Publisher's Synopsis
Why are we discussing Leadership in the context of Interstellar Law?
Let us first look at the traditional assumptions of Leadership. We will then examine the similarities and differences in the character of Leadership in the Interstellar environment. We therefore have to consider the realities, the challenges of space. The reality of space as defined by Einstein is that a spacecraft and communications can go no faster than the speed of light. Accordingly, a spacecraft 300 light years from Earth would be beyond reaching for support from the Earth for at least 600 years (300 years for the message to reach Earth, plus 300 years for the reply - not considering, of course, that the spacecraft may have travelled further afield, making access to support even longer). Hence, the Leader in an Interstellar environment is on his own. If, for example, there is a failure in a key system - such as a guidance computer - and the spacecraft is three hundred year's travel from the nearest space colony, the Leader has to make decisions on their own. Moreover, long space trips (as above) that span several life generations will require on-board leadership grooming of new generations. What, then, are the options for an interstellar leader in the face of a crisis? That is what this book considers in its discussion.
