Syllabus
Basis of the course lays in lectures accompanied by seminar based on students´ required readings that will be uploaded into the Moodle system. Final two lectures will present students´ own research that should enhance their understanding of the domain´s many characteristics. 1) Introduction 2) History
Bloc 1 - outer space as a physical space - understanding the environment, basic astrophysics, space weather, celestial bodies, effects of outer space environment on living organisms
Bloc 2 - outer space as a military-diplomatic space - space weaponization and militarization, space security, space law
Bloc 3 - outer space as a socio-economic space - economy of outer space, societal impacts of space utilization, commercial development of the outer space
Bloc 4 - actors in the outer space - USA, Russia, Europe, China, India and minor actors
Bloc 5 - futuristic issues of space utilization - colonization of distant bodies, solar system economy, alien encounter, interstellar travel
Bloc 6 - student presentations
Annotation
Course deals with the geopolitics of the outer space and its relevance for the understanding of the world´s politics. Students taking this course will obtain basic knowledge about the relation of power and space in the outer space domain and the basic factors affecting political decisions in the outer space.
Furthermore, it will be demonstrated how the outer space activities affect the terrestrial society and the global politics. Aim of the course is to enable its students to understand basic geopolitical realities of the final frontier and to be able to analyze political decisions related to the domain.