Date of Award

2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Political Science

First Advisor

Dr. Stephen B. Long

Abstract

In the recent decades, cislunar space has attracted significant interest among the biggest spacefaring nations, Russia, China, and the United States. Cislunar space is no longer a distant subject solely associated with scientific studies. It has become a crucial domain in the conduct of military operations and its importance has been increasingly emphasised in these states’ military doctrines. In an environment where the intentions of other actors are hard to determine and where there is a high degree of uncertainty, these three states are ramping up their (counter)space capabilities in order to protect themselves from any adversarial attacks, and to establish their dominance with the aim of becoming the hegemons of cislunar space. Despite the novel nature of this domain, theories of international politics and territory can be utilized to predict future behaviors of the spacefaring nations by establishing a parallel between cislunar and terrestrial territory. According to these theories and the available evidence of the current state behavior in cislunar space, it can be deduced that in the future Russia, China, and the United States will compete over strategic locations such as the Lagrange points, and lunar resources such as Helium-3 and Rare Earth Elements (REEs).

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