Domus Publica
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| Brave New World The Government, Culture, and Starfleet of the United Federation of Planets |
Part I: Government
The United Federation of Planets is a mutual scientific, cultural, and defensive cooperative composed of a number of member states
that was first mentioned in “A Taste of Armageddon.” It was founded in 2161, according to “The Outcast,” which “Zero Hour”
specifies to have happened in San Francisco, California; the quasi-canonical Star Fleet Technical Manual mentioned the founding
members as the United Nations Organization of Earth, the Planetary Confederation of 40 Eridani, the United Planets of 61 Cygni, the
Star Empire of Epsilon Indii, and the Alpha Centauri Concordium of Planets. “Zero Hour” shows that the founding planets were
Earth, Vulcan, Andoria, and Tellar, while “In the Cards” mentions that Andor, Vulcan, Berengaria, and Earth are among the core
United Federation worlds. The United Federation is governed by the Constitution of the United Federation of Planets, according to
“The Drumhead,” which presumably forms the fundamental laws of the United Federation, as well as defining limits in governmental
authority; “The Drumhead” mentions the Seventh Guarantee, which protects United Federation citizens from self-incrimination.
Interestingly, all persons on board a United Federation starship are entitled to the rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the United
Federation of Planets, regardless of citizenship, according to “The Perfect Mate,” suggesting that these guarantees are designed to
protect fundamental sapient rights, not civil rights. The Constitution is probably not the same document as the Charter of the United
Federation of Planets seen in “The Void.” According to Captain Benjamin L. Sisko in “Accession,” the Federation Charter prohibits
caste-based discrimination, at least as of 2372. This indicates that the Charter has been amended at least once, because as late as 2268
the planet Ardana was able to be a member of the United Federation despite its discriminatory and repressive caste system, as seen
in “The Cloud Minders.”
The capital of the United Federation is Earth, in Sector 001, seen repeatedly throughout Star Trek history, such as for example in
“The Best of Both Worlds”; Earth occupies one of the most strategically and politically important places in the entire United
Federation. The North American city San Francisco is host to many important organizations, as it is evidently the site of the
Federation Council, as seen in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, as well as Starfleet Academy San Francisco, Earth (“The First
Duty”), the Starfleet Communications Research Center (“Pathfinder”), and Starfleet Headquarters (Star Trek: The Motion Picture);
the commissioning plaques of a handful of warships, such as USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A), USS
Excelsior (NCC-2000), USS Sutherland (NCC-72015), and USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-E), state that they were constructed at the
San Francisco Fleet Yards (also called the San Francisco Yards or the San Francisco Navy Yards), whose precise relationship with
San Francisco is unclear. The European city of Paris, France, is home to the Presidential offices, as seen in Star Trek VI: The
Undiscovered Country. In addition to the San Francisco Fleet Yards, the Solar system also contains Earth Station McKinley, as of
2367 in “Family,” the Copernicus Ship Yards in orbit of Earth’s moon, as of 2365 in “Peak Performance,” and the Utopia Planitia
Fleet Yards in orbit of Mars, as of 2366 in “Booby Trap.” As of 2271, the spaceborne Centroplex was the administrative center of
“the Navy yards,” which were “Starfleet’s largest ship construction and repair facility this side of Antares” in the novelization of
Star Trek: The Motion Picture (these “Navy yards” may be the same as the San Francisco Fleet Yards).
The majority of the evidence points to the Federation Council as the supreme authority of the United Federation. The Council
appears to combine executive, judicial, administrative, and legislative authority in one body, in a fashion superficially similar to the
supreme power of the Romulan Senate. In 2268, the Federation Council convened on Babel to discuss the admission of the Coridan
planets to the United Federation in “Journey to Babel”; this matter demonstrates both diplomatic and legislative powers, as the
Coridan planets were independent states, and the matter ipso facto is a question of interstellar relations, as well as a question of
internal law, regarding as it does the territory and jurisdiction of the United Federation. In 2285, the Federation Council sat in
judgment of then-Rear Admiral James T. Kirk, former Chief of Starfleet Operations, on charge of nine violations of Starfleet
Regulations, and ordered his permanent reduction in grade to captain, as seen in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home; this is interesting in
that it demonstrated functions that normally belong to a court martial (a judicial entity), not a legislature. In 2370, the Federation
Council legislated a speed limit of Warp Five for all vessels in the United Federation, as seen in “Force of Nature.” In 2372, the
Federation Council voted to condemn the Klingon invasion of the Cardassian Union (a diplomatic act), and further voted to provide
foreign aid in the form of twelve industrial replicators to ameliorate the damage to Cardassian industry, in “The Way of the Warrior”
and “For the Cause”; it passed Special Order 66715 in 2374 authorizing Starfleet to “neutralize security threats to Deep Space NINE
by any means necessary” in “Inquisition”; during the Dominion War of 2373 - 2375, the Federation Council voted in 2375 to
withhold the cure to the morphogenic plague from the Founders in “The Dogs of War” and shortly thereafter approved a Starfleet
operation to harvest metaphasic particles from an obscure world in the Briar Patch, in Star Trek: Insurrection.
Membership of the Federation Council is somewhat obscure. In “Journey to Babel,” the conference attendees included Ambassador
Sarek of Vulcan and Ambassador Gav of Tellar, both of whom held diplomatic rank of the highest order, despite representing member
states of the United Federation to a meeting of member states to consider an application for membership. In Star Trek IV: The
Voyage Home, the Federation Council was seen to include approximately thirty individuals, some of whom are uniformed,
commissioned officers of Starfleet (two humans, two Andorians and two Caitians), an extraordinary irregularity which has never been
addressed. In “Rapture,” Bajor was expected to select its delegates to the Federation Council after its admission, while in “Paradise
Lost,” President Jaresh-Inyo, of Grazer, complained that he had been content to represent his people on the Federation Council, and
had not wanted the office of President (Inyo was not the first to have risen to the Presidency after service as a Federation
Councilman; “In a Mirror, Darkly, ” indicates that Admiral (Retired) Jonathan Archer served as a Federation Councilman from 2175
to 2183 before being elected President in 2184). As of 2267, T’Pau was the only person to have declined a seat on the Federation
Council, in “Amok Time.” Although it seems clear that the Federation Council is not a popular chamber – its members represent
states, not populations – it seems incredible that every member state of the United Federation is represented on the Federation
Council, as the size seen in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home would reduce the number of member states to less than thirty. Perhaps
what is seen in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home is actually a presidium empowered to act for the full Federation Council in the
interim period between sessions of the full body?
The chief executive of the United Federation of Planets is the President. Chronologically, the first known President is human Admiral
(Retired) Jonathan Archer, whose biography in “In a Mirror, Darkly, ” states that he served as “President, UFP” from 2184 to 2192.
A balding, bearded human (given the name Hiram Roth in the non-canonical novel Articles of the Federation) was President in 2286
(Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home), but was credited as “Federation Council President”; he is seen only to preside over the Federation
Council in San Francisco. An Efrosian (named Ra-ghoratreii in the non-canonical novelization) was President in 2293 (Star Trek VI:
The Undiscovered Country), and was credited as “Federation President”; unlike the “Federation Council President,” he is seen to act
as a chief executive from his office in Paris, France. He received ambassadors from Vulcan, the Romulan Star Empire, and the Klingon
Empire, and exercised operational control of Starfleet, including the authoritative rejection of Colonel West’s proposed Operation
Retrieve. A Grazerite named Jaresh-Inyo — like Jonathan Archer, a former Federation Councilman — was President in 2372
(“Paradise Lost”); he demonstrated the power to declare and rescind martial law on Earth, and was specifically called Commander in
Chief of Starfleet. It is unclear how the President is chosen; Jaresh-Inyo makes only vague reference to having been asked to submit
his name for election.
It is possible that the President of the United Federation of Planets is also President of the Federation Council. Alternatively, it is
also possible that the two offices are completely separate, and that the seeming contradiction of both the Federation Council and the
President having operational control is caused by Starfleet’s dual scientific and defense mandates; perhaps Starfleet falls under the
Federation Council’s jurisdiction for its scientific and exploratory functions, and under the President’s jurisdiction for its defense and
security functions. In any case, the President is head of the executive branch of the United Federation Government, and is known to
be assisted by a Cabinet; by 2375, Jaresh-Inyo’s Cabinet included at least one agent of Section 31, according to Deputy Director
Luther Sloan in “Extreme Measures.” It is probable that there is a Cabinet level Secretary of Agriculture, based on the mention of
Under Secretary for Agriculture Nilz Baris in 2268 (“The Trouble with Tribbles”).
A Supreme Court was mentioned in “Doctor Bashir, I Presume?” The basis of United Federation jurisprudence is said to include the
Uniform Code of Justice, the Acts of Cumberland (cited by Captain Philippa Louvois in her ruling that Lieutenant Commander Data
was Starfleet property), and the Statutes of Alpha III (which includes the right of the accused to face his or her accuser), from “The
Drumhead,” “The Measure of a Man,” and “Court Martial,” respectively. The United Federation’s judicial system was confirmed to
use grand juries in “The Ascent.” Within Starfleet, courts martial are convened to try allegations of criminal offenses by members of
Starfleet, as seen for example in the appropriately titled “Court Martial,” while courts of inquiry are convened to investigate other
matters, such as in “The First Duty”; nevertheless, the Federation Council has demonstrated its ability to act in place of a court
martial at its discretion (the aforementioned Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home). In one extraordinary irregularity, a court martial
imposed sentence on a civilian malefactor in “Doctor Bashir, I Presume?”, which tends to suggest that a condition of martial law may
have existed. Although United Federation citizens are protected from self-incrimination by the Seventh Guarantee of the Constitution
of the United Federation of Planets, the regular use of invasive telepaths in criminal investigations as seen in “The Drumhead” may
potentially render this legal defense irrelevant; the claim was advanced in “Justice” that capital punishment was no longer justified as
a deterrent to criminal behavior because “we’ve learned how to detect the seeds of criminal behavior.” “Gambit” confirms that despite
this rather bold claim, the 24th century United Federation maintains a prison system, including the use of “rehabilitation colonies” (a
bit of politically correct euphemism; in the 23rd century, no such circumlocution was used, as the Central Bureau of Penology in
Stockholm, Sweden, unflinchingly named its facilities “penal colonies” in “Dagger of the Mind”). The only civilian police agency
known to exist is Federation Security; an officer of Federation Security arrested Commander Leonard H. McCoy, M.D., on Earth
when he attempted to book passage to restricted space in 2285 (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock).
There is only a bare handful of other governmental organs known to exist. Generally speaking, the United Federation tended to have
specialized bureaux in the 23rd century, and gradually shifted to a system of polysynody in the 24th. As of 2268, the Bureau of
Industrialization would mediate industrial disputes when invited by the parties to the dispute (“The Cloud Minders”) and treaties
with non-member states were negotiated by the Bureau of Planetary Treaties (“The Mark of Gideon”), although the Federation
Council also had the authority to make treaties. The Bureau of Press and Information appears briefly in Generations in 2293. In
2370, the Federation Science Council demonstrated the authority to quarantine an entire planet in “Gambit”; the Federation Science
Council also appeared in “Force of Nature,” where it was said to oversee and review scientific research in the United Federation, and
to control the allocation of “science ships” and “research vessels,” which leads one to wonder if the Federation Science Council does
not perhaps control a part of Starfleet’s fleet of exploratory vessels. The Federation Archaeology Council held a symposium on
board USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) in 2367 in “QPid.” The Federation Council on Exobiology is said to have authorized the
Hansen family’s expedition to research the Borg Collective around 2352 or 2353 by “Dark Frontier,” although all knowledge of the
Borg — possibly derived from the El Aurians, who were victims of the Collective’s expansionism — must have been classified, or
else the first contact scenario in 2365 in “Q Who?” would be nonsensical. The Federation Medical Council was mentioned as
awarding the prestigious Carrington Award annually as of 2371 (“Prophet Motive”). The Federation Astronomical Committee is said
to have jurisdiction in matters regarding the naming of spatial phenomena in “Eye of the Needle.” The Federation Diplomatic Corps
was mentioned in “Broken Link” in 2373. In 2375, Luther Sloan, of Section 31, posed as Wendell Greer, assistant director of the
Department of Cartography, an organization responsible for distribution of data regarding traffic patterns, navigational anomalies, and
other irregular phenomena inside United Federation space (“Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges”). In 2373, special agents from the
Department of Temporal Investigations conducted an investigation of possible violation of the Temporal Prime Directive by the crew
of USS Defiant (NCC-74205), as seen in “Trials and Tribble-ations” (the violation coincided with the events of “The Trouble with
Tribbles” in 2268); by the 29th century, this department appears to have developed into the Temporal Integrity Commission, with a
very close working relationship with the Starfleet of that era (“Future’s End”).
In the 23rd century, the United Federation’s shipping and freight was carried by the merchant marine, composed of those spacegoing
vessels owned and operated by civilian authorities (not necessarily affiliated with the government) registered within the United
Federation of Planets (the merchant marine was explicitly mentioned in “The Ultimate Computer”). By its nature, the merchant
marine is a decentralized collective; one particular organization within it is the Merchant Service, which operated Starfleet Academy
washout Captain R. M. Merik’s SS Beagle, a class-4 stardrive survey vessel, in 2262 (“Bread and Circuses”).
