This is my personal take on what possibilities could space exploration and colonization offer to authoritarian regimes in extending their control and consolidating their rule.

Hypothetically speaking, with how space and transport technologies are progressing, we may encounter a second phase of globalization which connects planets and galaxies together within an ecosystem maintained by big intergovernmental, law-making organizations (I’d call this the international sphere/order 2.0) . Subsequently, the territories of a given State may be distributed on several planets and bodies.

Now, let us assimilate this futuristic reality with more concrete elements. We’ve encountered in this century few examples of dictatorships’ aggressive behavior in consolidating their power and mitigating revolutions. This was manifested in the construction of new capitals restrained only to the elitist classes and the governmental bodies; this is notably the case in Egypt, Myanmar and Brazil. The logical reason behind this initiative is to reduce the possibilities for popular uprisings to topple those tyrannical regimes. For instance, Egypt’s new capital is located in the hit desert 45 km away from Cairo (former capital and big centre for lower class); if a popular uprising was to be born in Cairo, it would be virtually impossible for it to reach the capital.

Tying the strings together, a post-space-exploration dictatorship may establish its capital on a remote body away from the revolting populace, thus squashing the phenomenon of rebellion once and for all. This is of course assuming that the lower classes would still have limited access to the outer space, and I don’t see that as far fetched with the ever-increasing inequality.

The same thought process, I argue, could be applied to the sphere of international affairs and politics in many respects. Access to space is like the birth and expansion of civilizations but this time it’s in a wider, spatial cadre.