Abstrakt
Planetary defense (PD) falls into the field of security studies in international relations because its principal problem is a threat to our security. When any threat cannot be realistically placed on a reasonable scale showing its importance, then a securitization process known from the critical security studies in international relations is an approach to analyze it.
Analysis of the securitization process is usually used to unveil real intentions behind legitimization of exceptional politics, but it can also be used to justify its credibility. In other words, the way we talk, argue, and discuss the threat constructs our perception of its severity, magnitude, and relevance.
PD has one significant advantage: It deals with easily scientifically confirmable threats that can help to justify the securitization move. Despite the hard science behind PD, additional interests of the involved actors may contribute toward related policy decisions: national prestige, commercial boost multiplier, advancement of scientific research, or simply the demand for a more responsible global governance.
I introduce the reader into the realm of securitization theory and assess the special case of PD in its light. Later, I argue why a cosmopolitan mindset rather than a cosmopolitan actor is the key on how to reach PD readiness without global security concerns.
This mindset can be enabled by global commercial actors as they can play a significant and a good role in our realm of nation states that usually share consensus over a need of good global governance. In the final part, this article provides a brief policy architecture based on a cosmopolitan mindset, including a roadmap for reaching it.
The resulting commercial infrastructure 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.