In 2267, Captain James T. Kirk described the territorial extent of the United Federation by saying “we’re on a thousand planets and
spreading out” (“Metamorphosis”). In 2369, however, Captain Benjamin L. Sisko claimed that the United Federation consisted of
“over a hundred planets who have allied themselves for mutual scientific, cultural, and defensive benefits” (“Battle Lines”), and by
2373 Captain Jean-Luc Picard claimed that it included “over one hundred and fifty planets spread across eight thousand light years”
(Star Trek: First Contact; due to the vagaries of time travel, Picard actually made this claim in 2063). The drastic difference between
Kirk’s numbers and Sisko’s and Picard’s is probably due to a difference in emphasis; Kirk was very likely talking about the total
number of planets in the United Federation, including colonies, while Sisko and Picard were referring to full members only of the
United Federation (in fact, Kirk may even be referring to Earth and its colonies only, not the rest of the United Federation). Member
states continued to maintain their own colonial holdings as late as 2352, when Turkana IV was an Earth colony (“Legacy”).
Additionally, Star Trek: Insurrection introduced the concept of “Federation protectorates,” which indicates that there is a kind of
state affiliated with the United Federation without being full members (or colonies of full members). As regards its population, it was
projected that the United Federation would suffer some 900 billion casualties before surrendering in the Dominion War in “Statistical
Probabilities”; the basis of this projection is unclear.
As implied by the name, the United Federation’s member states do not surrender their own governmental functions or territorial
integrity, including the possession of colonies (“Legacy”). Surprisingly, however, these member states do not behave like members of
a federal republic but rather as quasi-sovereign entities within a confederate structure. United Earth, for example, one of the founding
members of the United Federation in 2161, maintained its own diplomatic corps and accredited Admiral (Retired) Jonathan Archer as
its ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Andorian Empire — itself a founding member — from 2169 to 2175, before
designating him as its representative in the Federation Council from 2175 to 2183 (“In a Mirror, Darkly”). United Earth also
continued to operate its United Earth Space Probe Agency (UESPA) , which worked closely with the United Federation’s Starfleet,
even serving as one of the operating authorities of USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) during her five-year mission of 2265 - 2270
(“Tomorrow Is Yesterday”); UESPA was credited as one of the main contributors to the construction of USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-
B) as late as 2293 (Star Trek: Generations). Nor is United Earth unique; the Andorian Empire maintained its military/naval service,
the Imperial Guard, as late as 2164(“In a Mirror, Darkly”), and the Vulcan High Command had its own defensive vessels as late as
2367 (“Unification”) and an intelligence service, the V’Shar, under its Minister of Security, Satok, as late as 2370 (“Gambit”). Like
United Earth’s Jonathan Archer, the Vulcan High Command’s Federation Councilman in 2268, Sarek, had ambassadorial rank
(“Journey to Babel”), and like the United Earth/Andorian Empire diplomatic relationship, maintained an embassy on Earth in 2285
(Star Trek III: The Search for Spock), and a United Federation citizen was even able to claim sanctuary from the United Federation
Government there — despite ius legationis being a characteristic of sovereign nations, not members of a federal republic. In fact, in
2293 the Vulcanian Ambassador met with the President alongside the Romulan and Klingon Ambassadors, despite being a
representative of one of the United Federation’s founding members (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country even reveals that
Captain Spock opened negotiations with Gorkon, Chancellor of the High Council of the Klingon Empire, at the Vulcanian
Ambassador’s request, without direction from the President or the Federation Council, revealing a United Federation member to be
conducting foreign policy as an actor in interstellar relations independent of the United Federation Government, using the services of
a Starfleet commissioned officer, no less).
that was first mentioned in “A Taste of Armageddon.” It was founded in 2161, according to “The Outcast,” which “Zero Hour”
specifies to have happened in San Francisco, California; the quasi-canonical Star Fleet Technical Manual mentioned the founding
members as the United Nations Organization of Earth, the Planetary Confederation of 40 Eridani, the United Planets of 61 Cygni, the
Star Empire of Epsilon Indii, and the Alpha Centauri Concordium of Planets. “Zero Hour” shows that the founding planets were
Earth, Vulcan, Andoria, and Tellar, while “In the Cards” mentions that Andor, Vulcan, Berengaria, and Earth are among the core
United Federation worlds. The United Federation is governed by the Constitution of the United Federation of Planets, according to
“The Drumhead,” which presumably forms the fundamental laws of the United Federation, as well as defining limits in governmental
authority; “The Drumhead” mentions the Seventh Guarantee, which protects United Federation citizens from self-incrimination.
Interestingly, all persons on board a United Federation starship are entitled to the rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the United
Federation of Planets, regardless of citizenship, according to “The Perfect Mate,” suggesting that these guarantees are designed to
protect fundamental sapient rights, not civil rights. The Constitution is probably not the same document as the Charter of the United
Federation of Planets seen in “The Void.” According to Captain Benjamin L. Sisko in “Accession,” the Federation Charter prohibits
caste-based discrimination, at least as of 2372. This indicates that the Charter has been amended at least once, because as late as 2268
the planet Ardana was able to be a member of the United Federation despite its discriminatory and repressive caste system, as seen
in “The Cloud Minders.”
The capital of the United Federation is Earth, in Sector 001, seen repeatedly throughout Star Trek history, such as for example in
“The Best of Both Worlds”; Earth occupies one of the most strategically and politically important places in the entire United
Federation. The North American city San Francisco is host to many important organizations, as it is evidently the site of the
Federation Council, as seen in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, as well as Starfleet Academy San Francisco, Earth (“The First
Duty”), the Starfleet Communications Research Center (“Pathfinder”), and Starfleet Headquarters (Star Trek: The Motion Picture);
the commissioning plaques of a handful of warships, such as USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A), USS
Excelsior (NCC-2000), USS Sutherland (NCC-72015), and USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-E), state that they were constructed at the
San Francisco Fleet Yards (also called the San Francisco Yards or the San Francisco Navy Yards), whose precise relationship with
San Francisco is unclear. The European city of Paris, France, is home to the Presidential offices, as seen in Star Trek VI: The
Undiscovered Country. In addition to the San Francisco Fleet Yards, the Solar system also contains Earth Station McKinley, as of
2367 in “Family,” the Copernicus Ship Yards in orbit of Earth’s moon, as of 2365 in “Peak Performance,” and the Utopia Planitia
Fleet Yards in orbit of Mars, as of 2366 in “Booby Trap.” As of 2271, the spaceborne Centroplex was the administrative center of
“the Navy yards,” which were “Starfleet’s largest ship construction and repair facility this side of Antares” in the novelization of
Star Trek: The Motion Picture (these “Navy yards” may be the same as the San Francisco Fleet Yards).
The majority of the evidence points to the Federation Council as the supreme authority of the United Federation. The Council
appears to combine executive, judicial, administrative, and legislative authority in one body, in a fashion superficially similar to the
supreme power of the Romulan Senate. In 2268, the Federation Council convened on Babel to discuss the admission of the Coridan
planets to the United Federation in “Journey to Babel”; this matter demonstrates both diplomatic and legislative powers, as the
Coridan planets were independent states, and the matter ipso facto is a question of interstellar relations, as well as a question of
internal law, regarding as it does the territory and jurisdiction of the United Federation. In 2285, the Federation Council sat in
judgment of then-Rear Admiral James T. Kirk, former Chief of Starfleet Operations, on charge of nine violations of Starfleet
Regulations, and ordered his permanent reduction in grade to captain, as seen in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home; this is interesting in
that it demonstrated functions that normally belong to a court martial (a judicial entity), not a legislature. In 2370, the Federation
Council legislated a speed limit of Warp Five for all vessels in the United Federation, as seen in “Force of Nature.” In 2372, the
Federation Council voted to condemn the Klingon invasion of the Cardassian Union (a diplomatic act), and further voted to provide
foreign aid in the form of twelve industrial replicators to ameliorate the damage to Cardassian industry, in “The Way of the Warrior”
and “For the Cause”; it passed Special Order 66715 in 2374 authorizing Starfleet to “neutralize security threats to Deep Space NINE
by any means necessary” in “Inquisition”; during the Dominion War of 2373 - 2375, the Federation Council voted in 2375 to
withhold the cure to the morphogenic plague from the Founders in “The Dogs of War” and shortly thereafter approved a Starfleet
operation to harvest metaphasic particles from an obscure world in the Briar Patch, in Star Trek: Insurrection.
Membership of the Federation Council is somewhat obscure. In “Journey to Babel,” the conference attendees included Ambassador
Sarek of Vulcan and Ambassador Gav of Tellar, both of whom held diplomatic rank of the highest order, despite representing member
states of the United Federation to a meeting of member states to consider an application for membership. In Star Trek IV: The
Voyage Home, the Federation Council was seen to include approximately thirty individuals, some of whom are uniformed,
commissioned officers of Starfleet (two humans, two Andorians and two Caitians), an extraordinary irregularity which has never been
addressed. In “Rapture,” Bajor was expected to select its delegates to the Federation Council after its admission, while in “Paradise
Lost,” President Jaresh-Inyo, of Grazer, complained that he had been content to represent his people on the Federation Council, and
had not wanted the office of President (Inyo was not the first to have risen to the Presidency after service as a Federation
Councilman; “In a Mirror, Darkly, ” indicates that Admiral (Retired) Jonathan Archer served as a Federation Councilman from 2175
to 2183 before being elected President in 2184). As of 2267, T’Pau was the only person to have declined a seat on the Federation
Council, in “Amok Time.” Although it seems clear that the Federation Council is not a popular chamber – its members represent
states, not populations – it seems incredible that every member state of the United Federation is represented on the Federation
Council, as the size seen in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home would reduce the number of member states to less than thirty. Perhaps
what is seen in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home is actually a presidium empowered to act for the full Federation Council in the
interim period between sessions of the full body?
The chief executive of the United Federation of Planets is the President. Chronologically, the first known President is human Admiral
(Retired) Jonathan Archer, whose biography in “In a Mirror, Darkly, ” states that he served as “President, UFP” from 2184 to 2192.
A balding, bearded human (given the name Hiram Roth in the non-canonical novel Articles of the Federation) was President in 2286
(Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home), but was credited as “Federation Council President”; he is seen only to preside over the Federation
Council in San Francisco. An Efrosian (named Ra-ghoratreii in the non-canonical novelization) was President in 2293 (Star Trek VI:
The Undiscovered Country), and was credited as “Federation President”; unlike the “Federation Council President,” he is seen to act
as a chief executive from his office in Paris, France. He received ambassadors from Vulcan, the Romulan Star Empire, and the Klingon
Empire, and exercised operational control of Starfleet, including the authoritative rejection of Colonel West’s proposed Operation
Retrieve. A Grazerite named Jaresh-Inyo — like Jonathan Archer, a former Federation Councilman — was President in 2372
(“Paradise Lost”); he demonstrated the power to declare and rescind martial law on Earth, and was specifically called Commander in
Chief of Starfleet. It is unclear how the President is chosen; Jaresh-Inyo makes only vague reference to having been asked to submit
his name for election.
It is possible that the President of the United Federation of Planets is also President of the Federation Council. Alternatively, it is
also possible that the two offices are completely separate, and that the seeming contradiction of both the Federation Council and the
President having operational control is caused by Starfleet’s dual scientific and defense mandates; perhaps Starfleet falls under the
Federation Council’s jurisdiction for its scientific and exploratory functions, and under the President’s jurisdiction for its defense and
security functions. In any case, the President is head of the executive branch of the United Federation Government, and is known to
be assisted by a Cabinet; by 2375, Jaresh-Inyo’s Cabinet included at least one agent of Section 31, according to Deputy Director
Luther Sloan in “Extreme Measures.” It is probable that there is a Cabinet level Secretary of Agriculture, based on the mention of
Under Secretary for Agriculture Nilz Baris in 2268 (“The Trouble with Tribbles”).
A Supreme Court was mentioned in “Doctor Bashir, I Presume?” The basis of United Federation jurisprudence is said to include the
Uniform Code of Justice, the Acts of Cumberland (cited by Captain Philippa Louvois in her ruling that Lieutenant Commander Data
was Starfleet property), and the Statutes of Alpha III (which includes the right of the accused to face his or her accuser), from “The
Drumhead,” “The Measure of a Man,” and “Court Martial,” respectively. The United Federation’s judicial system was confirmed to
use grand juries in “The Ascent.” Within Starfleet, courts martial are convened to try allegations of criminal offenses by members of
Starfleet, as seen for example in the appropriately titled “Court Martial,” while courts of inquiry are convened to investigate other
matters, such as in “The First Duty”; nevertheless, the Federation Council has demonstrated its ability to act in place of a court
martial at its discretion (the aforementioned Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home). In one extraordinary irregularity, a court martial
imposed sentence on a civilian malefactor in “Doctor Bashir, I Presume?”, which tends to suggest that a condition of martial law may
have existed. Although United Federation citizens are protected from self-incrimination by the Seventh Guarantee of the Constitution
of the United Federation of Planets, the regular use of invasive telepaths in criminal investigations as seen in “The Drumhead” may
potentially render this legal defense irrelevant; the claim was advanced in “Justice” that capital punishment was no longer justified as
a deterrent to criminal behavior because “we’ve learned how to detect the seeds of criminal behavior.” “Gambit” confirms that despite
this rather bold claim, the 24th century United Federation maintains a prison system, including the use of “rehabilitation colonies” (a
bit of politically correct euphemism; in the 23rd century, no such circumlocution was used, as the Central Bureau of Penology in
Stockholm, Sweden, unflinchingly named its facilities “penal colonies” in “Dagger of the Mind”). The only civilian police agency
known to exist is Federation Security; an officer of Federation Security arrested Commander Leonard H. McCoy, M.D., on Earth
when he attempted to book passage to restricted space in 2285 (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock).
