Elliott School Professor’s Book Featured on U.K. Royal Air Force Reading List

Aaron Bateman,an assistant professor of history and international affairs at the George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs, had his book
"Weapons in Space" included on the 2025 Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) Reading List for the U.K. Royal Air Force.The annual list highlights books that add understanding of the evolving challenges within the air and space domains.

Bateman's research examines how science and technology shaped U.S. foreign relations, Western alliance dynamics, nuclear strategy and superpower competition during the Cold War. His book offers an in-depth look at President Ronald Reagan's 1983 Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), a space-based missile defense program often referred to as "Star Wars." Drawing from newly declassified American, European and Soviet documents, Bateman situates SDI within a broader history of space militarization that accelerated after the superpower détente fell apart in the 1970s.

"Weapons in Space" highlights how tension over the role of military space technologies in American statecraft was a central source of SDI's controversy, even more so than questions of technical feasibility. The book reveals how SDI, though never fully realized, complicated diplomatic efforts to limit arms in space and continues to influence global discussions about space security and the modern-day risks of a new space arms race.