Aaron Bateman
@aaronbateman.bsky.social
Assist. Prof. of History & Intl Affairs at George Washington U. | Book#1 : Weapons in Space: https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262547369/weapons-in-s | Book#2 Wiring an Empire: Information Networks & US Global Power in the Cold War (under contract w/ MIT Press)
I’m looking forward to giving a talk in Singapore next week on the role of terrestrial space infrastructure in shaping US alliances from the Cold War to today. If you are Singapore based and interested in attending, registration details can be found below:
rsis.edu.sg/event/rsis-s...
rsis.edu.sg/event/rsis-s...
November 3, 2025 at 1:59 PM
I’m looking forward to giving a talk in Singapore next week on the role of terrestrial space infrastructure in shaping US alliances from the Cold War to today. If you are Singapore based and interested in attending, registration details can be found below:
rsis.edu.sg/event/rsis-s...
rsis.edu.sg/event/rsis-s...
I'm pleased to share my open access article in International Security on the role of allies in U.S. space power.
direct.mit.edu/isec/article...
direct.mit.edu/isec/article...
October 28, 2025 at 4:31 PM
I'm pleased to share my open access article in International Security on the role of allies in U.S. space power.
direct.mit.edu/isec/article...
direct.mit.edu/isec/article...
I'm thrilled to have an article in the fall volume of International Security on the role of allies in U.S. space power during the Cold War!
October 21, 2025 at 5:48 PM
I'm thrilled to have an article in the fall volume of International Security on the role of allies in U.S. space power during the Cold War!
Many thanks to RUSI for hosting me in London to talk about space security and the transatlantic alliance from the Cold War to today
October 3, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Many thanks to RUSI for hosting me in London to talk about space security and the transatlantic alliance from the Cold War to today
Beautiful approach into Heathrow this morning
September 30, 2025 at 9:59 AM
Beautiful approach into Heathrow this morning
I'm happy to share that my second book, Wiring an Empire: Information Networks and U.S. Global Power in the Cold War, is under advance contract with MIT Press.
September 24, 2025 at 12:45 PM
I'm happy to share that my second book, Wiring an Empire: Information Networks and U.S. Global Power in the Cold War, is under advance contract with MIT Press.
Interesting new article in JSS about Norwegian-US nuclear intelligence sharing
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
September 9, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Interesting new article in JSS about Norwegian-US nuclear intelligence sharing
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
From a 1978 NDAA authorization hearing, the U.S. Worldwide Military Command and Control System
September 3, 2025 at 5:12 PM
From a 1978 NDAA authorization hearing, the U.S. Worldwide Military Command and Control System
I'm thrilled and honored to see that my book, Weapons in Space, has been placed on the Chief of the Air Staff's (U.K. Royal Air Force) 2025 reading list. airspacepower.com/wp-content/u...
August 26, 2025 at 3:26 PM
I'm thrilled and honored to see that my book, Weapons in Space, has been placed on the Chief of the Air Staff's (U.K. Royal Air Force) 2025 reading list. airspacepower.com/wp-content/u...
Found this in the Australian National Archives: message from Sep 1914 that describes when German forces landed on Fanning Island to cut the British Pacific Cable.
August 20, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Found this in the Australian National Archives: message from Sep 1914 that describes when German forces landed on Fanning Island to cut the British Pacific Cable.
This is the declassified effectiveness criteria, from the late '80s, for SDI. The JCS intended for it to be able to destroy 50% of an SS-18 attack and 30% of all other Soviet missile systems. I discuss this in chapter six of my book. BL: 100% was never the *official* goal.
August 19, 2025 at 11:49 AM
This is the declassified effectiveness criteria, from the late '80s, for SDI. The JCS intended for it to be able to destroy 50% of an SS-18 attack and 30% of all other Soviet missile systems. I discuss this in chapter six of my book. BL: 100% was never the *official* goal.
Satellite tracking station on Ascension Island. Since the 1960s, the facility has supported US missile tests and satellite launches from Cape Canaveral.
August 18, 2025 at 11:05 AM
Satellite tracking station on Ascension Island. Since the 1960s, the facility has supported US missile tests and satellite launches from Cape Canaveral.
I thoroughly enjoyed driving out to the Deep Space Communications Complex outside Canberra, Australia that is used to track and communicates w/ NASA spacecraft. The site played a critical role in the Apollo program. Quite a sight seeing sheep grazing near the gigantic antennas.
August 12, 2025 at 11:35 AM
I thoroughly enjoyed driving out to the Deep Space Communications Complex outside Canberra, Australia that is used to track and communicates w/ NASA spacecraft. The site played a critical role in the Apollo program. Quite a sight seeing sheep grazing near the gigantic antennas.
Early cybersecurity: this declassified 1982 memo discusses potential Soviet exploitation of commercially provided computer database services
July 31, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Early cybersecurity: this declassified 1982 memo discusses potential Soviet exploitation of commercially provided computer database services
Declassified memo from Gus Weiss on computer exports to China in the early 1980s
July 29, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Declassified memo from Gus Weiss on computer exports to China in the early 1980s
That time the US briefed senior Vatican officials on SDI as a measure to get the pope on the administration’s side. This declassified memo is the prelude to the first of multiple
July 28, 2025 at 6:36 PM
That time the US briefed senior Vatican officials on SDI as a measure to get the pope on the administration’s side. This declassified memo is the prelude to the first of multiple
Strategic Air Command “Concept of Deterrence”
July 27, 2025 at 6:49 PM
Strategic Air Command “Concept of Deterrence”
Declassified memo for President Kennedy outlining command and control challenges
July 27, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Declassified memo for President Kennedy outlining command and control challenges
Returning to a classic
July 20, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Returning to a classic
Declassified CIA graphic from the 1980s that shows the Soviet military (and intelligence) presence abroad.
July 7, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Declassified CIA graphic from the 1980s that shows the Soviet military (and intelligence) presence abroad.
“Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin” Soviet space tracking vessel, the largest of its kind
July 1, 2025 at 11:39 AM
“Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin” Soviet space tracking vessel, the largest of its kind
Nice photo of one of the antennas at the National Security Agency's Stonehouse site in Ethiopia that was used until ~1977 to collect telemetry from Soviet spacecraft (among other intelligence activities)
June 10, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Nice photo of one of the antennas at the National Security Agency's Stonehouse site in Ethiopia that was used until ~1977 to collect telemetry from Soviet spacecraft (among other intelligence activities)
50 free copies of my article, "Hunting the Red Bear: Satellite Reconnaissance and the 'Second Offset Strategy' in the Late Cold War" are available here:
www.tandfonline.com/eprint/MG7WP...
www.tandfonline.com/eprint/MG7WP...
June 9, 2025 at 12:51 PM
50 free copies of my article, "Hunting the Red Bear: Satellite Reconnaissance and the 'Second Offset Strategy' in the Late Cold War" are available here:
www.tandfonline.com/eprint/MG7WP...
www.tandfonline.com/eprint/MG7WP...
This is a really interesting (and rare) declassified document on the effects of Soviet communications security on U.S. ocean surveillance in the 1970s.
May 15, 2025 at 5:35 PM
This is a really interesting (and rare) declassified document on the effects of Soviet communications security on U.S. ocean surveillance in the 1970s.
This open access article by Mary Bridges on the infrastructural turn in historical scholarship is really fantastic. Highly recommend.
www.cambridge.org/core/service...
www.cambridge.org/core/service...
May 14, 2025 at 3:48 PM
This open access article by Mary Bridges on the infrastructural turn in historical scholarship is really fantastic. Highly recommend.
www.cambridge.org/core/service...
www.cambridge.org/core/service...