Earth governments (Star Trek)

In the Star Trek universe, several political organisations take power over part or all of Earth. Most of these Earth governments are only mentioned in passing once or twice, and little is known of their history and policies, or of their rise and fall.

To clarify the article, the various Star Trek series will be referred to by their standard abbreviations. The original series is denoted by TOS, "Star Trek: The Next Generation" by TNG, "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" by DS9, "Star Trek: Voyager" by VOY and "Star Trek: Enterprise" by ENT.

African Confederation
The African Confederation is a political body governing at least part of the African continent in the 24th century. Like all nations of Earth in that era, it is a member of the United Earth. Interestingly, another African government, the United States of Africa (see below), was known to have existed a century prior. Whether it was a precursor to the African Confederation or a different nation that shared the same continent is unknown.

The African Confederation was only mentioned once. A screen display in "The Next Phase" (TNG) indicated that Geordi La Forge was born in the African Confederation in 2335.

European Hegemony
The European Hegemony (EH) was a loose alliance of European nations, considered an important precursor to the United Earth. It was mentioned in the episode "Up the Long Ladder" (TNG), in the following dialogue:
 * Computer: "Signal analysis complete. Distress beacon used by the European Hegemony."
 * William Riker: "The European Hegemony?"
 * Jean-Luc Picard: "A loose alliance that formed in the early twenty-second century. It was the first step toward a world government. You should read more history, Number One. Computer, bracket exact dates when this beacon was in general use."
 * ''Computer: "Old Earth calendar, 2123 until 2190."

It is important to note that the dates the compute gives are not those of the existence of the EH, but simply those during which the EH space agency used a specific distress signal. In fact, the EH existed long before 2123, since the EH is a precursor to the United Earth, which existed as early as as 2067 (see "United Earth" below). The ultimate fate of the EH is unknown. It must have joined the United Earth in 2150 at the latest (see "United Earth" below), but clearly continued operating its own national space agency for at least 40 years afterwards. This shows that member states of the United Earth retained some degree of national identity.

It is interesting to note that the European Hegemony was mentioned on Star Trek in 1989, three years before the Maastricht Treaty was signed, creating the European Union.

New United Nations
Little is known about the New United Nations (NUN), though its name imply that it is a futuristic version of the current United Nations. They are only mentioned in "Encounter at Farpoint" (TNG). The dialogue in question is:
 * Jean-Luc Picard: "Objection, your honor. In the year 2036, the New United Nations declared that no Earth citizen could be made to answer for the crimes of their race or forbearers."
 * Q: "Objection denied! This is a court of the year 2079, by which time more 'rapid progress' had caused all 'United Earth' nonsense to be abolished."

In Star Trek chronology, this means that the NUN was in existence after the Eugenics Wars of the 1990s and after the beginning of World War III in 2026. Whether it predates either one of these conflicts is unknown. WWIII was over before humanity's first warp flight and first contact in 2063, while the NUN was abolished by 2079. Whether the end of the NUN is related to either of these events is unknown.

The fact Captain Picard would quote a NUN declaration in his defence in Q's trial indicates that the NUN's declarations had the power of laws on its member nations and their people. This would make it far more powerful than the current UN. The nature of the declaration itself &mdash; the transfer of guilt of an entire race onto a single individual &mdash; implies that the NUN might have a judicial branch akin to the current International Criminal Court. Finally, the notion of an "Earth citizen" could be taken to mean that the NUN was a global governmental entity, or it could simply be another level of citizenship extended to the citizens of member nations, in the same manner as citizenship of the European Union is extended to all citizens of EU member states.

United Earth
The United Earth (UE) is the Earth's world government. It existed as early as 2067, unified all of Earth's nations in 2150, and still exists in the 24th century. The episodes "Demons" (ENT) and "Terra Prime" (ENT) established that the United Earth is a parliamentary system of government, and that in 2155 it was led by Prime Minister Nathan Samuels.

Of all the United Earth's agencies, the United Earth Space Probe Agency (UESPA) is by far the most famous. According to the episode "Friendship One" (VOY), the UESPA existed in 2067, when it was responsible for launching the Friendship One space probe. This date is the earliest canon reference to the United Earth.

The admission of the last of Earth's nations into the United Earth was pinpointed in "Attached" (TNG), and described as a voluntary national decision:
 * Beverly Crusher: "Think about Earth. What if one of the old nation-states, say Australia, had decided not to join the world government in twenty-one fifty?"

Nations in the UE retain some of their autonomy, as evidenced from the fact the European Hegemony continued to operate its own national space agency for at least 40 years after 2150, the latest date it could have joined the UE (see "European Hegemony" above).

In 2161, the United Earth was one of the founding members of the United Federation of Planets. However, admission to the Federation does not dissolve the planetary government, and so the United Earth continued to exist after that date. Indeed, Captain Kirk introduces his ship as the United Earth Ship Enterprise in "The Corbomite Maneuver" (TOS), which takes place in 2266. Later that same year, Kirk reports the destruction of the USS Antares to the UESPA in "Charlie X" (TOS). And in the next year's episode "Tomorrow Is Yesterday" (TOS), Kirk states that our authority is the United Earth Space Probe Agency.

The last reference to the United Earth was made in 2293. In the movie "Star Trek: Generations", the UESPA logo can be seen on the Enterprise-B, indicating that the organisation collaborated with Starfleet in the spaceship's construction. Although no other references are made regarding the United Earth's existence after that date, given the utopian political and social stability of Earth in that era, it is safe to assume that it is still Earth's governing body.

United States of Africa
The United States of Africa is a political body governing at least part of the African continent in the 23rd century. Like all nations of Earth in that era, it is a member of the United Earth. Nothing is known about its relationship with the African Confederation (see above).

The United States of Africa was never mentioned in a Star Trek episode or movie, thus making it non-canon. However, it comes up in several semi-canon sources. Most notably, the writers' bible for Star Trek: The Original Series and Uhura's profile on the official startrek.com website both state that Uhura was born in the United States of Africa in 2239.

General

 * Earth in fiction
 * List of fictional governments
 * World government in science fiction

Star Trek

 * Terran Empire
 * United Federation of Planets