Editor's note: Andrew Korybko is a Moscow-based American political analyst. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily those of CGTN.

Most observers regard the current state of international affairs as being a new Cold War, albeit this time between the U.S.-led West's Golden Billion fighting to preserve their fading unipolar hegemony and the BRICS-led Global South that's striving to jointly build a multipolar world order. Just like back then, this latest global competition is also characterized by a space race, which began after former U.S. President Donald Trump created the so-called "space force" to advance American aims in this domain.

The purpose being unilaterally militarizing space is to obtain what can be described as "full-spectrum dominance" and the capability to launch what's been called a "prompt global strike." The first refers to controlling every possible domain in which warfare can theoretically be conducted, which in this case includes outer space, while the second concerns the capability to launch a military strike anywhere in the world within one hour of the decision being made, which can only occur with space-based missiles.

Modern-day warfare is disproportionately dependent on cutting-edge information-communication technologies, many of which are nowadays based in or somehow connected to outer space. Satellites, for instance, have civilian purposes in terms of facilitating lightning-fast communication across the world and mapping transport routes. These contemporary conveniences of current life, however, can also be exploited for military ends.

The Wolfowitz Doctrine that was promulgated after the end of what can now be termed the old Cold War pushed the U.S. to preemptively thwart any potential adversary's latent capabilities before they matured into supposed threats to America's then-unipolar hegemony. This concept was infamously exploited to wage unprovoked wars of aggression against the former Yugoslavia and especially Iraq, the latter of which was done on a false basis scaremongering about weapons of mass destruction (WMDs).

While no longer publicly referenced by U.S. officials, the Wolfowitz Doctrine lives on, so much so that it doesn't even have to be mentioned since its guiding principle has become ubiquitous among American decision makers. This explains why National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Administrator Bill Nelson recently took to scaremongering about China in a similar way by warning that it supposedly plans to take over the moon for military reasons.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian promptly condemned these ridiculous remarks and added that it wasn't the first time that Nelson had spewed such nonsense about China. The diplomat also reminded everyone that China has consistently pursued the multilateral and peaceful use of outer space in order to equally benefit all of mankind. It has absolutely no military intentions there nor any imperialist ones either such as claiming the moon for itself like Nelson imagined it wants to do.

The NASA chief's military fantasy might be laughed off by millions but it's actually a lot scarier than what he claimed about China. Reading between the lines of his rant, it's clear that this U.S. government official is trying to sell the new space race to Americans on a bigoted anti-Chinese and faux "patriotic" pretext. The so-called "yellow scare" as it was once openly described by shamelessly racist Western outlets a century ago is back in vogue but is clothed in different words in order to blunt this bigoted reality.

Nelson wants his compatriots to support more taxpayer funding for NASA's militarization of space in partnership with the Pentagon in order to "contain" China, which he falsely presents as supervillain that's even going as far as wanting to allegedly colonize the moon. It's beyond absurd, but it speaks to two interconnected key trends: the U.S. wants full-spectrum dominance in space, but this expensive project isn't popular among average Americans.

Therein lies the significance of ridiculously scaremongering in the way that he just did, all because the U.S. government is so desperate to flip public opinion on this issue by manipulating people's bigotry and "patriotism." Nelson wouldn't have to stoop to such a low if he was confident that the public would support untold billions more of taxpayer funds being thrown into the black hole of the military-space complex. Rather, they'd prefer for their money to be invested in healthcare and infrastructure.

Nevertheless, the average American is also comparatively more easily manipulated than most of their peers anywhere else in the world, particularly because they've been indoctrinated into thinking that their government doesn't resort to propaganda. However, it's so ubiquitous just like the Wolfowitz Doctrine is with their decisionmakers that nobody even has to talk about it anymore. That's why many are at risk of being misled by Nelson's scaremongering about China and the moon.

That said, there's also no denying that Americans have been wising up a lot ever since the 2016 presidential election so it can't be taken for granted that the NASA chief's latest perception management campaign will succeed. Moreover, the country's economic crisis is so severe that even the most brainwashed folks naturally care more about immediate concerns right now than far-fetched space wars with China over the moon, if they even believe that the second-mentioned fantasy is possible.

The takeaways are therefore several. First, the military-space complex plans an unprecedented expansion aimed towards achieving full-spectrum dominance in space. Second, this expensive venture isn't genuinely popular with Americans. Third, that's why Nelson spun his tall tale about China colonizing the moon. Fourth, some Americans might not believe this lie. And fifth, the U.S. government will continue lying about China no matter what happens.

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