International prestige and the American space programme

<p>This thesis considers the role of prestige in international relations through a case study of the early years of the American space programme.</p> <p>After discussing the dearth of literature on the place of prestige in international relations, it examines the effect of prestig...

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Main Authors: Alston, G, Alston, Giles
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: 1990
Subjects:
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author Alston, G
Alston, Giles
author_facet Alston, G
Alston, Giles
author_sort Alston, G
collection OXFORD
description <p>This thesis considers the role of prestige in international relations through a case study of the early years of the American space programme.</p> <p>After discussing the dearth of literature on the place of prestige in international relations, it examines the effect of prestige considerations on the space policy of the Eisenhower and Kennedy Administrations. Although urged to pursue a spectacular space programme for the sake of American prestige, Eisenhower believed that international prestige was not a matter requiring government intervention. Consequently, he favoured a small civilian space programmme structured according to scientific rather than political criteria.</p> <p>The opposite was the case for President Kennedy. It is shown how his experience in Congress, followed by his 1960 election campaign, gave him a different perspective on the political importance and utility of international prestige. This was appreciated by advocates of a manned lunar landing, who were able to present the Apollo project to him in terms of its international prestige value.</p> <p>Finally, after noting the changing attitude towards the space programme between 1961 and 1963, as well as the diminished American interest in international prestige by 1969, the thesis compares the experiences of the two administrations to draw some conclusions about the factors necessary for prestige to play an important role in international policy.</p>
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spelling oxford-uuid:b5b224dc-8612-413b-87a5-4ef75c2debd32022-03-27T04:35:32ZInternational prestige and the American space programmeThesishttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_db06uuid:b5b224dc-8612-413b-87a5-4ef75c2debd3Astronautics and stateHistoryUnited StatesAstronauticsForeign relationsSpace sciencesEnglishPolonsky Theses Digitisation Project1990Alston, GAlston, Giles<p>This thesis considers the role of prestige in international relations through a case study of the early years of the American space programme.</p> <p>After discussing the dearth of literature on the place of prestige in international relations, it examines the effect of prestige considerations on the space policy of the Eisenhower and Kennedy Administrations. Although urged to pursue a spectacular space programme for the sake of American prestige, Eisenhower believed that international prestige was not a matter requiring government intervention. Consequently, he favoured a small civilian space programmme structured according to scientific rather than political criteria.</p> <p>The opposite was the case for President Kennedy. It is shown how his experience in Congress, followed by his 1960 election campaign, gave him a different perspective on the political importance and utility of international prestige. This was appreciated by advocates of a manned lunar landing, who were able to present the Apollo project to him in terms of its international prestige value.</p> <p>Finally, after noting the changing attitude towards the space programme between 1961 and 1963, as well as the diminished American interest in international prestige by 1969, the thesis compares the experiences of the two administrations to draw some conclusions about the factors necessary for prestige to play an important role in international policy.</p>
spellingShingle Astronautics and state
History
United States
Astronautics
Foreign relations
Space sciences
Alston, G
Alston, Giles
International prestige and the American space programme
title International prestige and the American space programme
title_full International prestige and the American space programme
title_fullStr International prestige and the American space programme
title_full_unstemmed International prestige and the American space programme
title_short International prestige and the American space programme
title_sort international prestige and the american space programme
topic Astronautics and state
History
United States
Astronautics
Foreign relations
Space sciences
work_keys_str_mv AT alstong internationalprestigeandtheamericanspaceprogramme
AT alstongiles internationalprestigeandtheamericanspaceprogramme