The GZGverse UN

This probably rightly resides over on the gzg-
hist list, but that's been fairly quiet (if not 
moribund) and since Chris outlined his view on 
the UN and the UNSC, I thought I'd outline a 
contrary view. To Chris, I think the UNSC 
represents a large, well-meaning, but essentially 
paternalistic (and perhaps downright evil in 
some ways) Big Government. My view, perhaps 
unsurprisingly, differs. So, without further adieu, 
I offer you my 0.02 on the UN in the GZGverse 
(worth exactly what you pay for it of course!). 

=======================

The UN in the TombVerse(TM)

The UN of 2000 is a bureaucratic, politically
fragmented, fiscally embarassing and often
poorly supported entity. It is subject to 
corruption, incompetence, and amazing 
laggardliness when responding to international 
crises. OTOH, it does do some good (bringing
relief, keeping the peace, etc) around the world.
All in all, a very mixed bag. There are profound
reservations about its overtones as "the One
World Government" and these primarily from 
large, rich countries with much to fear from 
giving a bunch of small poor countries who 
might have a memory of slights (or invent one). 

In 2183, things are fairly different. In order
to understand the UN of this period, one must
see some of the key distinctions between the 
UN of 2000 and that of 2183. 

- UN of 2000 has no independent tax base.
The UN of 2183 does have an independent tax
base through research patents, international
taxes (levies for peace enforcement), monies
generated by various UN research and think 
tank services, and from UN taxpayers living in 
land (or space) claimed by the UN directly and 
paying income taxes directly to the UN. The 
significance of this independent funding base 
should be lost on no one. 

- UN of 2000 has no independent military. It 
has forces contributed to UN missions (after a 
big palaver) by member nations. The UN of 
2183 has its own independent military. That 
military is medium sized but composed of 
long service professionals. The UN also overseas
the arms length corporation used as the
primary bonding and regulatory agency for
mercenary operations throughout human space,
and as a consequence makes money there. They
also directly employ a number of mercenary 
units for peacekeeping (professional soldiers
being a better choice than national forces with
potential cultural clash issues). This means that
in a crunch they can bring to bear (at the cost
of some of those operations) a fair number of
hired guns too. Add to this a number of 
customs, quarantine, system patrol, and other
paramilitary forces, and the UN can muster 
quite a punch when it needs to. And the core
elements (UNSC Navy and Marines) are equiped 
with state of the art kit, some of it fresh out of 
UN-funded Research Stations (think Traveller
Imperial Research Stations). I rate the UN 
militarily as larger than any 1 power (even the 
ESU or the NAC) but smaller than any two of 
the big ones (or a big one plus some small 
ones) combined. They have enough might even 
to cow the big boys on the block, but not to 
enforce their will on a mass of unhappy nations. 

- The UN of 2000 has no independent 
intelligence arm (well, not a formal one). The UN 
of 2183 has the several intelligence gathering 
directorates (including, it is rumored, a black 
arm that performs direct action operations to 
"chill out" hot sectors and keep the enemies of 
mankind off-balance). I cannot see a power with 
its own taxbase, military, and obviously legal 
and political system not having (and requiring) 
intelligence gathering and covert operations 
capabilities. These agencies would also gain 
from the UN's extensive ties to human-sphere-
wide law enforcement. And they would also 
have access to some of the more secret UN 
Research Station projects. All in all, I think the 
UN might have (and their successes in keeping 
the core systems from being smashed might 
argue for it) some very effective intelligence and 
special operations capabilities. 

- The UN of 2000 is a large confusion of nations 
with a small group in real power (the security 
council) at any given time. But it also has a 
bureaucratic mission of sorts (some might 
argue it is to save the world, other might argue 
it is to rule and control it - probably it is both). 
The UN of 2183 shares some of this mission - 
in that it is tasked with patrolling and defending 
the core systems. But probably as much as its 
military and economic situations have changed, 
it has maintained its growth in influence in areas 
of international development, global 
environmental policy, sustainable development, 
global democracy movements, etc. So it is 
interwoven into the fabric of the core systems 
as well as being the patrolman. The fact that it 
IS in this position has (paradoxically) made the 
drive of the UN to expand and become more 
powerful somewhat muted (exception: once the 
aliens attack). The UN of 2183 really is doing 
the job of defending the human core, 
protecting the cradle of civilization, knowledge 
and development, and trying to offer at least 
some help to the humans trying to establish 
themselves throughout the stars. And then 
when the aliens show up, they make sense as 
the main coordinator of anti-alien operations 
(arguing for even larger amounts of UN 
control). Of course, their are those in the NAC 
and other places that don't like these trends 
and most nations do try to thwart what they 
perceive as UN power grabs (sometimes even 
where they don't exist) but this is part of the 
interesting tapestry of 2183 politics. 

- The UN of 2000 has global crises in 
population, disease, food supply, environmental 
damage, asteroid threat, and military conflicts. 
It has however no single unifying external threat 
that equally menaces all nations in an obvious 
way (environmental or asteroid may, but not in 
an in-your-face fashion). The UN of 2183 DOES 
have immediate external threats from non-
humans. This offers them a much more solid 
common plank to speak to the vast bulk of 
humanity and to enforce, cajole, or legislate 
their cooperation in the fight. 

- The UN of 2000 is riddled with corruption, 
profit taking, mismanagement. The UN of 2183 
suffers to some extent from the same thing, but 
general global improvements (in Africa and the 
developing world especially) have helped bring 
up the overall quality of UN personel as have 
some inspired legislative manouvers that have 
made UN controlled zones pretty sweet to live 
in making them very attractive to intelligentsia 
and long service military people from other 
nations. So although the UN suffers from these 
problems, no moreso than any large megacorp 
of other major nation. 

- The UN _still_ has the tough job of keeping 
combatants apart, negotiating peace between 
belligerents, dealing with political crises and 
human rights issues, and global threats from 
the environment to resource depletion. And 
because they now have more power, a higher 
standard of performance is actually expected. 
Their delivery, though not perfect, has been 
sufficient so far, although it has failed here and 
there in loud, ugly ways. And of course, there 
are still those who oppose large world 
government just in principle (Alarishi Empire 
and many other small fringist groups that the 
UN either ignores or tolerates as it offers a 
haven for the disaffected so they tend to leave 
rather than cause problems from the inside). 

That's my UN. It can't push around the major 
powers (any two of them could probably beat it 
up) without other powers onside. It can't 
defend humanity all by itself. It can't go around 
doing things which will rise all the other nations 
against it. It is no autocrat. But, it has a lot of 
power, and a lot of covert direct action and 
intel capability so it is quite potent where it 
concentrates its resources. And it has enemies 
and detractors - some who oppose it on 
political grounds, some on moral, and some 
who oppose it because it threatens their 
fiefdoms. It's no angel, but it is the big boy on 
the block when the aliens turn up with an ax to 
grind. 

Take from this what you will, or ignore it 
entirely. This is strictly IMU of course. :)

Tomb Raider
---------------------------------------------
Thomas Barclay
Co-Creator of http://www.stargrunt.ca 
Stargrunt II and Dirtside II game site

No Battle Plan Survives Contact With Dice.
-- Mark 'Indy' Kochte