Space, Diplomacy, and the Ukraine War

A podcast episode discusses Mark R. Whittington's opinion piece proposing that a second Trump administration could leverage Russia's struggling space programme to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine. The piece highlights Russia's ambitions, hampered by sanctions and internal issues dating back to 2014, potentially even to the death of a key figure in the Soviet space programme. Whittington suggests offering Russia a role in the Artemis program in exchange for peace, framing it as a win-win scenario despite the inherent risks and potential downsides. The podcast explores the historical parallels of space cooperation leading to diplomatic breakthroughs and considers the broader implications of this unconventional diplomatic approach.