The United Federation of Planets = The United Nations (IRL)
- Thread starter WinterSoldier
- Start date
Is the EU much more united than the UN?
I do like the EU analogy for the Federation.
I see it as somewhere in between the EU and the 1789 version of the US.
Click the + sign at the top of what box?
Oh, The plus sign at the top of the box when writing a reply. The 4th sign in a little box from the right and the 13th from the left.
You need to strikethrough 'market economy' as well. But otherwise pretty accurate. I agree that the EU is the closest real world analogue to the Federation.Okay, but they have no military space forces nor a Starfleet Command, yet. The United Federation of Planets seems to be more like today's European Union. Go to Wikipedia "European Union" and substitute "Federation" and you have a good idea how it runs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union
One Council representatives is assigned by each member world, so, I guess you call them ambassadors, too. One of them is elected as the President of the Council for some short term.
The UFP Charter in the Star Fleet Technical Manual is clearly an article-by-article adaptation of the UN Charter, so the idea that UFP = UN has been around at least since the 1970s.
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Trek_Star_Fleet_Technical_Manual
http://www.st-minutiae.com/articles/treaties/charter.html
https://www.un.org/en/sections/un-charter/un-charter-full-text/
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Trek_Star_Fleet_Technical_Manual
http://www.st-minutiae.com/articles/treaties/charter.html
https://www.un.org/en/sections/un-charter/un-charter-full-text/
But once you add in all the retconning and new additions from TNG, DS9, VOY, ENT, DSC, it seems to be moving more toward the EU model (with a permanent military).
It obviously was originally conceived as an UN analogue, but the concept has evolved since. In the later iterations is much more like EU. And this development is probably something that has happened in-universe as well, I'd assume that TOS Federation was less unified than TNG one.
The Vulcan-Tellarite debate over the Coridan admission to the Federation shows anything but an unified Federation. The murder of Gav may swing the vote over to a yes position. The scheme to sabotage the debates will probably backfire...
Exactly.
What do you see as the federation changing from what it was during TOS, to something different during later series?
This might be exactly what the federation has, a market economy. We see and hear clear signs that there is a consumer market in the Federation, combined with people saying there's no money.
This is how Sisko described the Federation (to someone in the gamma quadrant who had never heard of the Feds):
ZLANGCO: So, you are the leader of the aliens.
SISKO: Benjamin Sisko, Commander of a Federation space station.
ZLANGCO: Federation?
...
SISKO: The Federation is made up of over a hundred planets who have allied themselves for mutual scientific, cultural and defensive benefits.
This dialogue is from "Battle Lines".
Sounds like Sisko is describing an organization more like a NATO than the UN. The Federation charter may have been modeled on the UN one, but the Federation do seem to function and operate more like an alliance of states. Or maybe it is a sort of hybrid NATO/EU.
Federation = UN.
Federation = NATO ?
In any case, humans/Earth seem to be the Federation species/member that do the heavy lifting. The other species and members don't seem to carry their own weight.
ZLANGCO: So, you are the leader of the aliens.
SISKO: Benjamin Sisko, Commander of a Federation space station.
ZLANGCO: Federation?
...
SISKO: The Federation is made up of over a hundred planets who have allied themselves for mutual scientific, cultural and defensive benefits.
This dialogue is from "Battle Lines".
Sounds like Sisko is describing an organization more like a NATO than the UN. The Federation charter may have been modeled on the UN one, but the Federation do seem to function and operate more like an alliance of states. Or maybe it is a sort of hybrid NATO/EU.
Federation = UN.
Federation = NATO ?In any case, humans/Earth seem to be the Federation species/member that do the heavy lifting. The other species and members don't seem to carry their own weight.
^ One difference between the UFP and the UN that can't be ignored is that, during the Cold War, all sides belonged to the UN, and the major powers sat on the same Security Council. In contrast, the Federation's adversaries are, well, not part of the UFP: the Romulans, the Cardassians, and even the Klingons (though it's more a point back in the TOS era). On the other hand, the NATO analogy is apt to handle us vs them scenarios.
So a Mish Mash of NATO + EU + US Federal Constitutional Republic?
Isn't DS9 a Bajoran space station?
Yes, why wouldn't it slowly grow more united/integrated over time? Perhaps if you'd visit the 26th century, you'd find a Federation that would 'feel' more like the USA today (in terms of unity). Reminds me of crewman Daniels of the 31st century who is 'mostly' human, and the pilot they found of that same era of human, Vulcan, Terrellian and Rigelian descent, indicating that at least interspecies breeding between (Federation) species seems to become more common in 'the future'.
One reason would be that the Federation membership isn't a constant, at least that's my understanding. New members are signing on over the course of the Federation's existence, so it's not a matter of a fixed 150 members who've been together for centuries.
I haven't noticed The United Nation do any evolving over the last 50 years, one could say it has regressed since the fall of the Soviet Union...
Yes, it is.
Cos there are no Vulcans to show them the error of their illogical ways lol
