The Dominion War is over. Everyone's too tired to fight, and the Alpha Quadrant powers are more friendly with each other than ever, by virtue of being war buddies.
But just give it a few years, and the cracks begin to form.
We start with Cardassia. The Dominion War was rough, but roughest on them. Peace with their formerly oppressed Bajorans was a wound to their pride, but succumbing to the mighty Klingon boot was something else entirely. The once proud Cardassian people had slowly and continually been undermined by the other powers of the Alpha Quadrant, to the point where they were then subjugated. The power granted to them by their alliance with the Dominion tasted sweet, but turned just as quickly bitter, as the Dominion merely used them and tossed them away. Their attempt at rebellion, while necessary and ultimately successful, provoked attempted genocide from their new malefactors. To summarize this state, I quote Garak:
"Of course it'll survive! But not as the Cardassia I knew. We had a rich and ancient culture, our literature, music, art, was second to none! Now... So much of it is... lost. So many of our best people... our most gifted minds... We live in uncertain times."
So, what happens next? Well, Cardassia must rebuild - not just in infrastructure, but in numbers, in economics, in military, in culture. And who is there to help them on their way? None other than the Alpha Quadrant powers of the Feds, the Klings, and the Roms. But make no mistake, they aren't just providing assistance out of kindness, there is something to gain. We know the Klingons are, they are a conquering people who relished in Cardassia's defeat, and who already tried to conquer them once - they're definitely imposing some "traditional Klingon values" over the weakened Cardassians. Likewise, the Romulans also have quite the superiority complex (though in this case, to a lesser degree, which I'll get to later), and don't think the Federation isn't going to try and "fix" things they don't like about Cardassian culture - different legal system, different treatment of prisoners, and you can bet you'll see fewer Repetitive Epics.
And how will the people of Cardassia, a very patriotic society, very set in their ways, react after a while of cultural override on this scale? Not well, I'd assume. They would see the Alpha powers as new oppressors, and likely try to bounce back with some warped version of their old beliefs - Cardassian extremists would pop up, preaching for a return to the old ways, and I mean the really old ways - and the impoverished people yearning for the way things were would jump on board. And what would these extremists do to get their message across? Surely, terrorism.
That's right: The Cardassian Revolution.
So that's a political upset right there - the methods chosen to deal with it potentially driving a wedge between the Klingons and the Federation, though they are closer allies after the Dominion War, and with Martok in power. (small tangent, the Klingons are in a pretty good way post-war, compared to everyone else - Martok being in power makes a big stride to solving their classism and to reform the Klingon High Council).
But lets be frank: the Federation and the Klingons are the Alpha Quadrant powers now, and they must decide what to do next - because the Romulans are on a downward trajectory. Their government, never exactly in tip-top shape to begin with (what with all the secrecy and corruption), is majorly upset when overthrown by Shinzon. Even after his defeat, the Romulans have some rebuilding to do (just not as much as the Cardassians). They have to calm a panicked public, and rebuild their government from the literal ashes of the previous one.
But before the dust settles on that, disaster strikes.
Romulus is destroyed in the fires of an exploding star. Their only advocate to the rest of the galaxy, Ambassador Spock, is sucked into a black hole and seemingly killed.
The Romulan Star Empire is not necessarily dead, but its capital world is atomized. There is no more central government, no more authority - so the different colonized and subjugated worlds would fall apart. Any world conquered by Romulans would immediately make a case for its freedom, and the Romulan colony worlds would be bickering over control too much to properly stop them - factor in the Remans, and the Romulans would lose their mining income, and their source of slave and military labor. Knowing the Remans, too, they wouldn't go quietly. They may try to take control of the Romulan Star Empire themselves.
And with all this chaos going on, do you think the Federation and Klingon Empire are going to sit idly by? They're definitely going to have stake in the conflict. They may want some of that valuable Romulan property, which is now up for grabs. Maybe they'd choose the most likely factions in reclaiming the empire, and supporting them early to gain an ally in the future. Or maybe they'd try to intervene diplomatically, to try and bring the empire back to its former glory. In any case, they would both be shaping the future of the Empire, which can never be the same. And if the Federation and the Klingons don't agree on what to do next, then they are basically working against each other - and relations between the two break down.
And what of the people of Romulus? Any survivors who evacuated, and any people off-world at the time - where do they go? The answer is, anywhere that would take them. But being political and cultural enemies arriving by the planet-load, finding a place to re-settle will be an enormous task for all involved.
The natural choice for those Romulans trying to avoid the territory conflicts over the old empire would be to go to Vulcan - but, would the Vulcans and the Federation still stand by IDIC in these trying times? After all, the Vulcans and Romulans have never gotten along - "Why," the Vulcans might think, "should we allow former enemies of the state, who refuse to learn our philosophies of non-emotion, onto our planet? It's only logical that they adapt to our culture instead of the other way around. And besides, any refugee we let on could be a terrorist. It's only logical to keep them all away."
And so the internal struggle of the Federation begins.
There you have it: A rebellious Cardassia, a decimated Romulan Refugee Crisis, strained political relations with the Klingons, and the temptation to betray the very values that the Federation holds so dear.
