how can we unite the human race to understand we need to explore space?

It seems to me at this point that it is impossible to unite the human race about (or "for") anything at all!

We can't even agree on who's "right" on the most basic of questions; integration, peace, food- and health-care for all, boundaries, immigrants, pollution, work ethics, global warming, etc. etc.etc.

Personally I think space is a viable field of study that is necessary not only for technology but also for that gleam that gets in many people's eyes when they speak of the night sky... which represent outer space to most people... that gleam of adventure and admiration.

However at the rate we're going, many people can no longer see the most exciting stars, or the galaxy of the Milky Way (ours), or even the moon on many nights.

So I guess I don't think we'll "unite" on space exploration for a good long while... though the sci-fi people often have it right when they picture it as the only place to go in the future.

A good start would be to unite them against the use of cars.

If space exploration could be developed in a different way than the use of terrestrial transport has happened, then some benefit could be imagined.

At present, the resources we are using up in transport, media and commerce (mostly of luxury goods rather than necessities), amount to an unsustainable investment.

Space exploration in the same spirit, would exhaust the resources of our planet long before we managed to find anything to replace them with.

As you say, the present conflicts and power struggles are not cost effective. In order to make space exploration cost effective, you would need to solve those problems first. So far, no successful method has been found, despite the claims from all sorts of political and religious leaders that the world would be perfect if everybody just obeyed the tenets of their particular system.

More important is to unite for wiping out poverty, ignorance & diseases in the third world countries.

Come December twenty first, 2012, i think of we could have the answer to this question. earlier then, we merely have not got the technologies yet, or perhaps we do however the government is hiding it from us like they do each thing else. i think of Roswell replaced into actual!!

Can we unite the human race for anything at all? The whole of Iraq is about to implode on religious and linguistic grounds and the First Minister for Scotland would like to put an end to the United Kingdom and scotland doesn't even have its own language.

Wouldn't it be more cost effective to reclaim the deserts of the world and build underground trade and retail estates?

There are a lot of buildings taking up the surface that don't require sunlight or fresh air. Factories, offices, multiplexes, these should all be sub-terrainian with a housing or parks up top.

Even commuting and cargo lanes could be built underground to relieve traffic.

I'm all for space exploration, but there is less return on the astronomical (excuse the pun) expense.

Your question is naive. You show a lack of political understanding. Without war there would be no regeneration. Without regeneration there would be no work or taxes. Without work and taxes there would be no space exploration. There would also be more reason for wars! I would suspect that the technological advances achieved through warfare are ultimately negative on human evolution, mainly.

There are over one thousand million people on this planet living in absolute poverty, while space exploration continues. I think we should get our mess down here sorted out first before we visit other planets.

Consider the causes of global problems. I'll give you a clue: it's not Islam.