There is only a bare handful of other governmental organs known to exist. Generally speaking, the United Federation tended to have
specialized bureaux in the 23rd century, and gradually shifted to a system of polysynody in the 24th. As of 2268, the Bureau of
Industrialization would mediate industrial disputes when invited by the parties to the dispute (“The Cloud Minders”) and treaties
with non-member states were negotiated by the Bureau of Planetary Treaties (“The Mark of Gideon”), although the Federation
Council also had the authority to make treaties. The Bureau of Press and Information appears briefly in Generations in 2293. In
2370, the Federation Science Council demonstrated the authority to quarantine an entire planet in “Gambit”; the Federation Science
Council also appeared in “Force of Nature,” where it was said to oversee and review scientific research in the United Federation, and
to control the allocation of “science ships” and “research vessels,” which leads one to wonder if the Federation Science Council does
not perhaps control a part of Starfleet’s fleet of exploratory vessels. The Federation Archaeology Council held a symposium on
board USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) in 2367 in “QPid.” The Federation Council on Exobiology is said to have authorized the
Hansen family’s expedition to research the Borg Collective around 2352 or 2353 by “Dark Frontier,” although all knowledge of the
Borg — possibly derived from the El Aurians, who were victims of the Collective’s expansionism — must have been classified, or
else the first contact scenario in 2365 in “Q Who?” would be nonsensical. The Federation Medical Council was mentioned as
awarding the prestigious Carrington Award annually as of 2371 (“Prophet Motive”). The Federation Astronomical Committee is said
to have jurisdiction in matters regarding the naming of spatial phenomena in “Eye of the Needle.” The Federation Diplomatic Corps
was mentioned in “Broken Link” in 2373. In 2375, Luther Sloan, of Section 31, posed as Wendell Greer, assistant director of the
Department of Cartography, an organization responsible for distribution of data regarding traffic patterns, navigational anomalies, and
other irregular phenomena inside United Federation space (“Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges”). In 2373, special agents from the
Department of Temporal Investigations conducted an investigation of possible violation of the Temporal Prime Directive by the crew
of USS Defiant (NCC-74205), as seen in “Trials and Tribble-ations” (the violation coincided with the events of “The Trouble with
Tribbles” in 2268); by the 29th century, this department appears to have developed into the Temporal Integrity Commission, with a
very close working relationship with the Starfleet of that era (“Future’s End”).
In the 23rd century, the United Federation’s shipping and freight was carried by the merchant marine, composed of those spacegoing
vessels owned and operated by civilian authorities (not necessarily affiliated with the government) registered within the United
Federation of Planets (the merchant marine was explicitly mentioned in “The Ultimate Computer”). By its nature, the merchant
marine is a decentralized collective; one particular organization within it is the Merchant Service, which operated Starfleet Academy
washout Captain R. M. Merik’s SS Beagle, a class-4 stardrive survey vessel, in 2262 (“Bread and Circuses”).
In 2267, Captain James T. Kirk described the territorial extent of the United Federation by saying “we’re on a thousand planets and
spreading out” (“Metamorphosis”). In 2369, however, Captain Benjamin L. Sisko claimed that the United Federation consisted of
“over a hundred planets who have allied themselves for mutual scientific, cultural, and defensive benefits” (“Battle Lines”), and by
2373 Captain Jean-Luc Picard claimed that it included “over one hundred and fifty planets spread across eight thousand light years”
(Star Trek: First Contact; due to the vagaries of time travel, Picard actually made this claim in 2063). The drastic difference between
Kirk’s numbers and Sisko’s and Picard’s is probably due to a difference in emphasis; Kirk was very likely talking about the total
number of planets in the United Federation, including colonies, while Sisko and Picard were referring to full members only of the
United Federation (in fact, Kirk may even be referring to Earth and its colonies only, not the rest of the United Federation). Member
states continued to maintain their own colonial holdings as late as 2352, when Turkana IV was an Earth colony (“Legacy”).
Additionally, Star Trek: Insurrection introduced the concept of “Federation protectorates,” which indicates that there is a kind of
state affiliated with the United Federation without being full members (or colonies of full members). As regards its population, it was
projected that the United Federation would suffer some 900 billion casualties before surrendering in the Dominion War in “Statistical
Probabilities”; the basis of this projection is unclear.
As implied by the name, the United Federation’s member states do not surrender their own governmental functions or territorial
integrity, including the possession of colonies (“Legacy”). Surprisingly, however, these member states do not behave like members of
a federal republic but rather as quasi-sovereign entities within a confederate structure. United Earth, for example, one of the founding
members of the United Federation in 2161, maintained its own diplomatic corps and accredited Admiral (Retired) Jonathan Archer as
its ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Andorian Empire — itself a founding member — from 2169 to 2175, before
designating him as its representative in the Federation Council from 2175 to 2183 (“In a Mirror, Darkly”). United Earth also
continued to operate its United Earth Space Probe Agency (UESPA) , which worked closely with the United Federation’s Starfleet,
even serving as one of the operating authorities of USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) during her five-year mission of 2265 - 2270
(“Tomorrow Is Yesterday”); UESPA was credited as one of the main contributors to the construction of USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-
B) as late as 2293 (Star Trek: Generations). Nor is United Earth unique; the Andorian Empire maintained its military/naval service,
the Imperial Guard, as late as 2164(“In a Mirror, Darkly”), and the Vulcan High Command had its own defensive vessels as late as
2367 (“Unification”) and an intelligence service, the V’Shar, under its Minister of Security, Satok, as late as 2370 (“Gambit”). Like
United Earth’s Jonathan Archer, the Vulcan High Command’s Federation Councilman in 2268, Sarek, had ambassadorial rank
(“Journey to Babel”), and like the United Earth/Andorian Empire diplomatic relationship, maintained an embassy on Earth in 2285
(Star Trek III: The Search for Spock), and a United Federation citizen was even able to claim sanctuary from the United Federation
Government there — despite ius legationis being a characteristic of sovereign nations, not members of a federal republic. In fact, in
2293 the Vulcanian Ambassador met with the President alongside the Romulan and Klingon Ambassadors, despite being a
representative of one of the United Federation’s founding members (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country even reveals that
Captain Spock opened negotiations with Gorkon, Chancellor of the High Council of the Klingon Empire, at the Vulcanian
Ambassador’s request, without direction from the President or the Federation Council, revealing a United Federation member to be
conducting foreign policy as an actor in interstellar relations independent of the United Federation Government, using the services of
a Starfleet commissioned officer, no less).
Part II: Culture
The United Federation’s economy is quite unusual, a result no doubt of the development of replicator technology, apparently an
application of "transporter" technology which allows for existing matter to be rearranged at a molecular level into new forms.
Industrial replicators, such as those the Federation Council voted to donate to the Cardassian Union in "For the Cause," have
apparently radically changed the manufacturing industry; the only known manufacturing facilities are extremely specialized, such as
Starfleet’s shipyards, the computer chip factory in Dakar Senegal in “Evolution” and the warp core conduit factory using an
“interphasic fusion” process on Thanatos VII in “Phantasms.” It is so obvious as to be pedantic to say that the fact that
manufacturing has been radically altered in the United Federation does not mean that the necessity for work has been eliminated —
it is with good reason that the economist insists that there is no such thing as a free lunch. Rather, the replicator merely shifts the
emphases of supply and demand. Instead of being employed actually assembling products, most employees will more likely be
system administrators, and maintenance and repair technicians. Indeed, the increased simplification and facilitation of manufacturing
would quite probably actually increase demand, meaning that the overall size and scale of the industry would increase to match; by
its very nature, a larger manufacturing sector requires more infrastructure, more electrical power, and more raw resources, along with
a larger transportation infrastructure to support the increased traffic in materials and goods. The necessity for suitable raw materials
cannot be underestimated in a replicator-based economy. Consequently, the United Federation is known to establish mining
colonies where mining work is known to be carried on from generation to generation, such as Klatus Prime in Mosaic; other known
mining worlds include Rigel XII, said to be a wealthy lithium mining planet mined by three people in “Mudd’s Women”, and Janus
VI, which is said in “The Devil in the Dark” to be rich in pergium, uranium, cerium, platinum, gold, and rare earths.
The uneven distribution of resources is an unavoidable fact; it need not be said that the use of replicator technology would not
eliminate the United Federation’s need to conduct trade with external partners to acquire those materials and goods its own
industrial base cannot provide it. For example, the United Federation offered to negotiate a trade agreement with Barzan II to
acquire the planet’s “rich deposits of trillium-323” in “The Price,” and it delivered medical supplies to Rutia IV, a non-member
planet with a long trading relationship with the United Federation in “The High Ground,” and was forced to procure 108 “kilos” of
hytritium from the Zibalian trader Kivas Fajo to neutralize the tricyanate contamination of the water supply of the United
Federation colony at Beta Agni II in “The Most Toys.” Replicators destabilized a particular vaccine from the non-member planet
Ligon II, and the United Federation was therefore obliged to procure the vaccine directly from its manufacturers outside its own
industrial base in “Code of Honor.” In “Firstborn,” Commander William T. Riker convinced a Yridian trader to exchange a shipment
of magnesite ore (i.e., magnesium carbonate) for half a gram of Anjoran bio-mimetic gel – said to be “rare and quite valuable” in
“Force of Nature,” indicating that replication is obviously unable to produce a satisfactory amount. In “The Enemy,” it was
established that the molecules of Romulan ribosomes are too complex to be replicated. The need for trade is emphasized in “Man of
the People” by the fact that the United Federation even went so far as to intervene in a civil war on non-member Rekag/Seronia
when the intensification of the civil war threatened an important trade route.
It is especially important to emphasize that replicators rearrange matter at a molecular level. Presumably one could use a replicator
to manufacture water from sufficient stores of hydrogen and oxygen, but one cannot achieve the alchemist’s dream of turning lead to
gold; for this reason, precious metals like gold – an element – remain valuable and useable as money, as seen in “The Last Outpost,”
“Captain’s Holiday,” “The Perfect Mate,” and “Past Prologue”; the value of resource-rich worlds like Janus VI becomes
increasingly clear in this context. This further emphasizes the fact that replicators would only increase the need for trade, rather
than decreasing it; without the required elements and other materials, industrial and commercial replicators would be useless.
Furthermore, given that complexity is also a factor in replicative efficacy, as seen with Romulan ribosomes and the vaccine from
Ligon II, the United Federation would still be obligated to trade to acquire goods it cannot provide for itself. It is noteworthy that in
almost every known case, the United Federation exchanges goods of comparable value, or else provides services like military or
technological aid, rather than simply purchasing them with money. This is apparently because the United Federation operates on a
moneyless economy in the 24th century.
“Mudd’s Women,” “The Devil in the Dark,” and “The Trouble with Tribbles” established that money (“credits”) and profit both
exist in the United Federation of the 23rd century; indeed, Harcourt Fenton Mudd was charged with having purchased a space
vessel with counterfeit currency, while the miners on Rigel XII are said to be rich and able to “buy you a whole planet,” and
Captain James T. Kirk tells the miners of Janus VI that they will be “embarrassingly rich.” In Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered
Country, Captain Montgomery Scott remarks that he has just bought a boat, while Commander Leonard H. McCoy, M.D., makes
reference to “paying real money” if General Chang would “shut up.” In Star Trek: Generations, Kirk mentions that he sold his
house years before his disappearance in the Nexus. This information is at a slight variance with then-Admiral Kirk’s good-natured
comment in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home that money is not used in the 23rd century; it should be noted that Kirk’s behavior
throughout the scene is marked by a certain degree of flippancy.
