Space…the arena from which today’s wars are waged and tomorrow’s poles are made

The French President’s speech in Toulouse, the capital of the European space industry, was just a warning bell added to the series of international voices that realize that space is no longer a domain of pure science or a field for exploratory missions, but rather has turned into a geostrategic space in which the signs of the emergence of new poles on the map of global power interact. It was not about France alone or its ambitions, as much as it reflected a solid truth: that the struggle for hegemony was no longer being conducted only on land or at sea, but rather had moved to the high orbits where satellites that control communications, navigation, intelligence, the economy, and even public consciousness revolve.

Today, the world is witnessing the beginning of a phase that can be described, without exaggeration, as the return of “Star Wars,” but in its realistic, not cinematic, form. The major powers treat low Earth orbit as if it were an extremely sensitive sea strait, and consider it a strategic border no less dangerous than any military front on Earth. Today’s wars are already being conducted from space; As for tomorrow’s wars, they will begin from space itself, when disrupting a satellite or disrupting a navigation system becomes more dangerous than bombing a military base or striking a naval facility.

This transformation did not come out of nowhere, but rather from a growing conviction that global hegemony is no longer measured by the number of tanks and submarines, but rather by the number of satellites and their capacity, and by the quality of missiles that reach orbit, not just ground targets. The balances that were made in the rooms of political summits are now being formed in space laboratories, where high-precision intelligence satellites are built, laser systems are equipped, and satellite Internet networks capable of transcending states, their borders, and their sovereignty are developed.

The international scene proves that the race for space dominance has become part of the same polarity struggle. The United States and China are locked in a race that almost repeats the Cold War equation, but thousands of kilometers above the ground. Russia is searching for a new foothold in orbit to compensate for its declining terrestrial influence. India is progressing steadily, and considers space its path to international recognition of its role as a rising major power. Even regional powers such as Iran and Turkey are beginning to realize that possessing domestic satellites and self-launching capabilities gives them a new position in the balance of power.

This global movement reveals that power in the twenty-first century is not created only by the economy or the army, but by that “eye” that sees everything from above, and thus the “nerve” that connects the world through unseen waves. Hegemony is no longer just a political concept, but rather an advanced technical capability exercised across space. The question raised by this transformation is not only about the nature of the conflict, but also about the extent to which the emergence of new poles is linked to their ability to possess an advanced space structure. Can an international power reserve a seat in the poles club without the presence of an independent satellite?

In this context, the Arab region appears to be outside the equation of strategic competition, despite having financial and human capabilities and a geostrategic location that qualifies to make it an effective player in the space race. However, the absence of a unified vision and an integrated space industry makes Arabs consumers of technology instead of partners in its production. While neighboring regional powers are advancing and building their space projects as part of their power systems, the Arab region appears to be in a state of unjustified waiting, as if the space race is merely an extra scientific project, and not a gateway to influence and sovereignty.

Great transformations do not wait for the hesitant. The international scene is taking shape at an unprecedented speed, so that it can be said that the next two decades will determine the identity of the upcoming poles: whoever owns orbit owns the new corridors of power, whoever shoots down his competitors from space drops them from the maps of influence, and whoever protects communications satellites ensures control over the data economy that directs the modern world.

The French speech is only a small example of what is going on behind the international scenes: an accelerating realization that space is the new arena of hegemony, and that those who delay entering it will not be part of the coming power game. This is why the question “Who controls space?” Unless the region enters this field with strategic seriousness, it will find itself outside the power equation for many decades.