Saadia M. Pekkanen, a professor at the Jackson School and founding director of the Space Law, Data and Policy Program (SPACE LDP) at the University of Washington, has co-edited the book, “The Oxford Handbook of Space Security” (Oxford University Press, 2024).
The handbook, which Pekkanen co-edited with P. J. Blount from Cardiff University, focuses on the interaction between space technology and international and national security processes.
Space security is a complex mix of societal risks and benefits that result from space-based capabilities and is currently in a period of transformation as innovative processes are rapidly changing the underlying assumptions about stability in the space domain.
“New space technologies, a diversity of actors, and changing geopolitics are rapidly reconfiguring prospects for the peaceful uses of outer space,” according to Pekkanen and Blount. “Many states are actively and openly pursuing weapons, heightening the risk of conflict in space. This volume brings together voices from around the world to address these looming issues.”
“The Oxford Handbook of Space Security” includes 44 chapters with contributions from emergent and established scholars, including Pekkanen, who authored three chapters on peaceful purposes, alliances, and Japanese grand strategy in space.
Pekkanen is also an adjunct professor in the Department of Political Science and the School of Law at the University of Washington. She is a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).