Nevertheless, the novelization of Star Trek: The Motion Picture reveals that in Kirk’s day, “increasingly large number of humans”
were becoming so-called new humans, a purportedly “more highly evolved breed” who replace their individuality with “group
consciousness” by learning “to submerge their own identities into the groups to which they belong.” This ultra-collectivist
movement was already gaining both in numbers and influence, and is known to have been critical of the existing social order,
including Starfleet’s role, mission, and cost. In fact, the Commanding Admiral of Starfleet is known to have had a liaison officer
dedicated specifically to relations with the new humans. Although it has never been stated, it seems quite likely that the new
humans are the source of the collectivist philosophy which becomes increasingly dominant in the United Federation in the 24th
century. It is unclear when precisely the new human attitude (if not the methodology) became dominant, but at some point the
United Federation evidently “abandoned currency-based economics in favor of some philosophy of self-enhancement,” according to
“In the Cards.” This “philosophy of self-enhancement” received its most concise statement in “The Neutral Zone,” when Captain
Jean-Luc Picard haughtily declares that
He repeats this claim in Star Trek: First Contact, when he tells Lily that “money doesn’t exist in the 24th century,” that “the
acquisition of wealth is no longer the driving force in our lives,” and that “we work to better ourselves and the rest of humanity.” In
“Time’s Arrow,” Commander Deanna Troi claimed that “poverty was eliminated a long time ago” and that “hopelessness, despair,
cruelty, war” disappeared with it. In “Dark Frontier,” Brevet Lieutenant Thomas E. Paris claims that “money went the way of the
dinosaur” when “the New World Economy took shape in the late 23rd century” (although his remark can be understood as dating
the beginning of the trend to the late 23rd century, seeing that money was quite clearly still in use in the 23rd century). Even the
vaunted Bank of Bolias was no more than a glorified safety-deposit box, where precious metals like gold could be kept safely
(“Who Mourns for Morn?”) — metals whose value is dependent on their rarity, and would continue to be valuable even in a
replicator-based, moneyless economic system.
Yoyodyne Propulsion Systems has never been mentioned on screen, but has nevertheless been identified as the builder of USS
Hathaway (NCC-2593) in “Peak Performance,” as having worked with the San Francisco Fleet Yards to construct USS Sutherland
(NCC-72015) in “Redemption,” and as having maintained an office in the Promenade of Deep Space NINE in the Deep Space Nine
Companion’s reproduction of the Promenade directory seen throughout Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The probably related
Yoyodyne Division was credited as having worked with the 40 Eridani A Starfleet Construction Yards to construct USS Brattain
(NCC-21166) in “Night Terrors” and USS Phoenix (NCC-65420) in “The Wounded.” Yoyodyne’s existence does not prove that
for-profit corporations exist in the 24th century, as in the first place there is no evidence that it — and with it, the Theoretical
Propulsion Group at Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards (“Booby Trap”) and the Warp Technologies Development Group (“Where No
One Has Gone Before”) — is not simply an organ of the United Federation Government (à la Soviet experimental design bureaux
like OKB-155, the famous Mikoyan-Gurevich team). The same holds true for the Daystrom Institute, parent organization of such
academic bodies as the Daystrom Institute Archaeological Council (“Q-Less”) and the Daystrom Institute of Technology (“Booby
Trap”), which is very likely an independent nonprofit corporation controlled by the United Federation Government (à la United
States Institute of Peace). Indeed, Starfleet commissioned officers held positions within the Daystrom Institute system;
Commander Bruce Maddox held the associate chair of robotics at the Daystrom Technological Institute (“The Measure of a Man”),
and Vice Admiral Anthony Haftel was assigned to duty at the Daystrom Annex on Galor IV in 2366 (“The Offspring”). The
Federation News Network (FNN) and Federation News Service (FNS) sent reporters to cover the launch of USS Enterprise (NCC-
1701-B) in 2293 (Star Trek: Generations). FNS existed as late as the Dominion War of 2373 - 2375 (“Call to Arms,” “A Time to
Stand,” “You Are Cordially Invited...,” “Valiant,” and “Tears of the Prophets”), and offered honest coverage of the war and its
progress. FNS’s continued existence in the 24th century indicates that it was not a for-profit news agency; it is quite possible (and
indeed probable) that it was a state-owned but independent public service broadcaster, a sort of quasi-autonomous public
corporation (à la British Broadcasting Corporation).
The elimination of money and acquisition of material wealth means that the capitalist system has essentially ceased to exist, the
persistence of “petty artisan” forms of private property like the Sisko restaurant in “Paradise Lost” or the Picard family vineyard
in “Chain of Command” notwithstanding; without the ability to receive any sort of profit or even remuneration for investment, the
concept of a privately-owned, for-profit corporation is meaningless. Indeed, the investment of capital is the fundamental
characteristic of “bourgeois” society. Without the investment of capital, capitalism cannot exist; all corporations are non-profit, and
there is very little distinction between private and state-owned corporations — indeed, what is the state if not a very large and
diverse publicly-owned nonprofit corporation? In essence, all ‘shareholders’ of a private corporation (if the term ‘shareholder’ has
any possible meaning in a context without money or capital) are inherently also ‘shareholders’ of the state. The elimination of
money produces a sort of jamāhīrīyah, or mass-state (literally a “commonswealth” or somesuch nonce word), where ownership is
essentially a philosophical concept devoid of any practical meaning.
Without money or the need to pay for services, there is little incentive to work other than basic subsistence; there is even less
incentive to work when replicator technology makes it possible for all citizens to have more or less equal access to material goods
and the same standard of living, provided that sufficient stores of raw materials are available, and that someone else is doing his or
her work to keep the industrial collective operational. Perhaps it is the groupthink philosophy of the new humans which provides a
substitute; perhaps it is profound social and peer pressure which drives individuals in the United Federation to work. In any case,
the spare aesthetic which seems universally favored in the United Federation’s monoculture tends to suggest that conformity exists
to a very high degree, for whatever reason and in response to whatever pressures; there has been little to no suggestion of state
coercion, and all accounts indicate that the vast majority of United Federation citizens embrace the new human philosophy of self-
subordination for the good of society. As there is little to no evidence of dissent within the United Federation proper (leaving aside
the question of the Maquis), one is left to wonder at how precisely this has been accomplished; unfortunately the series give very
little evidence whence to speculate, aside from the triumph of new humanism.
The disappearance of corporate ownership outside the state explains another trend evident in the United Federation in the 24th
century, viz., the evident state control of interstellar transport. Whereas Mudd was charged with using counterfeit currency to
purchase a space craft in “Mudd’s Women,” the vast majority of the evidence from the24th century and onward indicates that the
United Federation Government more or less operates a monopoly on interstellar travel, with “Federation transport ships,” Starfleet-
controlled “colony transport ships,” and Starfleet’s starships apparently the only means of transport between systems, as seen in
such episodes as “Man of the People,” “Violations,” “The Child,” “Manhunt,” “The Ensigns of Command,” “A Matter of
Perspective,” “Galaxy’s Child,” and “Ethics,” while the absence of starships at Starbase 153 forced an emissary to travel in a
converted Class VIII probe in “The Emissary.” Indeed, “The Survivors” reveals that it is not unheard of for an entire United
Federation colony to lack interstellar spacecraft. If the state possesses a de facto monopoly on interstellar transport, then it follows
that the state must also possess a de facto monopoly on the conduct of interstellar trade on behalf of the United Federation, as well
as the interstellar distribution of goods and resources within the United Federation. Simply put, if only the state has ships, then by
definition the state controls all shipping.
Somewhat unrelated to the economical character of the United Federation is its social and familial character. Here, one can see that
the dissolution of the family structure within the United Federation has begun as early as the 23rd century. In the novelization of
Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Kirk explains that his middle name “James” was the name of “my mother’s first love instructor,” an
ambiguous term whose significance is unknown, but seems to be a euphemistic term for a ‘hands on’ sex educator. He says that his
father and “his male forbears followed the old custom of passing along a family identity name,” and that continues to say
Furthermore, Kirk entered into a “basic and simple one-year arrangement” with Vice Admiral Lori Ciana, apparently a sort of one-
year term of marriage during which she had been “lover, friend, wife, mother” to her partner. Evidently, the traditional nuclear
family is very much less important in the 23rd century, although the novelization does not discuss the matter any further.
Subsequently, in “Justice,” Lieutenant Tasha Yar refers to the customs and laws of the Edo (described by LaForge as “wild in some
ways, puritanical in others, neat as pins, ultra-lawful, and making love at the drop of a hat”) as “fairly simple, common sense
things.” In the same episode, Picard considers sending young prepubescent Wesley Crusher ashore to Rubicun III to “evaluate this
world as a place for young people to relax,” a prospect which elicits no concern or objection from his mother despite the Edo’s
known sexually nomadic tendencies. Rubicun III was not the only planet whose culture had such a casual attitude toward sex;
others include Wrigley’s Pleasure Planet (“The Man Trap”) and Risa (“Captain’s Holiday”). Indeed, the concept of a monogamous
relationship seems to have been discarded, the institution of marriage notwithstanding; Troi tells her mother that “humans no longer
own each other that way” in “Manhunt,” while in “The Emissary” Worf described the attitude that a one-night stand was “glorious
and wonderful and all that” but “doesn’t mean anything” as being “a human attitude.”
The evidence essentially signifies that, as of the 24th century, the United Federation has adopted a collectivist society which has
eliminated bourgeois private property and replaced it with a kind of mass-state wherein class distinctions have been more or less
eliminated; the existing family structure has been largely eclipsed by temporary arrangements and free love, except among the more
conservative, self-described “primitive” segments of the population. Transportation at the interstellar scale is essentially a state-
operated industry, rendering trade and distribution essentially impossible outside the state. These characteristics are precisely those
of the socio-economic order proposed as ideal (and indeed claimed to be inevitable) by the 19th century human ideologues Karl
Marx and Friedrich Engels, whose Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei called for the abolition of bourgeois private property, the
establishment of a system of “communal wives” (Weibergemeinschaft), and state control of transportation and communications.
The culture of the United Federation points to what in Marxist political theory is a post-socialist communist society, past the stage
of societal reform whereat the dictatorship of the proletariat would be necessary. The existing evidence establishes the United
Federation as a Marxist communist society.
application of "transporter" technology which allows for existing matter to be rearranged at a molecular level into new forms.
Industrial replicators, such as those the Federation Council voted to donate to the Cardassian Union in "For the Cause," have
apparently radically changed the manufacturing industry; the only known manufacturing facilities are extremely specialized, such as
Starfleet’s shipyards, the computer chip factory in Dakar Senegal in “Evolution” and the warp core conduit factory using an
“interphasic fusion” process on Thanatos VII in “Phantasms.” It is so obvious as to be pedantic to say that the fact that
manufacturing has been radically altered in the United Federation does not mean that the necessity for work has been eliminated —
it is with good reason that the economist insists that there is no such thing as a free lunch. Rather, the replicator merely shifts the
emphases of supply and demand. Instead of being employed actually assembling products, most employees will more likely be
system administrators, and maintenance and repair technicians. Indeed, the increased simplification and facilitation of manufacturing
would quite probably actually increase demand, meaning that the overall size and scale of the industry would increase to match; by
its very nature, a larger manufacturing sector requires more infrastructure, more electrical power, and more raw resources, along with
a larger transportation infrastructure to support the increased traffic in materials and goods. The necessity for suitable raw materials
cannot be underestimated in a replicator-based economy. Consequently, the United Federation is known to establish mining
colonies where mining work is known to be carried on from generation to generation, such as Klatus Prime in Mosaic; other known
mining worlds include Rigel XII, said to be a wealthy lithium mining planet mined by three people in “Mudd’s Women”, and Janus
VI, which is said in “The Devil in the Dark” to be rich in pergium, uranium, cerium, platinum, gold, and rare earths.
The uneven distribution of resources is an unavoidable fact; it need not be said that the use of replicator technology would not
eliminate the United Federation’s need to conduct trade with external partners to acquire those materials and goods its own
industrial base cannot provide it. For example, the United Federation offered to negotiate a trade agreement with Barzan II to
acquire the planet’s “rich deposits of trillium-323” in “The Price,” and it delivered medical supplies to Rutia IV, a non-member
planet with a long trading relationship with the United Federation in “The High Ground,” and was forced to procure 108 “kilos” of
hytritium from the Zibalian trader Kivas Fajo to neutralize the tricyanate contamination of the water supply of the United
Federation colony at Beta Agni II in “The Most Toys.” Replicators destabilized a particular vaccine from the non-member planet
Ligon II, and the United Federation was therefore obliged to procure the vaccine directly from its manufacturers outside its own
industrial base in “Code of Honor.” In “Firstborn,” Commander William T. Riker convinced a Yridian trader to exchange a shipment
of magnesite ore (i.e., magnesium carbonate) for half a gram of Anjoran bio-mimetic gel – said to be “rare and quite valuable” in
“Force of Nature,” indicating that replication is obviously unable to produce a satisfactory amount. In “The Enemy,” it was
established that the molecules of Romulan ribosomes are too complex to be replicated. The need for trade is emphasized in “Man of
the People” by the fact that the United Federation even went so far as to intervene in a civil war on non-member Rekag/Seronia
when the intensification of the civil war threatened an important trade route.
It is especially important to emphasize that replicators rearrange matter at a molecular level. Presumably one could use a replicator
to manufacture water from sufficient stores of hydrogen and oxygen, but one cannot achieve the alchemist’s dream of turning lead to
gold; for this reason, precious metals like gold – an element – remain valuable and useable as money, as seen in “The Last Outpost,”
“Captain’s Holiday,” “The Perfect Mate,” and “Past Prologue”; the value of resource-rich worlds like Janus VI becomes
increasingly clear in this context. This further emphasizes the fact that replicators would only increase the need for trade, rather
than decreasing it; without the required elements and other materials, industrial and commercial replicators would be useless.
