The space war.

Recent events in China have cast a chill on the protocol isolating space from military operations. China fired a missile at an ageing and disused space weather satellite, destroying it and creating thousands of tiny particles that will remain in orbit for decades before burning up in the earth's atmosphere. This space debris has the capacity to harm and disable satellites serving the world's communications and economics.
The major players - the US, Britain, France and Russia all have the capacity to destroy satellites but by common agreement they do not test that capacity and have sworn to keep space safe from military operations.
It is hard to determine why China took that step. Perhaps it is bravado to tell the world that Chinese rockets have developed to the stage that satellite destruction is within their reach. Whatever the reason, it will cause suspicion of Chinese military motives - and it might even trigger a military space race.
Japan in particular eyes China's military buildup with suspicion. Japan has lived with a pacifist constitution even since it's defeat in World War 11, but new generations of Japanese are chafing at the restrictions and are eager to see Japan take it's place in the world as a leading player - and that will not happen without Japan emerging as a credible military power. This Chinese incident will assist that line of thinking in Japan.
Every nation must now be thinking of the danger of a military space race. The world has moved a long way since communications between countries relied on undersea cables to handle telephone traffic. Today satellites distribute everything from news to commerce - and also play a huge part in military communications - including in-air targetting of ICBM's.
The world's eyes must be on rogue states such as North Korea and Iran. Both are fast developing missile technology - and both may face sanctions from the rest of the world if they proceed with their nuclear ambitions. If a rogue country retaliated against sanctions by releasing missiles to destroy communication satellites in orbit the result would be catastrophic. Commerce would take a hit - ATM's would cease to work - military circuits would be disrupted and there would probably be a world recession as a result.
Fortunately it would be impossible to secretly launch a satellite killer missile. The world would know by the signature " hot spot " of launch and that country would be clearly identified. It would not be unreasonable for the world body to make it clear that any country interfering with international satellites would be instantly rewarded with nuclear annihilation. Such should be the price for trying to wreck the world's economy !