This is the political situation of the Alpha Quadrant, Post-Nemesis.
But just give it a few years, and the cracks begin to form.
We start with Cardassia. The Dominion War was rough, but roughest on them. Peace with their formerly oppressed Bajorans was a wound to their pride, but succumbing to the mighty Klingon boot was something else entirely. The once proud Cardassian people had slowly and continually been undermined by the other powers of the Alpha Quadrant, to the point where they were then subjugated. The power granted to them by their alliance with the Dominion tasted sweet, but turned just as quickly bitter, as the Dominion merely used them and tossed them away. Their attempt at rebellion, while necessary and ultimately successful, provoked attempted genocide from their new malefactors. To summarize this state, I quote Garak:
"Of course it'll survive! But not as the Cardassia I knew. We had a rich and ancient culture, our literature, music, art, was second to none! Now... So much of it is... lost. So many of our best people... our most gifted minds... We live in uncertain times."
So, what happens next? Well, Cardassia must rebuild - not just in infrastructure, but in numbers, in economics, in military, in culture. And who is there to help them on their way? None other than the Alpha Quadrant powers of the Feds, the Klings, and the Roms. But make no mistake, they aren't just providing assistance out of kindness, there is something to gain. We know the Klingons are, they are a conquering people who relished in Cardassia's defeat, and who already tried to conquer them once - they're definitely imposing some "traditional Klingon values" over the weakened Cardassians. Likewise, the Romulans also have quite the superiority complex (though in this case, to a lesser degree, which I'll get to later), and don't think the Federation isn't going to try and "fix" things they don't like about Cardassian culture - different legal system, different treatment of prisoners, and you can bet you'll see fewer Repetitive Epics.
And how will the people of Cardassia, a very patriotic society, very set in their ways, react after a while of cultural override on this scale? Not well, I'd assume. They would see the Alpha powers as new oppressors, and likely try to bounce back with some warped version of their old beliefs - Cardassian extremists would pop up, preaching for a return to the old ways, and I mean the really old ways - and the impoverished people yearning for the way things were would jump on board. And what would these extremists do to get their message across? Surely, terrorism.
That's right: The Cardassian Revolution.
So that's a political upset right there - the methods chosen to deal with it potentially driving a wedge between the Klingons and the Federation, though they are closer allies after the Dominion War, and with Martok in power. (small tangent, the Klingons are in a pretty good way post-war, compared to everyone else - Martok being in power makes a big stride to solving their classism and to reform the Klingon High Council).
But lets be frank: the Federation and the Klingons are the Alpha Quadrant powers now, and they must decide what to do next - because the Romulans are on a downward trajectory. Their government, never exactly in tip-top shape to begin with (what with all the secrecy and corruption), is majorly upset when overthrown by Shinzon. Even after his defeat, the Romulans have some rebuilding to do (just not as much as the Cardassians). They have to calm a panicked public, and rebuild their government from the literal ashes of the previous one.
But before the dust settles on that, disaster strikes.
Romulus is destroyed in the fires of an exploding star. Their only advocate to the rest of the galaxy, Ambassador Spock, is sucked into a black hole and seemingly killed.
The Romulan Star Empire is not necessarily dead, but its capital world is atomized. There is no more central government, no more authority - so the different colonized and subjugated worlds would fall apart. Any world conquered by Romulans would immediately make a case for its freedom, and the Romulan colony worlds would be bickering over control too much to properly stop them - factor in the Remans, and the Romulans would lose their mining income, and their source of slave and military labor. Knowing the Remans, too, they wouldn't go quietly. They may try to take control of the Romulan Star Empire themselves.
And with all this chaos going on, do you think the Federation and Klingon Empire are going to sit idly by? They're definitely going to have stake in the conflict. They may want some of that valuable Romulan property, which is now up for grabs. Maybe they'd choose the most likely factions in reclaiming the empire, and supporting them early to gain an ally in the future. Or maybe they'd try to intervene diplomatically, to try and bring the empire back to its former glory. In any case, they would both be shaping the future of the Empire, which can never be the same. And if the Federation and the Klingons don't agree on what to do next, then they are basically working against each other - and relations between the two break down.
And what of the people of Romulus? Any survivors who evacuated, and any people off-world at the time - where do they go? The answer is, anywhere that would take them. But being political and cultural enemies arriving by the planet-load, finding a place to re-settle will be an enormous task for all involved.
The natural choice for those Romulans trying to avoid the territory conflicts over the old empire would be to go to Vulcan - but, would the Vulcans and the Federation still stand by IDIC in these trying times? After all, the Vulcans and Romulans have never gotten along - "Why," the Vulcans might think, "should we allow former enemies of the state, who refuse to learn our philosophies of non-emotion, onto our planet? It's only logical that they adapt to our culture instead of the other way around. And besides, any refugee we let on could be a terrorist. It's only logical to keep them all away."
And so the internal struggle of the Federation begins.
There you have it: A rebellious Cardassia, a decimated Romulan Refugee Crisis, strained political relations with the Klingons, and the temptation to betray the very values that the Federation holds so dear.
This is the political situation of the Alpha Quadrant, Post-Nemesis.
