Abstrakt
Various interests lay behind the call for planetary defense (PD) against asteroids and comets. PD certainly falls into the field of security studies, because its principal problem is the ability to assess the threat; however, PD lacks convincing statistics that can be used by politicians whether they should or should not address it.
When any threat cannot be realistically placed on a reasonable timescale, then the securitization process can be used to justify its credibility. At this point, interests of the involved actors might be various: national prestige, commercial boost multiplier, advancement of scientific research or simply the demand for a more responsible global governance.
The paper focuses on a normative perspective through a proposition of a new uniting norm of Responsibility to Defend Earth based on the experience with Responsibility to Protect. I argue that the cosmopolitan policy for PD can unite commercial and scientific goals in a sustainable manner.
The resulting Moon base on the far side with a PD capability can serve commerce, science and national prestige at once while representing a giant leap to space and an unprecedented advance to human collective behavior.