SASSI is an independent think tank dedicated to promoting peace and stability in South Asia.
We are headquartered in Islamabad, Pakistan and we aim to make a leading contribution to regional and international academic and policy-orientated research discourses about South Asian security.
Satellites are crucial for national, economic and personal security. They permit quick and secure long-distance financial transactions. First responders, disaster relief workers and lost motorists can find their way using GPS devices. Satellites provide warnings of devastating storms in enough time to take precautionary measures. We depend on satellites for intelligence collection. They help U.S. soldiers in harm’s way and minimize civilian casualties. Satellites monitor the health of the planet. No country benefits more from satellites than the United States.
These satellites are now at risk – mostly from space debris, but also from a growing competition with China and the absence of rules of the road for what constitutes responsible behavior in space. A Code of Conduct can backstop satellite operations, preserve the space environment, and prevent dangerous clashes of interest in outer space.
Satellites are as vulnerable as they are valuable. They are far easier to damage than to defend. Because satellites orbit the earth in predictable paths, potential adversaries can find and target them. Missiles designed to launch satellites, attack distant targets, or intercept incoming missiles can also be used to destroy satellites.
A nuclear weapon detonated in the atmosphere can disable many satellites. The United States learned this in 1962, when a particularly powerful U.S. nuclear test victimized one British, one Soviet, and four U.S. satellites. The most famous casualty of this test was Telstar, a satellite than allowed the first transmission of television images across the Atlantic. Telstar inspired an instrumental record that topped the charts as its namesake was dying from nuclear weapon effects. More
Talk – South Asian Strategic Stability Institute (SASSI)
Nuclear Risk Reduction in South Asia
Tuesday- October 6, 2009
Old-fashioned Nuclear Risk Reduction measures are not that helpful against the new paradigm of the India-Pakistan Conflict. New Risk Reduction Measures such as intelligence sharing and strategic monitoring programs are needed given the new geo strategic environment in the region, stated Mr. Michael Krepon, the Co-founder of the Henry L. Stimson Center and also a former member of the US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, while speaking at a talk hosted by SASSI on October 6, 2009.
Mr. Krepon said both India and Pakistan should trust each other and share their intelligence information to curb the common enemy. Only then they would be successful in bringing effective nuclear risk reduction measures to South Asia. Moreover he said that geographical zones like Kashmir are no longer a nuclear flashpoint for South Asia, but rather it has become more symbolic in nature, such as the terrorist attacks on the economic venues, religious shrines etc. However, the bottom line of his presentation was that nuclear risk reduction measures would suffer and face enormous challenges in the next few years.
In her concluding remarks Director General SASSI Maria Sultan thanked the speaker and the audience.
The South Asian Strategic Stability Institute (SASSI) is an independent think tank dedicated to promoting peace and stability in South Asia. The South Asian Strategic Stability Institute takes a multi-disciplinary approach focused on strategic stability, aimed at bringing together the various streams of thought from the social and natural sciences, the policy makers and academia.