Furthermore, given that complexity is also a factor in replicative efficacy, as seen with Romulan ribosomes and the vaccine from
Ligon II, the United Federation would still be obligated to trade to acquire goods it cannot provide for itself. It is noteworthy that in
almost every known case, the United Federation exchanges goods of comparable value, or else provides services like military or
technological aid, rather than simply purchasing them with money. This is apparently because the United Federation operates on a
moneyless economy in the 24th century.
“Mudd’s Women,” “The Devil in the Dark,” and “The Trouble with Tribbles” established that money (“credits”) and profit both
exist in the United Federation of the 23rd century; indeed, Harcourt Fenton Mudd was charged with having purchased a space
vessel with counterfeit currency, while the miners on Rigel XII are said to be rich and able to “buy you a whole planet,” and
Captain James T. Kirk tells the miners of Janus VI that they will be “embarrassingly rich.” In Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered
Country, Captain Montgomery Scott remarks that he has just bought a boat, while Commander Leonard H. McCoy, M.D., makes
reference to “paying real money” if General Chang would “shut up.” In Star Trek: Generations, Kirk mentions that he sold his
house years before his disappearance in the Nexus. This information is at a slight variance with then-Admiral Kirk’s good-natured
comment in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home that money is not used in the 23rd century; it should be noted that Kirk’s behavior
throughout the scene is marked by a certain degree of flippancy.
Nevertheless, the novelization of Star Trek: The Motion Picture reveals that in Kirk’s day, “increasingly large number of humans”
were becoming so-called new humans, a purportedly “more highly evolved breed” who replace their individuality with “group
consciousness” by learning “to submerge their own identities into the groups to which they belong.” This ultra-collectivist
movement was already gaining both in numbers and influence, and is known to have been critical of the existing social order,
including Starfleet’s role, mission, and cost. In fact, the Commanding Admiral of Starfleet is known to have had a liaison officer
dedicated specifically to relations with the new humans. Although it has never been stated, it seems quite likely that the new
humans are the source of the collectivist philosophy which becomes increasingly dominant in the United Federation in the 24th
century. It is unclear when precisely the new human attitude (if not the methodology) became dominant, but at some point the
United Federation evidently “abandoned currency-based economics in favor of some philosophy of self-enhancement,” according to
“In the Cards.” This “philosophy of self-enhancement” received its most concise statement in “The Neutral Zone,” when Captain
Jean-Luc Picard haughtily declares that
- A lot has changed in the last three hundred years. People are no longer obsessed by the accumulation of things. We have
eliminated hunger, want, the need for possessions. We’ve grown out of our infancy.
He repeats this claim in Star Trek: First Contact, when he tells Lily that “money doesn’t exist in the 24th century,” that “the
acquisition of wealth is no longer the driving force in our lives,” and that “we work to better ourselves and the rest of humanity.” In
“Time’s Arrow,” Commander Deanna Troi claimed that “poverty was eliminated a long time ago” and that “hopelessness, despair,
cruelty, war” disappeared with it. In “Dark Frontier,” Brevet Lieutenant Thomas E. Paris claims that “money went the way of the
dinosaur” when “the New World Economy took shape in the late 23rd century” (although his remark can be understood as dating
the beginning of the trend to the late 23rd century, seeing that money was quite clearly still in use in the 23rd century). Even the
vaunted Bank of Bolias was no more than a glorified safety-deposit box, where precious metals like gold could be kept safely
(“Who Mourns for Morn?”) — metals whose value is dependent on their rarity, and would continue to be valuable even in a
replicator-based, moneyless economic system.
Yoyodyne Propulsion Systems has never been mentioned on screen, but has nevertheless been identified as the builder of USS
Hathaway (NCC-2593) in “Peak Performance,” as having worked with the San Francisco Fleet Yards to construct USS Sutherland
(NCC-72015) in “Redemption,” and as having maintained an office in the Promenade of Deep Space NINE in the Deep Space Nine
Companion’s reproduction of the Promenade directory seen throughout Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The probably related
Yoyodyne Division was credited as having worked with the 40 Eridani A Starfleet Construction Yards to construct USS Brattain
(NCC-21166) in “Night Terrors” and USS Phoenix (NCC-65420) in “The Wounded.” Yoyodyne’s existence does not prove that
for-profit corporations exist in the 24th century, as in the first place there is no evidence that it — and with it, the Theoretical
Propulsion Group at Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards (“Booby Trap”) and the Warp Technologies Development Group (“Where No
One Has Gone Before”) — is not simply an organ of the United Federation Government (à la Soviet experimental design bureaux
like OKB-155, the famous Mikoyan-Gurevich team). The same holds true for the Daystrom Institute, parent organization of such
academic bodies as the Daystrom Institute Archaeological Council (“Q-Less”) and the Daystrom Institute of Technology (“Booby
Trap”), which is very likely an independent nonprofit corporation controlled by the United Federation Government (à la United
States Institute of Peace). Indeed, Starfleet commissioned officers held positions within the Daystrom Institute system;
Commander Bruce Maddox held the associate chair of robotics at the Daystrom Technological Institute (“The Measure of a Man”),
and Vice Admiral Anthony Haftel was assigned to duty at the Daystrom Annex on Galor IV in 2366 (“The Offspring”). The
Federation News Network (FNN) and Federation News Service (FNS) sent reporters to cover the launch of USS Enterprise (NCC-
1701-B) in 2293 (Star Trek: Generations). FNS existed as late as the Dominion War of 2373 - 2375 (“Call to Arms,” “A Time to
Stand,” “You Are Cordially Invited...,” “Valiant,” and “Tears of the Prophets”), and offered honest coverage of the war and its
progress. FNS’s continued existence in the 24th century indicates that it was not a for-profit news agency; it is quite possible (and
indeed probable) that it was a state-owned but independent public service broadcaster, a sort of quasi-autonomous public
corporation (à la British Broadcasting Corporation).
The elimination of money and acquisition of material wealth means that the capitalist system has essentially ceased to exist, the
persistence of “petty artisan” forms of private property like the Sisko restaurant in “Paradise Lost” or the Picard family vineyard
in “Chain of Command” notwithstanding; without the ability to receive any sort of profit or even remuneration for investment, the
concept of a privately-owned, for-profit corporation is meaningless. Indeed, the investment of capital is the fundamental
characteristic of “bourgeois” society. Without the investment of capital, capitalism cannot exist; all corporations are non-profit, and
there is very little distinction between private and state-owned corporations — indeed, what is the state if not a very large and
diverse publicly-owned nonprofit corporation? In essence, all ‘shareholders’ of a private corporation (if the term ‘shareholder’ has
any possible meaning in a context without money or capital) are inherently also ‘shareholders’ of the state. The elimination of
money produces a sort of jamāhīrīyah, or mass-state (literally a “commonswealth” or somesuch nonce word), where ownership is
essentially a philosophical concept devoid of any practical meaning.
Without money or the need to pay for services, there is little incentive to work other than basic subsistence; there is even less
incentive to work when replicator technology makes it possible for all citizens to have more or less equal access to material goods
and the same standard of living, provided that sufficient stores of raw materials are available, and that someone else is doing his or
her work to keep the industrial collective operational. Perhaps it is the groupthink philosophy of the new humans which provides a
substitute; perhaps it is profound social and peer pressure which drives individuals in the United Federation to work. In any case,
the spare aesthetic which seems universally favored in the United Federation’s monoculture tends to suggest that conformity exists
to a very high degree, for whatever reason and in response to whatever pressures; there has been little to no suggestion of state
coercion, and all accounts indicate that the vast majority of United Federation citizens embrace the new human philosophy of self-
subordination for the good of society. As there is little to no evidence of dissent within the United Federation proper (leaving aside
the question of the Maquis), one is left to wonder at how precisely this has been accomplished; unfortunately the series give very
little evidence whence to speculate, aside from the triumph of new humanism.
The disappearance of corporate ownership outside the state explains another trend evident in the United Federation in the 24th
century, viz., the evident state control of interstellar transport. Whereas Mudd was charged with using counterfeit currency to
purchase a space craft in “Mudd’s Women,” the vast majority of the evidence from the24th century and onward indicates that the
United Federation Government more or less operates a monopoly on interstellar travel, with “Federation transport ships,” Starfleet-
controlled “colony transport ships,” and Starfleet’s starships apparently the only means of transport between systems, as seen in
such episodes as “Man of the People,” “Violations,” “The Child,” “Manhunt,” “The Ensigns of Command,” “A Matter of
Perspective,” “Galaxy’s Child,” and “Ethics,” while the absence of starships at Starbase 153 forced an emissary to travel in a
converted Class VIII probe in “The Emissary.” Indeed, “The Survivors” reveals that it is not unheard of for an entire United
Federation colony to lack interstellar spacecraft. If the state possesses a de facto monopoly on interstellar transport, then it follows
that the state must also possess a de facto monopoly on the conduct of interstellar trade on behalf of the United Federation, as well
as the interstellar distribution of goods and resources within the United Federation. Simply put, if only the state has ships, then by
definition the state controls all shipping.
Somewhat unrelated to the economical character of the United Federation is its social and familial character. Here, one can see that
the dissolution of the family structure within the United Federation has begun as early as the 23rd century. In the novelization of
Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Kirk explains that his middle name “James” was the name of “my mother’s first love instructor,” an
ambiguous term whose significance is unknown, but seems to be a euphemistic term for a ‘hands on’ sex educator. He says that his
father and “his male forbears followed the old custom of passing along a family identity name,” and that continues to say
- This is not trivial information. For example, the fact that I use an old-fashioned male surname says a lot about both me and the
service to which I belong. Although the male-surname custom has become rare among humans elsewhere, it remains a fairly
common thing among those of us in Starfleet. We are a highly conservative and strongly individualistic group. The old customs
die hard with us.
Furthermore, Kirk entered into a “basic and simple one-year arrangement” with Vice Admiral Lori Ciana, apparently a sort of one-
year term of marriage during which she had been “lover, friend, wife, mother” to her partner. Evidently, the traditional nuclear
family is very much less important in the 23rd century, although the novelization does not discuss the matter any further.
Subsequently, in “Justice,” Lieutenant Tasha Yar refers to the customs and laws of the Edo (described by LaForge as “wild in some
ways, puritanical in others, neat as pins, ultra-lawful, and making love at the drop of a hat”) as “fairly simple, common sense
things.” In the same episode, Picard considers sending young prepubescent Wesley Crusher ashore to Rubicun III to “evaluate this
world as a place for young people to relax,” a prospect which elicits no concern or objection from his mother despite the Edo’s
known sexually nomadic tendencies. Rubicun III was not the only planet whose culture had such a casual attitude toward sex;
others include Wrigley’s Pleasure Planet (“The Man Trap”) and Risa (“Captain’s Holiday”). Indeed, the concept of a monogamous
relationship seems to have been discarded, the institution of marriage notwithstanding; Troi tells her mother that “humans no longer
own each other that way” in “Manhunt,” while in “The Emissary” Worf described the attitude that a one-night stand was “glorious
and wonderful and all that” but “doesn’t mean anything” as being “a human attitude.”
The evidence essentially signifies that, as of the 24th century, the United Federation has adopted a collectivist society which has
eliminated bourgeois private property and replaced it with a kind of mass-state wherein class distinctions have been more or less
eliminated; the existing family structure has been largely eclipsed by temporary arrangements and free love, except among the more
conservative, self-described “primitive” segments of the population. Transportation at the interstellar scale is essentially a state-
operated industry, rendering trade and distribution essentially impossible outside the state. These characteristics are precisely those
of the socio-economic order proposed as ideal (and indeed claimed to be inevitable) by the 19th century human ideologues Karl
Marx and Friedrich Engels, whose Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei called for the abolition of bourgeois private property, the
establishment of a system of “communal wives” (Weibergemeinschaft), and state control of transportation and communications.
The culture of the United Federation points to what in Marxist political theory is a post-socialist communist society, past the stage
of societal reform whereat the dictatorship of the proletariat would be necessary. The existing evidence establishes the United
Federation as a Marxist communist society.
Part III: Starfleet
Starfleet is the scientific, exploratory, and defensive arm of the United Federation of Planets, and probably the single largest and
most important organization within the United Federation Government; it was first mentioned in “Court Martial.” Its operating
authority derives from the Starfleet Charter (“Inquisition”). In addition to its spacegoing functions, Starfleet also appears to be the
parent organization for the United Federation’s rarely-seen surface warfare forces, such as the marines seen in Star Trek V: The
Final Frontier and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, or the special operations Rangers mentioned in Mosaic. The competing
demands of Starfleet’s primary goals has led to conflicts of interest within the organization, and the decision was apparently made in
the late 23rd century to emphasize scientific and exploratory functions at the expense of military/naval operations, partially to
appease the vocal new human groups and others within the United Federation (as seen in the novelization of Star Trek: The Motion
Picture and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country).
Starfleet apparently falls under the jurisdiction of both the Federation Council and the President, and some segments of the
organization may be controlled by the Federation Science Council. It is possible that the multiplicity of governing authorities stems
from Starfleet’s multiple mandates, a weakness that undermines the important principle of unity of command. Starfleet is centrally
organized and administered from Starfleet Headquarters, located in San Francisco, California (the novelization of Star Trek: The
Motion Picture mentions that Starfleet Headquarters is also called “Fleet Headquarters” and “the Admiralty,” seemingly with equal
frequency — a peculiarly casual attitude toward names that is seen elsewhere in Starfleet).
