The United Federation of Planets

The largest polity in the known galaxy, the UFP is actually a sort of superstate, incorporating under its umbrella a very large number of independent nations. These countries retain sovereignty and internal governance while accepting certain responsibilities, most significantly the adoption of certain international codes of conduct, various economic cooperation measures, and obligations of mutual defense and acceptance of the authority of the Federation Starfleet to enforce interstellar law. Its stated core values are peace, prosperity, and mutual respect between disparate species and cultures. It replaced the Salusian-dominated United Galactica, which collapsed in the mid-twenty-fourth century, after a brief civil war.

The UFP's capital complex, which includes the Assembly Hall of the Federation Senate and the offices of the President and Supreme Judiciary, is located in the city of Paris, France on Earth. Member states include but are certainly not limited to:

• The Earth Alliance
  An alliance of sovereign nations like the Federation itself on a smaller scale, the EA guarantees the independence of its member states within certain similar parameters. It sprang up in 2389, in the wake of the collapse of the Olympus megastate during the War of Corporate Occupation the previous year, and by the date of this printing (June, 2406) it encompasses all the nations on the planet Earth save three (the Republic of Texas, the Principality of Zanzibar and the Argentine Empire), plus numerous Earth colonies (mainly founded by people from western Europe and the United States of America) in the Centauri Sector. The EA's military arm, Earthforce, is one of the ten most powerful military forces in the galaxy, and is growing.

  One unique feature of the EA's structure is the Psi Corps, which was founded in 2390 to deal comprehensively with the emerging Earth-human telepath population, replacing nearly a hundred small and ineffectual telepath-regulation agencies scattered throughout the national governments of Earth. By law, all EA citizens are screened at several points during childhood for the emergence of telepathic abilities. All identified telepaths must choose between conscription into the Psi Corps, imprisonment, or lifelong dosing with "sleepers", special drugs which dampen human telepathic abilities. The Corps initially had jurisdiction only on Earth; its powers were expanded to cover the whole of the Alliance's territory in late 2404. A bill is now before the Federation Assembly to give the Psi Corps jurisdiction throughout the United Federation of Planets, replacing the Federation Bureau of Psionic Affairs.

  The capital of the Earth Alliance is the city of Geneva, in Switzerland.

• The Planetary Kingdom and Interstellar Empire of Salusa Secundus
  Better known simply by the name of its core planet, Salusia. The Empire consists of several of Salusia's younger colonies, still populated mainly by ethnic Salusians; the homeworld's older colonies are mostly independent now. Salusia is among the oldest modern spacefaring societies, having been exploring and colonizing since the beginning of the Modern Epoch (ca. Standard Year 500).

  Since the collapse of the United Galactica, Salusia has lost some of her influence and power, but she is still a significant polity and still boasts a first-class military. Once Earth's staunchest ally, she has seen her relations with what most pundits now call the new center of galactic power cool since the establishment of the Earth Alliance. Many call this sour grapes on the part of the declining power.

• The Republic of Zeta Cygni
  Home state of the Wedge Defense Force (who, despite their centuries-long defense contract with the Federation and the Galactica before them, are technically stateless mercenaries), the Babylon Foundation and the International Police Organization, the Republic has the second-oddest configuration of any state in the galaxy: it is comprised of the system of Zeta Cygni and the planet Titan, a moon of the gas giant Saturn in the Solar system. This odd arrangement came about because of a peculiar but perfectly legal real estate deal conducted by Zeta Cygni's "shadow leader", IPO chief Benjamin "Gryphon" hutchins.

  Relations between the Republic of Zeta Cygni and the Earth Alliance have been strained for some time; the EA is the most vocal member of the group of UFP members who are suspicious of Zeta Cygni's motives in supporting the IPO and the Babylon Foundation and of the Republic's structure. They maintain that, despite its name, the Republic of Zeta Cygni is a dictatorship, dominated by the whims of the IPO chief, who has no official title but does undeniably wield considerable influence over the Republic's policies (which are determined by electronic plebiscite). The Republic also maintains separate alliances with several non-Federation governments and fellow Federation members, which, while not illegal, is unorthodox.

• The Confederate Freespacers' Alliance
  The state which holds the dubious distinction of topping the Republic of Zeta Cygni for odd structure, the CFA has no worlds; it is, as its name suggests, an alliance of freespacers, making its home in a mobile fleet of starships rather than at any fixed location. The Freespacers are, if anything, more iconoclastic and independence-minded than Zeta Cygni, and relations between them and the Earth Alliance are even more strained than those between the EA and Zeta Cygni. In fact, at the present time, despite the fact that both states are Federation members, there are no political relations between the CFA and the EA; the Freespacers maintain that the EA has devolved into a power-hungry police state which ignores the basic freedoms for which the UFP claims to stand, while the EA officially regards the Freespacers as lawless space trash, refusing to acknowledge that they are a nation and categorizing them as an organized crime faction. For the sake of Federation membership, each accords the other the bare minimum of cooperation required by the Articles of Federation, and such cooperation is very frosty indeed.
• The Corellian Free and Open Trading State
  Nominally a republic, Corellia and her few remaining colonies are a corporate state and everyone knows it. Corellian elections pull fewer than 1% of the eligible voting populace because only the very young, the very stupid and the very naive don't know full well that the votes don't count. The Trading State is ruled by a junta of corporate raiders, captains of industry and Hutt crime bosses. The Hutts are infamous for the one clause in the Articles of Federation known as the Hutt Compromise, which exempts their Inner Galaxy territory (mainly the Corellian moons of Nal Hutta and Nar Shaddaa) from the Federation's anti-slavery laws. Militarily insignificant, Corellia is an economic powerhouse, and its leaders are quite happy to align themselves with the militarily mighty but economically unstable Earth Alliance. The result is a well-rounded power bloc of which the Freespacers, Zeta Cygni, and their various quiet allies find themselves very, very wary.

