Russia and China are no friends of the U.S. We may trade with them, but they only trade with us because for the moment it's in the best interest of their economies. Both countries stated goal is world expansion. Both were communist-socialist nations for decades--Russia for almost eighty years and China for almost fifty. Although theoretically Russia is now a democracy and the Chinese are still communists, in fact both have created a new form of fascist-socialism that works very well with capitalism (as did Hitler's Nazi Party). As an engine of wealth creation, capitalism is unparalleled, but it works equally well in a free society or under fascism. Evidence exists that capitalism may even function more efficiently within a fascist political system.
Turning the focus back on Russia's and China's space programs, both are military. Although some of NASA's missions were military in nature, the huge bulk of NASA's space endeavors were, and are, civilian.
The Russian and Chinese primary mission goal in establishing a permanent presence on the Moon goes well beyond simply mining H-3 or exploring the Lunar terrain--although they will both certainly do that.
High ground
Should we concern ourselves with the ambitions of two quasi-fascist societies? Hell yes, we should. The nation that establishes a viable military presence on the Moon has grabbed the ultimate military prize: the high ground.
Since the days of ancient Greece and the Peloponnesian war, military strategists have recognized the advantage of holding the high ground. The recognition of the strategic advantage was reflected by the city planners of Athens and other capitals of the Greek city-states. That's why they built their cities on acropolis--the raised area or summits of hills rising above the surrounding terrain. It made defense of the city magnitudes easier and offensive action against an enemy more effective.
In 1959, the U.S. Army outlined in a report a seven-year effort to put a Pentagon outpost on the moon.
"Moon-based military power will be a strong deterrent to war," the document opined, because "any military operations on the moon will be difficult to counter ... if forces are already present and have means of ... neutralizing any hostile forces that have landed." [3]
The Moon is the ultimate high ground in geopolitics and military strategy. It cannot be stated too strongly that the nation that is first to establish one or more military bases on the Moon will be in a position to literally have the world at its feet. If it chooses, it can effectively "Findlandize" every other country on the globe.
And it would be relatively easy to accomplish.
The perfect Lunar defensive and offensive weapon
Back in 1977, Gerard K. O'Neill of Princeton and M.I.T., demonstrated the first operating electromagnetic mass driver [4]: a series of coils set into the shape of a cylinder that creates a powerful magnetic field. Even in the mid-1960s the military recognized its potential as a military weapon. The technology has limited applications on Earth, but on the Moon it comes into its own.
The military application of the mass driver employed as an offensive weapon was the basis of Robert A. Heinlein's classic science fiction story, "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress." Payloads of composite rock, manufactured on the Moon, were used as kinetic weapons against countries on Earth. The weapons hit with pinpoint accuracy and hundreds, even thousands could be deployed against the same region having the explosive power of atomic bombs.
Today, the technology is literally off the shelf and the concept is no longer constrained to the pages of a science fiction book. To create such a device--or devices--on the Moon requires only the will. The way has already been mapped out.
Once launched, no nation on Earth could defend against them. Fighting back against the Moon would be next to impossible as the fight would have to be carried all "uphill" and the adversary would literally have several days notice of the approaching forces.
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