The principal uniformed officer of Starfleet is the Commanding Admiral of Starfleet, as mentioned in the novelization of Star Trek:
The Motion Picture (the specific title “Commanding Admiral of Starfleet” has never been mentioned on screen). As head of the
largest organ of the United Federation Government, the Commanding Admiral has some additional responsibilities not commonly
found in the uniformed head of a military/naval branch; at the time of the Vejur incident in 2273, the Commanding Admiral had a
“zeno-psychologist” on his staff who was “in charge of Starfleet Command’s relationships with non-human species” and his
“personal representative to the new human groups here at home.” The nature of the relationship between the Commanding Admiral
and Starfleet Command and these groups is not clarified. The novelization indicates that the Commanding Admiral has ultimate
responsibility for overseeing the defense of Earth in the event of an attack. Starfleet Command appears to refer to the Office of the
Commanding Admiral (the entire apparatus vice the billet), and is, strictly speaking, not synonymous with Starfleet Headquarters.
To wit, Starfleet Command is the organization that is located at the Starfleet Headquarters office complex. As with Starfleet
Headquarters itself, Starfleet Command also has other names; in the late 2260s, it was also called Starfleet Control (“Tomorrow is
Yesterday”) and Spacefleet Command (“The Squire of Gothos”).
At the time of the Vejur incident in 2273, the Commanding Admiral was Admiral Heihachiro Nogura (novelization of Star Trek: The
Motion Picture); because Nogura never appeared on screen in Star Trek: The Motion Picture itself, his specific grade of admiral is not
known. In 2285, Fleet Admiral Harry Morrow appears to have assumed the office, but is actually referred to on screen as “Starfleet
Commander Morrow” or simply “Starfleet Commander” (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock). By 2293, a fleet admiral named Bill
(given the surname Smillie in the non-canonical novelization of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country) was introduced by an aide
as “the C in C,” and credited as “Chief In Command” (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country). It is probable that these three
titles are synonymous, reflecting the same relaxed attitude toward names as Starfleet Headquarters/Fleet Headquarters/the Admiralty
and Starfleet Command/Starfleet Control/Spacefleet Command themselves. According to the novelization of Star Trek: The Motion
Picture, the Commanding Admiral is assisted by two separate staffs, the Commanding Admiral’s Staff and the Science Staff
(presumably, the former acts as a general staff responsible for Starfleet’s defense and security functions, while the latter oversees its
scientific and exploratory functions).
According to “In a Mirror, Darkly,” Admiral Jonathan Archer held the position of “Chief of Staff, Starfleet Command” before his
retirement from Starfleet; this must have taken place some time between 2160 (when he stood relieved as Commanding Officer,
Enterprise (NX-01), in United Earth’s own Starfleet) and 2169 (when he presented his credentials as “Ambassador to Andoria,”
after which he served as a Federation Councilman from 2175 to 2183, then as “President, UFP” from 2184 to 2192). Strictly
speaking, he may have either been Chief of the Commanding Admiral’s Staff, or merely chief of staff of Starfleet Command itself. In
2287, a fleet admiral named Bob (commonly but non-canonically known as Robert Bennett) and credited as “Starfleet Chief of Staff”
ordered USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A) to proceed to Nimbus III to resolve a hostage situation there involving a United Federation
Ambassador, St. John Talbot (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier). Admiral Les Landau was “Chief of Staff, Starfleet” in 2345 (“Night
Terrors”). Admiral Gene Roddenberry was identified as being “Chief of Staff, Starfleet” in 2363 and 2367 (“The Wounded” and
“Redemption,” respectively) and simply “Chief of Staff” in 2370, 2371, 2372, 2373, and 2375 (“The Search,” “Caretaker,” Star
Trek: First Contact, “Valiant,” “Message in a Bottle,” and “The Dogs of War,” respectively); he was apparently Chief of Staff for a
period of at least 12 years, 2363 to 2375 (which does not appear to be an unusual period for an officer to remain in one grade or
billet in the Starfleet of the 24th century).
The Chief of Staff’s particular role vis-à-vis that of the Commanding Admiral is unclear; as hitherto observed, the Chief of Staff was
probably Chief of the Commanding Admiral’s Staff (which had operational responsibility for Starfleet’s naval functions; this would
explain why Bob gives operational orders in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier). However, in 2372, the Dominion’s agent Weyoun
offered in “Apocalypse Rising” to install Captain Benjamin L. Sisko as ruler of the Federation with “no President or Starfleet Chief
of Staff,” which may indicate that the position of Commanding Admiral was abolished when the naval role was de-emphasized
following the Khitomer Accords of 2293, making the Chief of Staff the principal naval officer of Starfleet (alternatively, it could be
simply that Weyoun was not fully familiar with Starfleet’s organization, and may have simply not known about the Commanding
Admiral).
The third most important senior officer known within Starfleet Command is the Chief of Starfleet Operations, whom the
novelization of Star Trek: The Motion Picture specifically describes as the member of the Commanding Admiral’s Staff responsible
for fleet deployments and disposition. Rear Admiral James T. Kirk served as Chief of Starfleet Operations from 2270 to 2272,
whereupon he voluntarily received a temporary reduction in rank to relieve Captain Willard Decker as Commanding Officer, USS
Enterprise (NCC-1701) during the Vejur incident of 2272 (Star Trek: The Motion Picture); he went on to serve as Superintendent of
Starfleet Academy San Francisco, Earth by 2285 (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan). The only other officer known to have served in
this important billet (i.e., Chief of Starfleet Operations, not Superintendent of Starfleet Academy San Francisco, Earth) is Vice
Admiral Leyton, who was CSO in 2372 (“Homefront”). Leyton was involved in an attempted Starfleet coup d’état during the
Dominion War, using the threat of Changeling infiltration to buffalo President Jaresh-Inyo into declaring martial law, and resigned his
commission after the truth of his plotting was revealed (“Paradise Lost”).
Starfleet appears to be organized according to the old bureau system, whereby each bureau has nearly total control over the matters
within its competence and each bureau chief acts manages his bureau’s affairs independently of his fellows. The various bureaux of
Starfleet that have been identified include Starfleet Command (“Court Martial”), Starfleet Security (“The Drumhead”), Starfleet
Intelligence (“Chain of Command”), Starfleet Research (“The Offspring”), Starfleet Tactical (“The Best of Both Worlds”), Starfleet
Medical (“Ethics”), Starfleet Dental (“Paradise Lost”), Starfleet Communications (“Pathfinder”), the Judge Advocate General’s
Office (“Court Martial,” “The Measure of a Man”), Terraform Command (“Home Soil”), Starbase Command (“Remember Me”),
Colony Operations (“The Survivors”) and Starfleet Training Command, parent command of Starfleet Academy San Francisco, Earth
(Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan) and presumably also the enlisted Starfleet Technical Services Academy, Mars (“Eye of the
Beholder”). The relatively useless function of providing tourist information was provided by the Starfleet Bureau of Information in
the 2370s (“Little Green Men” and “Change of Heart”), and an investigation into the disappearance of certain Starfleet personnel at
Utopia Planitia Shipyards was conducted by OSHC in 2362 (“Eye of the Beholder”). In 2374, Luther Sloan (an agent of the rogue
Section 31 secret police) claimed to be Deputy Director of the Department of Internal Affairs (“Inquisition”).
Dedication plaques on board Starfleet’s starships mention Fleet Operations (“The Wounded,” Star Trek: Generations) and Fleet
Ops (“All Good Things...”), Exploration Division (“The Wounded”), Mission Operations (“The Wounded,” “Night Terrors”),
Office of Science Ops (Star Trek: Generations) and Science Ops (“Caretaker”), Research & Development (“The Wounded,” “Night
Terrors”) and Research & Dev. (“Caretaker,” First Contact), Warp Technologies Development Group (“Encounter at Farpoint”),
Propulsion Sys. (Star Trek: First Contact), Stellar Imaging Div. (“The Wounded,” “Night Terrors”), Orbital Operations (“The
Wounded,” “Night Terrors”), Fleet Yards Operations (“The Wounded,” “Night Terrors”) and Yard Engineers (“Encounter at
Farpoint,” “Caretaker”), and Spaceframe Devel. (Star Trek: First Contact). One finds that three agencies in particular are especially
bad at having multiple names: There have been references to the Starfleet Corps of Engineers (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan),
Engineering Group (“Encounter at Farpoint”), Engineering Div. (“All Good Things...”), Engineering Division (Generations), and
Starfleet Engineering (“When It Rains...”), to Tactical Command (“The Wounded,” “Night Terrors”), Tactical Sys. (“All Good
Things...”), Tactical Unit (Star Trek: Generations), and Tactical Operations (“Caretaker”), and to Advanced Technologies Group
(“Encounter at Farpoint”), Advanced Technologies Div. (“The Wounded,” “Night Terrors”), Advanced Tech. (“All Good
Things...”), and Advanced Technologies (Star Trek: Generations). A log of personnel assignments ordered by the Chief of Starfleet
Operations from Stardate 49355 to 49365 was seen in “Paradise Lost,” in which it lists the following notable assignments:
“Facilities, Starfleet Command,” “Combat Information Center,” “Engineering Operations,” “Fleet Supply Office,” “Strategic
Operations,” “Planetary Defense Systems,” “Administrative Operations,” “Personnel Deployment,” “Tactical Operations, Earth,”
and “Ombudsman.”
Only a handful of bureau chiefs and other senior officers have actually been seen or mentioned on screen. Vice Admiral Thomas
Henry was Chief of Starfleet Security in 2367 (“The Drumhead”), while Admiral Raner was his relief by 2370 (“The Pegasus”); in
2372, the Chief of Starfleet Operations named Captain Benjamin L. Sisko as Acting Chief of Starfleet Security (“Homefront”).
According to Rear Admiral Erik Pressman, the Chief of Starfleet Intelligence was a woman in 2370 (“The Pegasus”); Vice Admiral
Fujisaki, the Deputy Chief of Starfleet Intelligence, died in 2374 of food poisoning, according to Luther Sloan (“Inter Arma Enim
Silent Leges”). In 2373, Rear Admiral Bennett (who wore the rank insignia of an admiral) served as Judge Advocate General of
Starfleet (“Doctor Bashir, I Presume?”). The only other senior officers with known positions all served as Superintendent of
Starfleet Academy San Francisco, Earth; Rear Admiral James T. Kirk, a former Chief of Starfleet Operations, was Superintendent in
2285 (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan), Rear Admiral Brand was seen to hold the post from 2368 to 2370 at least (“The First
Duty,” “Journey’s End”), and an unnamed Bolian rear admiral held the post in 2372 (“Paradise Lost”).
Starfleet’s operational forces tend to operate as lone starships on long-range patrols or long-term exploratory/scientific missions.
Most groupings of starships tend to be ad hoc task forces, such as that assembled by Vice Admiral J. P. Hanson in 2366 to intercept
the Borg cube at Wolf 359 (“The Best of Both Worlds”) or to interdict suspected Romulan interference in a Klingon civil war in
2367 (“Redemption”). As early as the 2270s, Starfleet had come to rely heavily on its long-range early-warning systems (EWS) to
allow it time to mobilized its defenses; faced with a threat very much faster than the usual forces of the Klingon Empire or Romulan
Star Empire, Starfleet could be rendered impotent without a fight, as seen during the Vejur incident (Star Trek: The Motion Picture).
Ninety years later, the Borg attempts to assimilate Earth in 2366 and 2373 revealed more or less the same reliance on EWS, albeit
with improved detection and response times (“The Best of Both Worlds,” Star Trek: First Contact). As to be expected from an
organization with such a strong emphasis on EWS, Starfleet is known to have deployed a large number of subspace listening posts,
gravitic sensors, and possibly even a tachyon detection grid along the Romulan Neutral Zone to detect cloaked ship movements in
time to allow suitable intercepting forces to be mobilized (“Face of the Enemy”). Unfortunately, the improvements in EWS led to
overreliance; Earth’s defenses in 2272 consisted of “Earth and lunar firepower and powerful forcefield protection” and various
“computer systems” (novelization of Star Trek: The Motion Picture), while in 2366 it consisted of the perfunctory Mars Defense
Perimeter, three unmanned drones (“The Best of Both Worlds”).
Starfleet does, however, maintain numbered fleets, which featured prominently in the Dominion War (2373 - 2375):
The deployment of these fleets serves as a useful reflection of Starfleet’s and the United Federation’s estimations of relative
importance and strategic value. For example, before the launch of Operation Return in 2374, Second Fleet was stationed in the
Kotanka system and Fifth Fleet was deployed along the Vulcanian border; when Admiral William J. Ross, Starfleet’s senior
operational commander during the war, approved Return, Second and Fifth Fleets were redeployed in preparation fro the recapture
of Deep Space NINE, while Third Fleet was reassigned to Earth. That same year, Tenth Fleet was assigned to defend Betazed and
its colonies, but was out of position on maneuvers when the planet fell to the Dominion. Seventh Fleet suffered catastrophic losses
in the Tyra system, losing 98 out of 112 ships to the Jem’Hadar forces of the Dominion, and then subsequently suffering heavy
losses at Sybaron, leaving it at half-strength when sent to intercept Dominion forces at the Tibor Nebula; the fact that Starfleet
repeatedly sent a badly undermanned fleet into battle demonstrates the importance it placed on responding to Dominion aggression
(and simultaneously demonstrates the necessity of initiative in war). In 2375, Seventh Fleet was assigned to launch an offensive in
the Kalandra sector, and Sixth Fleet was redeployed from the Bolian front. It is worth noting, of course, that Earth, Vulcan, and
Betazed all had fleets assigned to defend them, reminding one of the descrpition of Andor, Vulcan, Berengaria, and Earth as being
among the most important of the “core Federation worlds.”
