Why did the Dominion sign a non aggression pact with Bajor?

[Smellincoffee]

To let their Cardassian allies know that the Dominion is running this show, not the Cardassian Union.

[Dover]

I think it's because they knew that Bajor was weary of war, and with a barely-stable government and economy would be eager to avoid another conflict if there was a peaceful alternative. Also, if the Dominion had come to Bajor guns-blazing, every former resistance fighter would immediately go back into full resistance mode and they'd have the same headache the Cardassians had. Since Bajor is only a tiny part of the Alpha Quadrant, why have troops tied up fighting a guerrilla war against a bunch of farmers when they can just remain neutral and be bypassed?

[Tiberius]

I always found this interesting...

When Sisko runs into the conference and says that Bajor must not join the Federation, it must stand alone, he claims he has had a vision of locusts that will destroy Bajor if Bajor joins the Feds. He then describes a vision that he has had:

SISKO
I was on Bajor. B'hala had been
rebuilt. The streets were filled
with people... celebrating.
(a beat)
But then a shadow blocked out the
sun. We looked up and saw a cloud
filling the sky. It was a swarm
of locusts. Billions of them.
They hovered over the city, the
noise was deafening... but just as
quickly as they came, they moved
on. Now I know where they were
going. Cardassia.

I always found it curious that this is indeed what happened. If you interpret the locusts as the Jem'Hadar fleet (and let's face it, their ships do look kinda insect like), then this is exactly what happened.

[Timo]

Also, if the Dominion had come to Bajor guns-blazing, every former resistance fighter would immediately go back into full resistance mode and they'd have the same headache the Cardassians had.

The Dominion never had any trouble dealing with such headaches. If Bajor fought back, Bajor would face disciplinary action - and when the Dominion inflicts that, it works.

The Cardassians apparently wanted Bajorans to do some work for them. Even their orbital refinery relied heavily on local labor. It wouldn't do, then, to simply kill all Bajorans, even though that should be trivially easy for a culture at the technological level of Cardassia.

In contrast, the Dominion would get full strategic advantage from its occupation of Bajor even if it erased all life from Bajor beforehand. Or if it performed one of its more refined tricks, such as giving Bajorans the Quickening bioweapon that does not kill until after the victims have had the opportunity to procreate and perpetuate the species. All sorts of biological enslaving could be put to effect, with greater or lesser effort but generally without any risk to the Dominion itself.

Would this be a good way to start? To show the Alpha species that opposing the Dominion is not a good idea? Probably not. Better to show benevolence towards an insignificantly weak player, and then later on inflict horrible punishment on a formerly strong opponent, for the best possible effect.

Timo Saloniemi

[indolover]

PR/propaganda. Bajor was only one planet and had no chance of defeating the Dominion. I think the Founders simply wanted to win the astropolitical PR war, and show their not all about annihilating solids.

[Tiberius]

Timo wrote:

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Would this be a good way to start? To show the Alpha species that opposing the Dominion is not a good idea? Probably not. Better to show benevolence towards an insignificantly weak player, and then later on inflict horrible punishment on a formerly strong opponent, for the best possible effect.

Timo Saloniemi

Not often we agree, but we do here.