Do Space Cooperation And Crimes Against Humanity Make A Good Mix?
Keith’s note: Whenever I am asked about the Russian issue on the ISS on TV I usually reply that while things are bad back on Earth, somehow we always managed to cooperate in space with the same people we cannot get along with on Earth – and that maybe how we live in space can provide us a lesson with how we should live on our home planet’s surface. Indeed I think the idea of ISS as a Nobel Peace Prize winner is a good one. In the past several years that in-space cooperation has been tested with regard to Russia. We’ve seen that relationship challenged by Nauka’s malfunction, leaky Soyuz and Progress spacecraft, accusations of American astronaut tampering, and repugnant rants from the (former) head of Russia’s space program (who is now an active participant in the invasion of Ukraine). Yet the ISS continues to operate surprisingly smoothly. Now the U.S. has openly declared that “The United States has formally determined that Russia has committed crimes against humanity.” Is Bill Nelson going to address this? Probably not. Oddly Bill Nelson has been quite vocal for months about China (not a NASA partner in space). Yet when it comes to a formal U.S. accusation of crimes against humanity in Ukraine by Russia (an actual NASA partner in space) Nelson is surprisingly quiet. Why is that?
2 responses to “Do Space Cooperation And Crimes Against Humanity Make A Good Mix?”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
I’ll bite on this.
The short answer to the question in your headline is Yes.
The longer answer has to do with the crucial value of diplomacy and personal relations in managing difficult international relationships. My first trip to Russia was during the Soviet era, an era of a government which murdered political opponents, imprisoned and expelled dissenters, waged unjust wars of conquest, etc..
But the US government knew then, as it knows now, that personal connections are vital in providing the basis not only for a more positive relationship in the future, but for the process of getting from the ugly present to that better place down the road. If you took a State Department official aside for an off-the-record discussion, they’d absolutely encourage interactions between US and Russian citizens, for that very reason.
The work of diplomacy through ISS has been made easier by the release of Rogozin from his former post at the head of Roscosmos and by the installation of Sergei Krikalev (2xMir, 2xISS, 3xShuttle) as the executive director of Roscosmos’ Human Spaceflight Program. Everyone benefits from the fact that Krikalev understands effective communication and stays focused on the work (while speaking fluent American English).
I look forward to the post-Putin era, to restoration of Ukrainian control of its internationally-recognized borders, to reparations for the destruction done, and to justice for the perpetrators. I also look forward to the positive future that awaits all of us where Russia is a peaceful friend, the same place we reached with the Axis powers of WWII after much hard and important work. If we all do the in-vogue thing of shouting at everyone all the time, we’ll never get to that better place.
Our ongoing cooperation on ISS lays the groundwork for that future. It also shows that war crimes, crimes against humanity, and bellicose nuclear threats notwithstanding, someone with authority inside the current Russian government still has an eye on reaching a peaceful future. We should encourage them.
I hope you are right about the post-Putin era of Russia. But the comparison to WWII does not work well. Germany was completely defeated, occupied for a long period, and over time its people faced the atrocities that occurred in the past. And all this took quite a long time. The complete defeat and occupation part will not happen with Russia. Russian leadership has frequently buried past events which were undesirable, or altered them for their benefit. And they do still murder journalists etc and wage unjust wars of conquest. Engaging with them for space activities has made sense. However, they’ve shown that engaging with them, and depending on them, for energy supplies was a very bad move.
What kind of leadership will they have after Putin? Will public sentiments change? Will Russia face up to its actions? And if so, when? But yes, I definitely desire a peaceful Russia that is a positive actor in the world. It has such potential as a country on paper.