What if Cardassia never joined the Dominion?

[Arpy]

^ a bit like “Conspiracy”? I guess if the Federation could ally itself with the brutal Klingon Empire, they might be able to with a slicker if similarly brutal Dominion, with the right people in all the right places. I mean, look at free countries today that ally with really vicious autocracies.

 

[Tango]

Those maps are largely speculative, don't include the third dimension, and are not likely as hard as we think of land borders in a nation state. Corridors could exist and a lot of the territory could be less patrolled depending on the region and powers involved. Even if corridors were not available there is no way for anyone to project unlimited 360° power above and below stellar galactic space.

Also, assuming most scanning and security is placed at the frontiers of various empires, ships would be able to potentially pass through sparsely trafficed/populated areas of space regardless of the controlling power. Space would be more like an ocean with ships able to traverse it without necessarily running afoul of the local patrols.

The question of how does one organize, govern, and defend an interstellar political entity which is set in a fully 3-dimensional environment is very interesting, and AFAIK hasn't been addressed seriously in much of science fiction. In spite of our ability to travel in the atmosphere, in space, and under the seas, countries on Earth are effectively 2-dimensional, which greatly simplifies the difficultly of defending territory in economic and military terms. In interstellar space, it is a much more complex problem and Star Trek isn't the only to largely ignore it. When building that imaginary world in the realm of science fiction you can posit the technology you need to achieve that aim, but most of the time that gets glossed over or ignored (anyone have examples in literary science fiction where they do address the issue?).

This 3-dimensional issue was explicitly addressed by the developers of the classic (but maybe now obscure) science fiction board game "StarForce: Alpha Centauri", published back in the 1970s by Simulations Publications Inc, as it had a fundamental effect on how the game mechanics were implemented. It wasn't a full solution, but ingenious nonetheless. The technology and socio-political systems of that scenario flowed naturally from that requirement.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StarForce:_Alpha_Centauri

Actually, the science fiction world of StarForce is very interesting and I think would be a marvellous setting for a television or book series.

 

[Ferengi Prime 5]

Those maps are largely speculative, don't include the third dimension, and are not likely as hard as we think of land borders in a nation state.

True, we are talking 24th century tech should be able show something it up but again we forget how vast space is. The distances between objects is hard for one to fathom at times. I want to put out protecting ones space empire is a difficult undertaking...

The Federation should have offer arms and space ships to the Cardassians to help them stop unwarranted aggression against them by the Klingons. I want to point out Carassians were trying to become a true republic, until the Klingons. In todays terms the Klingons are the Russians and the Cardassians are the Ukrainians...

The Federation should have done much much more for the Cardassians and to defend a fellow republic...

 

[Arpy]

They may have wanted to become a republic but we don’t know what the popular sentiment or machinations were going on within the Union at the time. The public might have used Federation assistance to revive the old system and bad characters in the Detapa Council used it to stage a coup.

Additionally, the resulting war with Qo’noS would play into the Founders’ hands as though they’d set it up that way….given that Martok was a Changeling, they very well might have. It was only the sound leadership of Gowron heeding Sisko’s words during the battle at DS9 that the Klingons didn’t war with the Federation. If the UFP acted more aggressively, so might the Klingons.

Even with the combined strength of the Federation, the Empire, and the Romulans, the Alliance still needed a bit of deus ex machina, the wormhole aliens disappearing an overwhelming 2000+ ship Dominion fleet to win. The war would have never gotten to even that point if the Dominion had faced weaker enemies battling amongst themselves before it even began.

 

[MarkusTay]

The show would have continued to be boring? Shots of O'Brien sweeping the halls? Quark talking to Morn? Sisko fondling his ball? Without the Cardassians joining the Dominion, it would have been a completely different show.

 

[Ferengi Prime 5]

The show would have continued to be boring? Shots of O'Brien sweeping the halls? Quark talking to Morn? Sisko fondling his ball? Without the Cardassians joining the Dominion, it would have been a completely different show.

No, TOS did not have to have a war to be interesting so DS9 does not need one.

They could have had a Cardassian civil war causing political drama for the Federation and Bajor, bring in the Ferengi dealing arms to all... The Breen pick the old guard to support wiping out the Marque... In the end we could have learn what the Breen look like... You can always have a story...

 

[Arpy]

Yeah it could have gone any number of ways, with factions of the Central Command plunging them into civil war and all sorts of chaos in the region. The nearby Talarians, Tzenkethi, maybe the Breen, the Miradorn, and who knows who else might have stepped in to further complicate the situation. Billions of refugees from a fractured Union flooding Bajoran space? The Federation taking issue with their treatment by the Bajorans and there’s a multi-episode arc where the Federarion leaves the station and Kira becomes second to a xenophobic Bajoran General, or is herself in charge of a station filled with Bajor’s new alien allies.

Then the Dominion steps in.

 

[Arpy]

Also, who else is nearby Bajoran space? The Skkreeans from “Sanctuary,” rejected by Bajor were relocated to Draylon II, described as being near Sefala Prime. Presumably these were near Bajor as fitting the prophecy of being the promised land Kentanna near the mouth of the wormhole.

Is Sefalla if not a major at least a robust player in local politics? And could perhaps Draylon be a source of drama, being inundated with refugees themselves and the Skkreeans having problems with them after welcoming the aliens where Bajor didn’t. Is this an opportunity for Bajor to right an old wrong, seeing the Occupation on the verge of happening again to the Skkreeans?

Conversely, could the alliance of food-rich Draylon and Cardassian military power be a problem for Bajor?

And were those aliens with the WMD Harvesters from “Armageddon Game,” the T’Lani and Kellerun, just on the other side of the wormhole or in nearby local space? Could they complicate matters with other local players as well?

Plus there were all the background aliens we saw (the tailheads?) who could have developed into drama, and ones we often heard about if rarely saw — the Lissepians, Kobheerians, Boslics, Xepolites, Lurians, Dopterians, etc.

 

[fireproof78]

it would have been a completely different show.

Yes, that's the idea. You take opportunities like that and turn them in to drama. You don't just need a war story to make a good show.

 

[Mrs. Silvercrest]

This is way out there but could they have joined up with the Federation and everyone on the good guys side? I can see Damar maybe being able to do this, doubtful Dakat would have (too many issues.)