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United Federation of Planets, continued

• The Greater Independent Stellar Co-Prosperity Sphere
  An primarily economic confederation of various independent former Earth colonies, mainly of Japanese extraction, including New Japan, Tomodachi, Yamaki, and New Hokkaido. Politically, the Co-Prosperity Sphere's members are fairly moderate, but there are differences within the group, with New Japan leaning more toward the policies of Earth while Tomodachi is closer to Zeta Cygni.
• The Zardon Free Republic
  Despite its name, the Zardon Free Republic is still more or less a police state, as it has been since the dying days of the Second Epoch. The monarchy is gone, and in its place the Department of Justice rules the Mega-Cities, oppressing the people of Zardon for their collective good. Unfortunately, it is for their collective good, and no one has ever come up with another way in which a planet as ruined as Zardon could support a population as dense as Zardon's, so reform efforts tend to be somewhat desultory.
• The Centauri Republic
  A faded giant from another age, the Centauri Republic's salad days bridged the gap between the Second and Third Epochs. The first Centauri Emperors warred with the Padishahs for pieces of their crumbling territory; the last were quietly prevented from conquering Earth in the tenth century S.C. by the Salusians, after which they went into a steep decline. The modern Centauri Republic has regained its balance and settled comfortably into its role as a galactic dowager, wealthy and fairly powerful but not inclined to get up out of its armchair. Its longtime friendship with the WDF places it in square alliance with the Republic of Zeta Cygni.

The Federation has many other members, most of them single worlds. They include but are not limited to Niogi, Neo Texas, New Caledonia, Halloran IV, Bgtzl, Imsk, Winath, Vulcan, Bismoll, New Skaro, Mondas, Braal, Free Mars, the Narn Regime, and of course Zeta Cygni's staunch ally Cybertron.

The Allied States

Several significant independent nations are, though not members of the Federation, allied with that polity or one or more of its members. They include:

• The Klingon Empire
  Though cultural misunderstandings produced hostility between the Salusian-dominated United Galactica and the Klingons for centuries, several incidents at around the time of the War of Corporate Occupation and the tireless efforts of former Klingon Chancellor Gorkon and Salusian Special Envoy at Large Jeremy Feeple have produced a strong military alliance between the Empire and their former foes in the twenty-fifth century. The Klingons are more firmly allied to Salusia and Zeta Cygni than to the Federation as a whole, and are not bashful about airing their skepticism toward the policies of the Earth Alliance and their Corellian allies (or, as the Klingons would have it, toadies).
• The Empire of Gamilon
  Another former enemy, Gamilon today is the Federation's bulwark against the Romulans, whose borders they block from the Federation's almost completely. The Gamilon emperor, Desslok I, refuses to join the Federation outright, but his empire's economy is closely linked with those of several Federation members' and there are military alliances in place with the Federation and most of those same members. Relations between Gamilon and Earth, though, are very poor; they were on the brink of war in the summer of 2405, when a Psi Corps officer illegally detained Gamilon's Crown Princess at the school she was attending on Earth, and Emperor Desslok has made no secret of his contempt for EA President William M. Clark.
• The Discordian Confederation
  Mysterious and secretive, the Discordian Confederation's location is unknown. Some maintain that the nation does not even exist, that it is merely a myth spun by the Wedge Defense Force to give them an air of mystery and make people fear that they have silent allies. Discordian forces were key contributors to the Second Battle of Zeta Cygni, which ended the War of Corporate Occupation, but have not been seen since.
• The Minbari Federation
  Stand-offish and rather rude, the Minbari have cordial but not warm relations with the Federation, and are among the nations becoming increasingly suspicious of the Earth Alliance as its star rises within the UFP.
• The Kingdom of Jyurai
  A mysterious world in the heart of the treacherous Enigma Sector, Jyurai looks deceptively close to the Federation, but in navigational terms, it might as well be out on the far reaches of the Outer Rim. Politically it is just as remote, maintaining strong ties to Zeta Cygni (the IPO Psionics Academy is located there) and almost none to any other Federation member except the Freespacers.
• The Outer Rim Territories
  This loosely-organized, poorly-charted zone of space, rimward of the Federation proper, is a vaguely-defined Federation protectorate. Federation taxes are not collected and Federation law is only spottily enforced; the only laws on much of the Rim are those one can enforce oneself, or those enforced by the Hutts, who have taken advantage of the Federation's patchy, ineffectual presence to claim a sizable portion of the Rim for themselves. On the other hand, parts of the Territories are quite civilized, if remote. Ishiyama, the farthest-flung Earth colony, is a major industrial power with a very quirky and unique tech base and culture, and is the Outer Rim bastion of the International Police; and Naboo, homeworld of the current Federation Senator for the Outer Rim Territories, Eidun Palpatine, is galactically known as a peaceful center of art and learning.

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Salusa Secundus, huh? Would I be totally off-mark in guessing that the Padishah Emperor had a prison or two in that solar system in the distant past?

--
Mr. Fnord, RCW #23
Because somehow, the idea of Kumbari Sardukar strikes me as Good and Right...

Is the UF-verse Encyclopedia Galactica published from a small-yet-economically-imperialist world somewhere out on the Rim?

(IOW, is there an equivalent to Terminus from the Foundation novels?)