Topic: Peaceful Use of Outer Space
Country: Italy
Delegate Name: Adam Mageed
School: Forest Hills Northern High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Italy position papers GLIMUN 2010 committees
The United Nations was originally instituted as a bastion of peace and justice, and one such domain it currently seeks to resolve dispute is the involvement in and use of outer space. The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) has been established to ensure peace and international stability and security regarding the use of space. Furthermore, the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Use of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS) was founded in 1958-9 in order to strive for an agreement on the use of outer space for non-military or espionage purposes. Although the Cold War produced two space program superpowers in the United States and what is now the Russian Federation, many other international space organizations and programs have evolved and improved, and do not fall far behind. Thus, the time has come for further speculation into this subject.
The Italian Space Agency was established in 1988, and has played a considerable role in international space missions. It is an affiliate and a member of the large European Space Agency (ESA), a conglomerate of European nations’ various space associations. Italy often agrees with the stances the ESA takes on subjects pertaining to outer space. Italy has launched five men into space in the program’s history, but has had a more significant impact through its involvement in the International Space Station, constructing three separate modules for its own use and also numerous others for other nations, and in sending several robotic satellites into space to observe the solar system. The European Space Agency holds a specific view on the intended use of outer space, and has recently altered its views to stray somewhat from the militaristic ambitions of the United States and has placed itself more towards the peaceful aims of the Russian Federation. As recently issued by an ESA press statement, “There is a framework agreement between ESA and the government of the Russian Federation on cooperation and partnership in the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes.”
Outside of the ratification of the UNCOPUOS in UN Resolution 1472, of which Italy was an original member of, in 1959, the UNOOS and the UN General Assembly have drafted and ratified several treaties governing outer space use, protocol, and jurisdiction. The Outer Space Treaty is the most pertinent, which was opened for signature in 1967, and as of January 1, 2008, 98 countries are signatories. The treaty outlines the peaceful purpose of outer space, and declares that no State may place any weapon of mass destruction in space, or may claim the Moon or any heavenly cosmic body as a national appropriation. Italy is a signatory, and wishes for the continuation of the entails of this treaty and of further resolutions to ensure the peaceful integrity of outer space.
The Italian Republic believes that space should continue to remain a domain of peace, and supports further resolutions and negotiations to solidify this peace. Italy mildly objects the United States’ urging for a militarization of space usage, and now sides more with the Russian Federation’s assertion for the peaceful use of space. A UN resolution could possibly help quell qualms about the appropriate use of outer space, and could further equalize the opportunities of lesser-developed nations’ space programs and thus improve the general international peace and pursuit of higher technologies. The Italian Republic doesn’t want an arms race in space to ensue, and believes it would do well for further action towards the peaceful use of outer space to be initiated.
