Martial assemblages in orbit: War as an organising principle in the United Nations “Prevention Of An Arms Race In Outer Space” agenda (1981-2023)

Harrison, Tegan 2025. Martial assemblages in orbit: War as an organising principle in the United Nations “Prevention Of An Arms Race In Outer Space” agenda (1981-2023). PhD Thesis, Cardiff University. Item availability restricted.

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Abstract

This thesis examines how the possibility of war shapes the governance of outer space through the United Nations’ Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space (PAROS) agenda (1981-2023). Despite the absence of physical combat in orbit, the threat of space war persists in public and political imaginaries. Addressing a key gap in the literature, this research reconceptualises war not as an outcome to be prevented, an anomaly, or an arms control failure, but as an immanent condition that organises governance itself. Drawing on Deleuze and Guattari’s assemblage theory - particularly its expressive-materialist approach - the thesis develops the concept of the martial assemblage, wherein technologies, legal norms, and discourses collectively perform the threat of war. This performative approach foregrounds how deterrence, legal ambiguity, and strategic expression recursively sustain conflict as a logic of governance. The research employs a qualitative, document-based methodology, analysing 726 official UN and Conference on Disarmament submissions across PAROS’ tenure as a standing item on the international security and disarmament agenda. It carries out a manual thematic analysis using NVivo-12 as a management tool. Three empirical chapters trace how space governance is modulated by: (1) nuclear anticipation and the expressive threat of orbital missile defence (space-strike assemblage); (2) legal grey zones and the contested performance of civility and legitimacy (immunity-targeting assemblage); and (3) the limits of force and the expressive residues of orbital debris (debris assemblage). The key finding is that PAROS does not fail due to diplomatic paralysis alone but endures through cycles of rupture and control that express war’s immanence. This study contributes to critical security studies broadly, and to critical astropolitics specifically, by showing how war persists not through combat, but through its continuous negotiation in law, policy, and orbital infrastructures. Peace in space, accordingly, remains structurally precarious.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Date Type:	Completion
Status:	Unpublished
Schools:	Schools > Cardiff Law & Politics
Subjects:	J Political Science > JA Political science (General)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Outer space governance; Space war; Arms control; Assemblage Theory; Deleuze and Guattari; War Machine; Space-strike; Immunity and targeting; Orbital debris; Legal ambiguity
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	10 July 2025
Last Modified:	10 Jul 2025 15:29
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/179711

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