Words are here on top : diplomacy in Star Trek

Abstract

Star Trek is a fictional future history that spans the twenty second to twenty-fourth centuries. This narrative places humanity within the United Federation of Planets, a polity of allied worlds that comprises a “(l)iberal, post-capitalist, almost perfectly socialist utopian democracy ... a constitutional republic”. The Federation behaves like a Kantian “league of nations,” a supranational grouping that facilitates amicable internal relations, permits defence against external threats, and attempts to respect the ideals of national sovereignty outlined in the Peace of Westphalia of 1648. These ideals are based on (1) the right of political self-determination, (2) the tenet of legal equality between states, and (3) the principle of non-intervention in the internal affairs of other states. In this utopian future, per Gene Roddenberry’s guide for writers of Star Trek: The Next Generation, “most (if not all) of the major problems facing the human species have been resolved and the Earth has since been transformed into a human paradise, with ... a literate and compassionate population that has learned to appreciate life as a grand adventure”. The explicit mission statement of the starships that constitute Starfleet, the exploratory arm of the Federation, prefaces the 257 episodes of The Original Series and Next Generation: “to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no [man/one] has gone before.” It’s a “diplomatic mission.... one of [Starfleet’s] primary functions [is] negotiations”. But “Starfleet isn’t just about diplomacy, exploration. A lot of the time, it’s just hard work”, requiring extremely dedicated members. This paper deals with the diplomats and diplomacy in Star Trek.