United Solar Nations

It's a good idea... if you could wring the politics out of it...

— Captain Mao Tanner, Scrapjack

Once colonies were first established, the local governments of Earth attempted to extend their influence to other worlds. At first, this seemed successful, but as other planetary cultures developed, so did the friction with the homeworld. The generations-old treaties covering activities beyond Earth had not kept up with technology or humanity's achievements.

As no Earth nation or corporation was willing to subordinate to another regarding expansion and matters of other worlds, the issues were delegated to the United Nations. This granted the United Nations unprecedented political power. One that the celebrated body was not prepared to handle.

Their charter was amended to allow self-sufficient colonies be granted membership, following the usual requirements for an Earthbound member nation. On paper, the concept appeared sound. However, in practice it was far more difficult.

Clash of Ideas

Some colonies were granted independence from their parent Earth nations. Others were not. Then there were the colony worlds that had come from a variety of Earth nations that had gathered under a single banner. That made the concept of 'independence' a sticky one.

Tempers flared to where fledgling space based warships squared off in orbit over some of these new "stellar nations". Yet, cooler heads prevailed just before the first shots were ever fired. Reluctant member nations allowed their colonies independence, so long as they were compensated for their percieved loss.

Once more, the UN charter was amended to expand the process by which new human colonies could join the United Nations and gain their own autonomy. Also, the goals and aims of this reformed United Nations were altered.

The organization still sought to provide a forum for member nations to have their voices heard. Yet, under the adjusted rules, the USN strives to achieve a greater cooperation between member nations. Particularly in areas of commerce.

During this vote, they decided the United Nations would be legally renamed to the United Solar Nations. However, the name "United Nations" remained the more common phrase across the Human sphere of influence in space.

Agree To Disagree

Despite the expansion of the United Nations to accommodate independent "nation worlds", the United Stellar Nations objective remained the same. A place, or forum, that allows sovereign nations to express their thoughts and have them heard. To foster harmony and communication. This also includes regulation of trade, health concerns, and more.

Some currently still question if the USN seeks to become a more formal 'government'. However, to date that has been debunked as false. The concept of governing across stellar distances is impractical.

Organizational Structure

Currently, the USN has five branches. They are the USN Secretariat, USN Council, Economic Council, Court of Justice, and Star Command.

Office of the Secretariat

USN President

This is the elected leadership of the United Solar Nations. The General Assembly appoints the President, which can be vetoed by the Security Council. There is a Vice President position, but it isn't considered a branch of the USN proper but an assistant role to the USN President.

Vice President

The vice president of the USN acts as a 'second' or assistant to the President. They are called upon by the President to attend meetings or act in the President's stead when the USN President cannot attend a briefing meeting or other events. USN Vice Presidents and Presidents often work in concert to maintain leadership of the USN.

USN Council

This branch is the combination of the two traditional branches of the General Assembly and the Security Council of the old United Nations. Each body still exists, but they exist under the collective group, "USN Council".

General Assembly

The General Assembly is the main deliberation arm of the USN Council that shapes and forms interplanetary, or inter-Core, law is formed. In this branch, interplanetary law is debated and formed into the laws that are enforced between the Cores themselves regarding sapient rights, inter-Core trade, and resource management. The General Assembly also has the power to overrule the Security Council by a two-thirds majority vote. But that has rarely ever taken place.

The establishing charter allows member states of the USN two representatives on the General Assembly. Initially, during the First Expansion, there was some argument over what construed a ‘member state’. However, the charter was amended to provide a clear definition. A USN member state is not a ‘Core’ - otherwise known as a ‘Star System’ - but individual colonized worlds or world-stations within a Core.

The reason for this was to prevent a power imbalance of allowing representatives based on population in a given Core. However, in reality, representatives from a Core tend to vote alike on issues. So, officially, USN members are not divided by Cores. Unofficially, they indeed are.

There isn’t a single method of selection used by member states when selecting representatives. The USN charter leaves that to the discretion of the member states themselves. Some worlds hold elections, while others treat it as a civic duty where a representative is selected through a random draw, not unlike jury duty.

The only restriction the USN charter places on member state representatives is that they must have had at least five to ten years of administrative experience. This has led to many representatives from more industrial-focused worlds being former CEOs of inter-Core corporations.

Security Council

The smaller of the two USN Council branches, the Security Council is granted the power to amend proposed laws, introduce new interplanetary law and maintain peace among USN members. This is the Council that has the most influence over the USN Star Command.

Economic Council

Handling matters of economic trade regulation and managing internal assets is the Economic Council of the USN. Nicknamed "Planet Fight Club", this has become the most energetic council in all the USN.

Here trade is debated, adjusted, and coordinated across the Cores. This is no small feat given the literal astronomical distances involved between the Cores themselves.

Court of Justice

The Court of Justice is the principal branch for settling disputes between USN members and advising the other branches with regards to interplanetary law. Members of this legal body are called “Star Judges”.

Judges in this court have jurisdiction over interplanetary law matters. This involves humanitarian violations, trade dispute, and similar intra-Core issues.

Star Command

Star Command, or the United Stellar Nations Space Command, is the scientific research, exploration, and peacekeeping arm of the USN. As per USN charter, the personnel of Star Command is provided by USN membership. These personnel have a five-year term of service with the Star Command arm.

Their major goals are straightforward

scientific research and exploration

protection of civilians and USN personnel

monitor disputes between the Cores

monitor and observe peace negotiations

assist in protection and security of ex-combatants in peace agreements

provide security across conflict zones

The above list is not the total of what Star Command is called on to accomplish. It is only a portion of how they are utilized by the Security Council.

Star Command Fleet

As the Cores were becoming settled and membership in the USN grew, the organization handled more arbitration and interplanetary peace settlement than ever before. Mustering assets from members took time, delays were deadly.

To counter this, the USN expanded upon the old Peacekeeping Capability Readiness System to grant USN Star Command its own standing fleet of starships and equipment. These blue-trimmed ships, bearing the peace laurel of the USN, are scattered across the Cores.

At current count, the USN Star Command maintains four fleets with 430 ships in each fleet.

Founding Date

1945 (as United Nations)

Type

Alliance, Generic

Alternative Names

USN, "The Union", "United Nations"

Location

Core Prime