Presumably, numbered fleets fall under the command of vice admirals. Otherwise, flag officers are almost always seen to be shore-
duty officers commanding Starbases or other space facilities like shipyards. Presumably these officers have operational command
over areas of responsibility (AORs) surrounding their respective commands, or else it would make little sense to place an actual flag
officer in command instead of a port admiral. Other flag officers have been seen to command task forces, task groups, and task
elements on an ad hoc basis (although other squadrons have been commanded by post captains acting as commodores in the absence
of flag officers or substantive commodores). Starbases are typically actual space stations, but Starbase ELEVEN was a surface
installation in 2267 (“Court Martial”); nevertheless they generally serve as administrative and support centers designed to
effectively control and maintain the widely dispersed operating forces of Starfleet (hence the practice of having admirals
commanding Starbases; they easily wear a second hat as regional commanders in chief). Starbases are major hubs in Starfleet’s
supply and maintenance system, as well as very likely serving as major nodes in the United Federation’s subspace communications
network, which provides faster-than-light communications (there are other spaceborne communications/sensor facilities, such as the
long-range sensor outpost and EWS station Epsilon NINE; these facilities do not begin to approach the cardinal status held by
Starbases, and Epsilon NINE was commanded by a lieutenant commander in Star Trek: The Motion Picture).
According to the novelization of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Starfleet commanding officers were required to receive senceiver
implants in the 2270s; these were mechanical devices implanted into their brains which allowed Starfleet Command to contact them
in emergencies and immediately transmit visual information to them; the phantasmagoria induced by senceivers was clear enough
that Rear Admiral James T. Kirk was able to visually identify a Klingon K’t’inga-class heavy cruiser. At the time of the Vejur
incident, the existence of the senceiver implant was still classified secret, out of concern that the public might “mistakenly” believe
they were a sort of mind-control device, a concept closely associated with the “politicalizing of behavior-control implants” that had
resulted in “the bloody Mind Control Revolts of 2043-47.” This potential bad press was only one of Starfleet’s troubles at the time;
more troublesome was the long-standing Cold War with the Klingon Empire (the Treaty of Organia imposed in 2267 in “Errand of
Mercy” notwithstanding). The new humans on Earth had become “increasingly critical of Starfleet’s cost, of Starfleet’s aims, and of
its value,” criticisms no doubt leveled at its conduct of the Cold War, which featured a good deal of saber-rattling. With the opening
of peace talks with Gorkon, Chancellor of the High Council of the Klingon Empire, in 2293, a group of hardliners led by Fleet
Admiral Cartwright objected to the possibility that détente would result in the dismantling of Starfleet’s naval functions
(“mothballing the Fleet”). When the decision to go forward with the peace talks was made, Cartwright and Colonel West became
involved in a conspiracy with Gorkon’s treacherous chief of staff, General Chang, that resulted in the assassination of the Chancellor
and the attempted assassination of the President, hoping to prolong the Cold War or even provoke outright hostilities. The resulting
scandal appears to have combined with the success of the Khitomer Peace Accords of 2293 (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered
Country) to make possible the triumph of new human pressure; Starfleet’s defensive and security mandate was de-emphasized in
favor of its scientific and exploratory mandates. By the 24th century, Starfleet was almost totally demilitarized.
Consequently, Starfleet performed very badly in a series of lengthy, difficult border conflicts with second- and third-rate regional
powers, despite its technological advantages and individual superiority in ship-to-ship actions. Starfleet blundered its way through
wars with the Talarian Republic in the late 2350s (“Suddenly Human”), the Tzenkethi Coalition some time in the mid 2360s (“The
Adversary,” “Paradise Lost”), and the Cardassian Union throughout the 2350s and 2360s (“The Wounded”). The latter war was so
long and brutal that it left lasting scars on Starfleet for years to come; the United Federation signed the disadvantageous Federation-
Cardassian Treaty of 2370 (“Journey’s End”), which even ceded United Federation colony worlds to the statist Cardassian Union
and erected a Demilitarized Zone between them. Starfleet would subsequently contort itself to great lengths to avoid provoking a
resumption of hostilities. Nevertheless, Starfleet continued to maintain its unmilitary attitude. In 2365, Captain Jean-Luc Picard —
Commanding Officer, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) — earnestly explained to Zakdorn Master Strategist Sirna Kolrami that
“Starfleet is not a military organization” while his Executive Officer, Commander William T. Riker, opined that “it’s a waste of time
to test our combat skills — it’s a minor province in the makeup of a starship captain” (“Peak Performance”). In Mosaic, Captain
Kathryn Janeway tells a superior officer that Starfleet is “not, strictly speaking, a military organization” and that “tactical functions,
weapons checks, battle drills – those are activities I consider low-priority”; she even went so far as to assert that “as long as I am
assured that we are at the ready in the case of attack, I see no need to spend large amounts of time drilling the crew in the mechanics
of war.” These officers’ opinions indicate an extremely dangerous attitude toward training, which was reflected in performance.
Starfleet’s schizophrenic self-image was clearly responsible for its embarrassing performance in the United Federation’s string of
banana wars.
See also:
References:
most important organization within the United Federation Government; it was first mentioned in “Court Martial.” Its operating
authority derives from the Starfleet Charter (“Inquisition”). In addition to its spacegoing functions, Starfleet also appears to be the
parent organization for the United Federation’s rarely-seen surface warfare forces, such as the marines seen in Star Trek V: The
Final Frontier and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, or the special operations Rangers mentioned in Mosaic. The competing
demands of Starfleet’s primary goals has led to conflicts of interest within the organization, and the decision was apparently made in
the late 23rd century to emphasize scientific and exploratory functions at the expense of military/naval operations, partially to
appease the vocal new human groups and others within the United Federation (as seen in the novelization of Star Trek: The Motion
Picture and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country).
Starfleet apparently falls under the jurisdiction of both the Federation Council and the President, and some segments of the
organization may be controlled by the Federation Science Council. It is possible that the multiplicity of governing authorities stems
from Starfleet’s multiple mandates, a weakness that undermines the important principle of unity of command. Starfleet is centrally
organized and administered from Starfleet Headquarters, located in San Francisco, California (the novelization of Star Trek: The
Motion Picture mentions that Starfleet Headquarters is also called “Fleet Headquarters” and “the Admiralty,” seemingly with equal
frequency — a peculiarly casual attitude toward names that is seen elsewhere in Starfleet).
The principal uniformed officer of Starfleet is the Commanding Admiral of Starfleet, as mentioned in the novelization of Star Trek:
The Motion Picture (the specific title “Commanding Admiral of Starfleet” has never been mentioned on screen). As head of the
largest organ of the United Federation Government, the Commanding Admiral has some additional responsibilities not commonly
found in the uniformed head of a military/naval branch; at the time of the Vejur incident in 2273, the Commanding Admiral had a
“zeno-psychologist” on his staff who was “in charge of Starfleet Command’s relationships with non-human species” and his
“personal representative to the new human groups here at home.” The nature of the relationship between the Commanding Admiral
and Starfleet Command and these groups is not clarified. The novelization indicates that the Commanding Admiral has ultimate
responsibility for overseeing the defense of Earth in the event of an attack. Starfleet Command appears to refer to the Office of the
Commanding Admiral (the entire apparatus vice the billet), and is, strictly speaking, not synonymous with Starfleet Headquarters.
To wit, Starfleet Command is the organization that is located at the Starfleet Headquarters office complex. As with Starfleet
Headquarters itself, Starfleet Command also has other names; in the late 2260s, it was also called Starfleet Control (“Tomorrow is
Yesterday”) and Spacefleet Command (“The Squire of Gothos”).
At the time of the Vejur incident in 2273, the Commanding Admiral was Admiral Heihachiro Nogura (novelization of Star Trek: The
Motion Picture); because Nogura never appeared on screen in Star Trek: The Motion Picture itself, his specific grade of admiral is not
known. In 2285, Fleet Admiral Harry Morrow appears to have assumed the office, but is actually referred to on screen as “Starfleet
Commander Morrow” or simply “Starfleet Commander” (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock). By 2293, a fleet admiral named Bill
(given the surname Smillie in the non-canonical novelization of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country) was introduced by an aide
as “the C in C,” and credited as “Chief In Command” (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country). It is probable that these three
titles are synonymous, reflecting the same relaxed attitude toward names as Starfleet Headquarters/Fleet Headquarters/the Admiralty
and Starfleet Command/Starfleet Control/Spacefleet Command themselves. According to the novelization of Star Trek: The Motion
Picture, the Commanding Admiral is assisted by two separate staffs, the Commanding Admiral’s Staff and the Science Staff
(presumably, the former acts as a general staff responsible for Starfleet’s defense and security functions, while the latter oversees its
scientific and exploratory functions).
According to “In a Mirror, Darkly,” Admiral Jonathan Archer held the position of “Chief of Staff, Starfleet Command” before his
retirement from Starfleet; this must have taken place some time between 2160 (when he stood relieved as Commanding Officer,
Enterprise (NX-01), in United Earth’s own Starfleet) and 2169 (when he presented his credentials as “Ambassador to Andoria,”
after which he served as a Federation Councilman from 2175 to 2183, then as “President, UFP” from 2184 to 2192). Strictly
speaking, he may have either been Chief of the Commanding Admiral’s Staff, or merely chief of staff of Starfleet Command itself. In
2287, a fleet admiral named Bob (commonly but non-canonically known as Robert Bennett) and credited as “Starfleet Chief of Staff”
ordered USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A) to proceed to Nimbus III to resolve a hostage situation there involving a United Federation
Ambassador, St. John Talbot (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier). Admiral Les Landau was “Chief of Staff, Starfleet” in 2345 (“Night
Terrors”). Admiral Gene Roddenberry was identified as being “Chief of Staff, Starfleet” in 2363 and 2367 (“The Wounded” and
“Redemption,” respectively) and simply “Chief of Staff” in 2370, 2371, 2372, 2373, and 2375 (“The Search,” “Caretaker,” Star
Trek: First Contact, “Valiant,” “Message in a Bottle,” and “The Dogs of War,” respectively); he was apparently Chief of Staff for a
period of at least 12 years, 2363 to 2375 (which does not appear to be an unusual period for an officer to remain in one grade or
billet in the Starfleet of the 24th century).
The Chief of Staff’s particular role vis-à-vis that of the Commanding Admiral is unclear; as hitherto observed, the Chief of Staff was
probably Chief of the Commanding Admiral’s Staff (which had operational responsibility for Starfleet’s naval functions; this would
explain why Bob gives operational orders in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier). However, in 2372, the Dominion’s agent Weyoun
offered in “Apocalypse Rising” to install Captain Benjamin L. Sisko as ruler of the Federation with “no President or Starfleet Chief
of Staff,” which may indicate that the position of Commanding Admiral was abolished when the naval role was de-emphasized
following the Khitomer Accords of 2293, making the Chief of Staff the principal naval officer of Starfleet (alternatively, it could be
simply that Weyoun was not fully familiar with Starfleet’s organization, and may have simply not known about the Commanding
Admiral).
The third most important senior officer known within Starfleet Command is the Chief of Starfleet Operations, whom the
novelization of Star Trek: The Motion Picture specifically describes as the member of the Commanding Admiral’s Staff responsible
for fleet deployments and disposition. Rear Admiral James T. Kirk served as Chief of Starfleet Operations from 2270 to 2272,
whereupon he voluntarily received a temporary reduction in rank to relieve Captain Willard Decker as Commanding Officer, USS
Enterprise (NCC-1701) during the Vejur incident of 2272 (Star Trek: The Motion Picture); he went on to serve as Superintendent of
Starfleet Academy San Francisco, Earth by 2285 (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan). The only other officer known to have served in
this important billet (i.e., Chief of Starfleet Operations, not Superintendent of Starfleet Academy San Francisco, Earth) is Vice
Admiral Leyton, who was CSO in 2372 (“Homefront”). Leyton was involved in an attempted Starfleet coup d’état during the
Dominion War, using the threat of Changeling infiltration to buffalo President Jaresh-Inyo into declaring martial law, and resigned his
commission after the truth of his plotting was revealed (“Paradise Lost”).
