Earth governments (Star Trek)

In the fictional 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.

Canada
Little is said of the fate of Canada in Star Trek. However, in "Blaze of Glory" (DS9), Michael Eddington said he had a 22nd century Canadian loonie he called his "lucky loony [sic]". This means Canada was among the few nations to survive World War III, and went on well into the following period of post-atomic chaos. In "Lower Decks" (TNG) we learn Ensign Sam Lavelle's grandfather comes from Canada, meaning that at-least the name has survived into the 24th century.

Eastern Coalition (ECON)
The Eastern Coalition (ECON) was a faction in the Third World War, meaning it existed circa 2026&mdash;2053. Although the nations composing it are unknown, its enemies included the United States. The relationship between the ECON and Colonel Phillip Green's eco-terrorist group is unknown.

The ECON was mentioned in "Star Trek: First Contact". Upon witnessing the Borg attack on Earth in 2063, Lily Sloane assumes that it was, in fact, an ECON attack. This indicates that the ECON was still a dangerous world power in that year.

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 computer 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 2067 (see "United Earth" below). This fact however creates a conflict with Picard's statement, which puts the "formation" of the EH in the early 2100s, fifty years later.

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.

Ireland
Ireland is a nation of Earth, located on the island of the same name. In 1920, it was divided into two nations: the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. According to "The High Ground", this division lasted until 2024, when decades of terrorist pressure finally led to the two nations being reunited.

In the episode "Homefront", it is learned that Miles O'Brien was born in Ireland, in the city of Killarney, in 2328. This means that Ireland is one of the member nations of the United Earth (see below).

New United Nations
Little is known about the New United Nations (NUN), though its name implies 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:
 * Lt. Cdr. Data: "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 Mr. Data 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 by 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. In 2155, Nathan Samuels served as one of the ministers.

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. This means the United Earth was well-established 31 years after a date in which the New United Nations was known to exist (see "New United Nations" above), hinting to the possibility of a relationship between the two organisations.

In "Encounter at Farpoint" (TNG), Q mentions that the United Earth had been abolished by 2079, in the post-atomic horror of World War III. However, he was replying to a comment about the New United Nations, making it unclear if he really meant the United Earth, or if he got the two organisations mixed up. If Q is right, then this leaves two possibilities. The first is that the United Earth was dissolved completely, and was restarted again at a later date. The second possibility is that it was only banned in the more severely hit regions of Earth, where life regressed to a more barbaric level, but continued to operate uninterrupted elsewhere.

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.

References to United Earth were to appear in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes "Homefront" and "Paradise Lost", to explain why the Federation President was able to declare martial law on Earth rather than involve United Earth leadership, but this was cut from the episode due to time constraints. Specifically, Ronald D. Moore comments on this:
 * As for the Earth Govt vs. Fed Govt issue, this was something we wrestled with in the story break. We wanted to tell the story of an attempted military coup of the Federation and that meant dealing with the Fed president.  However, that meant the troops "in the streets" had to be on Earth and that Earth itself had to be under martial law since the Fed is headquartered on Earth.  We discussed having the Prez "federalize" the Earth defense forces or supersede the authority of an indigenous Earth Govt, but the story kept getting too complicated and we didn't want to start mentioning all these other players and organizations that we weren't going to see.

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.

United States of America
In the Star Trek universe, the United States of America existed until at least the year 2079. In the episode "The Royale" (TNG), an American flag with 52 stars is shown onscreen. The dialogue in the episode states that this flag was adopted by the USA in 2033 &mdash; during World War III &mdash; and used until 2079 &mdash; during the post-atomic horror mentioned in "Encounter at Farpoint". The fate of the USA after that date is unknown. They could have simply changed the flag again (adding or removing stars, or changing the design completely), or a more drastic event could have led to the dissolution of the Union. However, the sighting of a street address marked "USA, Earth" in 2154 in "Affliction" (ENT) suggest that the USA survived in some form. Equally, the viewscreen displays of "Arizona, USA, Earth", and "Indiana, USA, Earth" in 2377 ("Imperfection" (VOY)) indicate that the USA exists in some form through to the late 24th century.

Chronology
To clarify, here is a chronology of the rise and fall of the various governments mentioned on this page, along with some key events of Earth's history.
 * 1996: The Eugenics Wars end.
 * 2024: The two nations of Ireland are reunited.
 * 2026: World War III begins. The Eastern Coalition probably exists at this date.
 * 2036: The New United Nations exists at this date.
 * 2053: Latest possible date for the creation of the Eastern Coalition. World War III ends.
 * 2063: Zefram Cochrane's first warp flight. First contact with the Vulcans. The Eastern Coalition still exists at this date.
 * 2067: The European Hegemony has existed for a long time before this date. Latest possible date for the creation of the United Earth and the United Earth Space Probe Agency.
 * 2079: Either the New United Nations, the United Earth, or both, have been abolished in part of or in all the world at this point. Last year the existence of the United States of America is confirmed.
 * 2150: The last independent nations decide to join the United Earth.
 * 2161: Creation of the United Federation of Planets. One of the founding members is the United Earth.
 * 2190: The European Hegemony still exists at this date.
 * 2239: The United States of Africa exist at this date.
 * 2293: The United Earth and the United Earth Space Probe Agency still exist at this date.
 * 2328: Ireland, and the city of Killarney, still exist at this date.
 * 2335: The African Confederation exists at this date.
 * 2363: The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics still exists at this date.
 * 2379: The United Earth probably still exists at this date.

General

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

Star Trek

 * Terran Empire
 * United Federation of Planets