The entire point of the ISS was to consolidate all the efforts and budgets of various space programs and build one trans-national station. Why would you partici

The entire point of the ISS was to consolidate all the efforts and budgets of various space programs and build one trans-national station. Why would you participate in this and then also build a second one? What benefit would you get? This is like saying its depressing that there's only one internet. Arguably, without the ISS there probably wouldn't be any space stations. Stations were falling out of fashion by the 90s and even before were largely propagandist projects. The ISS was an attempt to turn all this wasted effort into something world usable (not just for the space faring powers of the time) and into something more science-centric. It was also an attempt to stop Russian militarization of space like mounting guns on stations (Salyut 3's 23mm cannon) or building more space battle platforms (Polyus). In fact, parts of the old Polyus system are now part of the Zarya module on the ISS. Seems like win-win for international cooperation, science, and peace.