Starfleet appears to be organized according to the old bureau system, whereby each bureau has nearly total control over the matters
within its competence and each bureau chief acts manages his bureau’s affairs independently of his fellows. The various bureaux of
Starfleet that have been identified include Starfleet Command (“Court Martial”), Starfleet Security (“The Drumhead”), Starfleet
Intelligence (“Chain of Command”), Starfleet Research (“The Offspring”), Starfleet Tactical (“The Best of Both Worlds”), Starfleet
Medical (“Ethics”), Starfleet Dental (“Paradise Lost”), Starfleet Communications (“Pathfinder”), the Judge Advocate General’s
Office (“Court Martial,” “The Measure of a Man”), Terraform Command (“Home Soil”), Starbase Command (“Remember Me”),
Colony Operations (“The Survivors”) and Starfleet Training Command, parent command of Starfleet Academy San Francisco, Earth
(Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan) and presumably also the enlisted Starfleet Technical Services Academy, Mars (“Eye of the
Beholder”). The relatively useless function of providing tourist information was provided by the Starfleet Bureau of Information in
the 2370s (“Little Green Men” and “Change of Heart”), and an investigation into the disappearance of certain Starfleet personnel at
Utopia Planitia Shipyards was conducted by OSHC in 2362 (“Eye of the Beholder”). In 2374, Luther Sloan (an agent of the rogue
Section 31 secret police) claimed to be Deputy Director of the Department of Internal Affairs (“Inquisition”).
Dedication plaques on board Starfleet’s starships mention Fleet Operations (“The Wounded,” Star Trek: Generations) and Fleet
Ops (“All Good Things...”), Exploration Division (“The Wounded”), Mission Operations (“The Wounded,” “Night Terrors”),
Office of Science Ops (Star Trek: Generations) and Science Ops (“Caretaker”), Research & Development (“The Wounded,” “Night
Terrors”) and Research & Dev. (“Caretaker,” First Contact), Warp Technologies Development Group (“Encounter at Farpoint”),
Propulsion Sys. (Star Trek: First Contact), Stellar Imaging Div. (“The Wounded,” “Night Terrors”), Orbital Operations (“The
Wounded,” “Night Terrors”), Fleet Yards Operations (“The Wounded,” “Night Terrors”) and Yard Engineers (“Encounter at
Farpoint,” “Caretaker”), and Spaceframe Devel. (Star Trek: First Contact). One finds that three agencies in particular are especially
bad at having multiple names: There have been references to the Starfleet Corps of Engineers (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan),
Engineering Group (“Encounter at Farpoint”), Engineering Div. (“All Good Things...”), Engineering Division (Generations), and
Starfleet Engineering (“When It Rains...”), to Tactical Command (“The Wounded,” “Night Terrors”), Tactical Sys. (“All Good
Things...”), Tactical Unit (Star Trek: Generations), and Tactical Operations (“Caretaker”), and to Advanced Technologies Group
(“Encounter at Farpoint”), Advanced Technologies Div. (“The Wounded,” “Night Terrors”), Advanced Tech. (“All Good
Things...”), and Advanced Technologies (Star Trek: Generations). A log of personnel assignments ordered by the Chief of Starfleet
Operations from Stardate 49355 to 49365 was seen in “Paradise Lost,” in which it lists the following notable assignments:
“Facilities, Starfleet Command,” “Combat Information Center,” “Engineering Operations,” “Fleet Supply Office,” “Strategic
Operations,” “Planetary Defense Systems,” “Administrative Operations,” “Personnel Deployment,” “Tactical Operations, Earth,”
and “Ombudsman.”
Only a handful of bureau chiefs and other senior officers have actually been seen or mentioned on screen. Vice Admiral Thomas
Henry was Chief of Starfleet Security in 2367 (“The Drumhead”), while Admiral Raner was his relief by 2370 (“The Pegasus”); in
2372, the Chief of Starfleet Operations named Captain Benjamin L. Sisko as Acting Chief of Starfleet Security (“Homefront”).
According to Rear Admiral Erik Pressman, the Chief of Starfleet Intelligence was a woman in 2370 (“The Pegasus”); Vice Admiral
Fujisaki, the Deputy Chief of Starfleet Intelligence, died in 2374 of food poisoning, according to Luther Sloan (“Inter Arma Enim
Silent Leges”). In 2373, Rear Admiral Bennett (who wore the rank insignia of an admiral) served as Judge Advocate General of
Starfleet (“Doctor Bashir, I Presume?”). The only other senior officers with known positions all served as Superintendent of
Starfleet Academy San Francisco, Earth; Rear Admiral James T. Kirk, a former Chief of Starfleet Operations, was Superintendent in
2285 (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan), Rear Admiral Brand was seen to hold the post from 2368 to 2370 at least (“The First
Duty,” “Journey’s End”), and an unnamed Bolian rear admiral held the post in 2372 (“Paradise Lost”).
Starfleet’s operational forces tend to operate as lone starships on long-range patrols or long-term exploratory/scientific missions.
Most groupings of starships tend to be ad hoc task forces, such as that assembled by Vice Admiral J. P. Hanson in 2366 to intercept
the Borg cube at Wolf 359 (“The Best of Both Worlds”) or to interdict suspected Romulan interference in a Klingon civil war in
2367 (“Redemption”). As early as the 2270s, Starfleet had come to rely heavily on its long-range early-warning systems (EWS) to
allow it time to mobilized its defenses; faced with a threat very much faster than the usual forces of the Klingon Empire or Romulan
Star Empire, Starfleet could be rendered impotent without a fight, as seen during the Vejur incident (Star Trek: The Motion Picture).
Ninety years later, the Borg attempts to assimilate Earth in 2366 and 2373 revealed more or less the same reliance on EWS, albeit
with improved detection and response times (“The Best of Both Worlds,” Star Trek: First Contact). As to be expected from an
organization with such a strong emphasis on EWS, Starfleet is known to have deployed a large number of subspace listening posts,
gravitic sensors, and possibly even a tachyon detection grid along the Romulan Neutral Zone to detect cloaked ship movements in
time to allow suitable intercepting forces to be mobilized (“Face of the Enemy”). Unfortunately, the improvements in EWS led to
overreliance; Earth’s defenses in 2272 consisted of “Earth and lunar firepower and powerful forcefield protection” and various
“computer systems” (novelization of Star Trek: The Motion Picture), while in 2366 it consisted of the perfunctory Mars Defense
Perimeter, three unmanned drones (“The Best of Both Worlds”).
Starfleet does, however, maintain numbered fleets, which featured prominently in the Dominion War (2373 - 2375):
- Second United Federation Fleet (“Call to Arms,” “A Time to Stand,” “Favor the Bold,” “Sacrifice of Angels,” “The Sound
of Her Voice”) - Third United Federation Fleet (“Favor the Bold,” “Image in the Sand”)
- Fifth United Federation Fleet (“Favor the Bold,” “Sacrifice of Angels”)
- Sixth United Federation Fleet (“Penumbra”)
- Seventh United Federation Fleet (“A Time to Stand,” “The Reckoning,” “Afterimage”)
- Ninth United Federation Fleet (“Favor the Bold,” “You Are Cordially Invited...,” “Change of Heart,” “Once More Unto the
Breach”) - Tenth United Federation Fleet (“In the Pale Moonlight”)
The deployment of these fleets serves as a useful reflection of Starfleet’s and the United Federation’s estimations of relative
importance and strategic value. For example, before the launch of Operation Return in 2374, Second Fleet was stationed in the
Kotanka system and Fifth Fleet was deployed along the Vulcanian border; when Admiral William J. Ross, Starfleet’s senior
operational commander during the war, approved Return, Second and Fifth Fleets were redeployed in preparation fro the recapture
of Deep Space NINE, while Third Fleet was reassigned to Earth. That same year, Tenth Fleet was assigned to defend Betazed and
its colonies, but was out of position on maneuvers when the planet fell to the Dominion. Seventh Fleet suffered catastrophic losses
in the Tyra system, losing 98 out of 112 ships to the Jem’Hadar forces of the Dominion, and then subsequently suffering heavy
losses at Sybaron, leaving it at half-strength when sent to intercept Dominion forces at the Tibor Nebula; the fact that Starfleet
repeatedly sent a badly undermanned fleet into battle demonstrates the importance it placed on responding to Dominion aggression
(and simultaneously demonstrates the necessity of initiative in war). In 2375, Seventh Fleet was assigned to launch an offensive in
the Kalandra sector, and Sixth Fleet was redeployed from the Bolian front. It is worth noting, of course, that Earth, Vulcan, and
Betazed all had fleets assigned to defend them, reminding one of the descrpition of Andor, Vulcan, Berengaria, and Earth as being
among the most important of the “core Federation worlds.”
Presumably, numbered fleets fall under the command of vice admirals. Otherwise, flag officers are almost always seen to be shore-
duty officers commanding Starbases or other space facilities like shipyards. Presumably these officers have operational command
over areas of responsibility (AORs) surrounding their respective commands, or else it would make little sense to place an actual flag
officer in command instead of a port admiral. Other flag officers have been seen to command task forces, task groups, and task
elements on an ad hoc basis (although other squadrons have been commanded by post captains acting as commodores in the absence
of flag officers or substantive commodores). Starbases are typically actual space stations, but Starbase ELEVEN was a surface
installation in 2267 (“Court Martial”); nevertheless they generally serve as administrative and support centers designed to
effectively control and maintain the widely dispersed operating forces of Starfleet (hence the practice of having admirals
commanding Starbases; they easily wear a second hat as regional commanders in chief). Starbases are major hubs in Starfleet’s
supply and maintenance system, as well as very likely serving as major nodes in the United Federation’s subspace communications
network, which provides faster-than-light communications (there are other spaceborne communications/sensor facilities, such as the
long-range sensor outpost and EWS station Epsilon NINE; these facilities do not begin to approach the cardinal status held by
Starbases, and Epsilon NINE was commanded by a lieutenant commander in Star Trek: The Motion Picture).
According to the novelization of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Starfleet commanding officers were required to receive senceiver
implants in the 2270s; these were mechanical devices implanted into their brains which allowed Starfleet Command to contact them
in emergencies and immediately transmit visual information to them; the phantasmagoria induced by senceivers was clear enough
that Rear Admiral James T. Kirk was able to visually identify a Klingon K’t’inga-class heavy cruiser. At the time of the Vejur
incident, the existence of the senceiver implant was still classified secret, out of concern that the public might “mistakenly” believe
they were a sort of mind-control device, a concept closely associated with the “politicalizing of behavior-control implants” that had
resulted in “the bloody Mind Control Revolts of 2043-47.” This potential bad press was only one of Starfleet’s troubles at the time;
more troublesome was the long-standing Cold War with the Klingon Empire (the Treaty of Organia imposed in 2267 in “Errand of
Mercy” notwithstanding). The new humans on Earth had become “increasingly critical of Starfleet’s cost, of Starfleet’s aims, and of
its value,” criticisms no doubt leveled at its conduct of the Cold War, which featured a good deal of saber-rattling. With the opening
of peace talks with Gorkon, Chancellor of the High Council of the Klingon Empire, in 2293, a group of hardliners led by Fleet
Admiral Cartwright objected to the possibility that détente would result in the dismantling of Starfleet’s naval functions
(“mothballing the Fleet”). When the decision to go forward with the peace talks was made, Cartwright and Colonel West became
involved in a conspiracy with Gorkon’s treacherous chief of staff, General Chang, that resulted in the assassination of the Chancellor
and the attempted assassination of the President, hoping to prolong the Cold War or even provoke outright hostilities. The resulting
scandal appears to have combined with the success of the Khitomer Peace Accords of 2293 (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered
Country) to make possible the triumph of new human pressure; Starfleet’s defensive and security mandate was de-emphasized in
favor of its scientific and exploratory mandates. By the 24th century, Starfleet was almost totally demilitarized.
Consequently, Starfleet performed very badly in a series of lengthy, difficult border conflicts with second- and third-rate regional
powers, despite its technological advantages and individual superiority in ship-to-ship actions. Starfleet blundered its way through
wars with the Talarian Republic in the late 2350s (“Suddenly Human”), the Tzenkethi Coalition some time in the mid 2360s (“The
Adversary,” “Paradise Lost”), and the Cardassian Union throughout the 2350s and 2360s (“The Wounded”). The latter war was so
long and brutal that it left lasting scars on Starfleet for years to come; the United Federation signed the disadvantageous Federation-
Cardassian Treaty of 2370 (“Journey’s End”), which even ceded United Federation colony worlds to the statist Cardassian Union
and erected a Demilitarized Zone between them. Starfleet would subsequently contort itself to great lengths to avoid provoking a
resumption of hostilities. Nevertheless, Starfleet continued to maintain its unmilitary attitude. In 2365, Captain Jean-Luc Picard —
Commanding Officer, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) — earnestly explained to Zakdorn Master Strategist Sirna Kolrami that
“Starfleet is not a military organization” while his Executive Officer, Commander William T. Riker, opined that “it’s a waste of time
to test our combat skills — it’s a minor province in the makeup of a starship captain” (“Peak Performance”). In Mosaic, Captain
Kathryn Janeway tells a superior officer that Starfleet is “not, strictly speaking, a military organization” and that “tactical functions,
weapons checks, battle drills – those are activities I consider low-priority”; she even went so far as to assert that “as long as I am
assured that we are at the ready in the case of attack, I see no need to spend large amounts of time drilling the crew in the mechanics
of war.” These officers’ opinions indicate an extremely dangerous attitude toward training, which was reflected in performance.
Starfleet’s schizophrenic self-image was clearly responsible for its embarrassing performance in the United Federation’s string of
banana wars.
See also:
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