Does the Federation still exist in the 31+th century?

[C.E. Evans]

Personally, I do believe the Federation will still be around in the 31st-Century, but the future isn't written in stone and any glimpses into Trek's distant future we've seen are all just potential futures that may or may not come to pass or may happen (and look) very differently by the time it eventually comes round.

[King Daniel Into Darkness]

The Federation's already been destroyed several times using time travel, either intentionally (Star Trek: First Contact) or accidentlly ("Shockwave", "City on the Edge of Forever", "Past Tense" etc etc)

Luckily they were always able to undo it. If the baddies ever succeed, the Federation's "destruction" will be via it never having existed.

[REDrake]

KingDaniel wrote:

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He also said it was an alternate timeline, a possible future.

That's not exactly what he said. He said: "This species has the technology that allows them to examine alternate timelines. They've seen this future and want to change the outcome". This means that by destroying the Spheres, Archer ensured that the war happened along the desired path. Daniels was trying to prevent the change of timeline, not change it himself. He deals with facts, not "what ifs". He shows Archer the path history should take, trying to convince him not to endanger that future.

[King Daniel Into Darkness]

But without the spheres (which had been doing their job for thousands of years), and the modified space they create, the Sphere Builders can't exist in our dimension. And the spheres were destroyed 400 years early. Thus the future has changed, whatever Daniels' intentions may have been. It's no more the future of Trek than the ruined 31st century Earth from "Shockwave"

[NrobbieC]

Given the whole non-linear aspect, it's not impossible for the Battle of Procyon V to still occur in some form.

The Wormhole wrote:

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Personally, I always assumed Mr Daniels on Enterprise was with the Federation, but others seem to think he wasn't. As proof, they claim he never spoke of the Federation in the present tense and he spoke of a Federation monument, which supposedly means it must be a thing of the past.

Daniels only said he wasn't a member of Starfleet. It's most likely he's from the future DTI so that makes sense.

[Kadratis]

KingDaniel wrote:

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But without the spheres (which had been doing their job for thousands of years), and the modified space they create, the Sphere Builders can't exist in our dimension. And the spheres were destroyed 400 years early. Thus the future has changed, whatever Daniels' intentions may have been. It's no more the future of Trek than the ruined 31st century Earth from "Shockwave"

This.

[Hando]

^ I adhere to the idea that the spheres are the same in 12th - 26th century, the only difference is that by the 26th century there is more of them and therefore Procyon V would be now part of the Delphic Expanse.

So if the spheres are destroyed in the 22nd century, they do not have to be destroyed in the 26th.
But this doesn't change the fact that we have not heard the last of the Sphere Builders. They are still safe in their own realm. They do posses time travel technology (a part of the Xindi prototype came from the future, there was the short visit to the 21st century, and they shared the technology with the Borg in the !24th century).

If they breeched the universe once, can they not do it again? Who is to say that they did not move shop and are operating somewhere else?

However there are limitation to this technology - why didn't they attack sooner?
Could they predict the future only for something over 400 years? The only advanced race they could use in the Delphic Expanse were the Xindi, an earlier attempt the Triannon destroyed themselves?

[NrobbieC]

There's nothing to say the Expanse of the 26th century is the same as the one in the 22nd.

[REDrake]

My point exactly. As I remember, Sphere builders also had ships in the future. Is quite possible those ships were carrying their own anomaly emitters. I like to believe in the causality effect, even if it's customary for Trek cannon not to.

[Mage]

Personally, I think that the 700 odd years between the 24th century and the 31st century is such a long time, that the changes of the Federation being around the way it is in the 24th century is unlikely. Governments adapt and change according the period in which they exists. Especially governments that are alliances like the Federation, where races can become members, but also leave. The political landscape will probably change so much in the coming years, that the way the Federation works could be very different. Perhaps instead of being this tight government it is right now, respect between the various species of the Federation and its allies will have evolved to such a point, that an actual goverment isn't even necessary anymore. And only a loose alliance of mutual understanding and respect, without a written law will exist.

[Vanyel]

Nations and Empires rise and fall. How long can the Federation exist is nothing more than a guess. The Battle of Procyon V may have been the Federation's last big engagement. It could have led to other world leaving or declaring their independence from the Federation or created a civil war. Disease may have spread across the Federation either as a biological attack or natural occurrence. The Battle of Procyon V may have been the last in a long war that left the Federation vulnerable to the Borg or another race.

There is not enough information to say that the Federation as it is in the 23/24 centuries is the same as the one in the 31st or beyond. It could still be around, but in what form is anyone's guess.

[C.E. Evans]

The United Federation of Planets could also evolve into something else over time, perhaps a larger interstellar coalition with another name or a slightly different one (I remember the old FASA TNG Officer's Manual suggesting the Federation Grand Alliance, with multiple territorial zones extending into different quadrants of the Galaxy).

[King Daniel Into Darkness]

There's always the possibility the Federation has turned evil by then, as in the excellent novel Crossroad.

[Count Zero]

KingDaniel wrote:

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There's always the possibility the Federation has turned evil by then, as in the excellent novel Crossroad.

Oh, that sounds interesting. I must read that one.

[-Brett-]

If the Federation is a democracy, as we all assume, then Starfleet and it's exploration programs are bound to wind up the subject of popular vote sooner or later. Not hard to imagine the average voter blaming Starfleet for exposing them to the Borg, Dominion and whatever else. The Federation could very well swing toward a more isolationist mindset. Hence, the absence from the delta quadrant in the 31st+ centuries.