to fight in space.

When we are reaching for the stars, the challenges ahead are such that we will perhaps have to come together to meet them: to travel the universe not as Russians, Americans, or Chinese but as representatives of humanity. But so far, although we have broken free from the shackles of gravity, we are still imprisoned in our own minds, confined by our suspicion of the “other,” and thus our primal competition for resources. There is a long way to go.

From Tim Marshall’s Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps that Tell You Everything You Need to Know about Global Politics, London: Elliott and Thompson, 2019 (first published in 2015), pp. 291-292.