EU-Fic/Politics/Galactic Balance of Power
The Galactic Balance of Power
Introduction
The Galactic Balance of Power refers to the international system of political entities; in previous epochs the anarchic system featured fully-sovereign and freely-interacting states, but this has been rendered obsolescent since the maturation of the Galactic Union and the formation of the Galactic Republic. As such, international relations are now characterized by an institutionalized and legally regulated system. However, discrete categories of political actors can still be defined. It is nearly universally accepted that the galactic civilization has reached a near-stable, near-equilibrium configuration that will persist for all reasonable, foreseeable time periods.
SUPERPOWER
The dominant powers of the galaxy, bestriding the galaxy like a colossus, are the superpowers. Since shortly before the formation of the Republic and the legal foundation of the Union, the vast majority of history has been characterized by a unipolar balance of power, with a single, unopposed superpower. This power is the strongest guiding force of the Galactic Union, and as such has always been the reigning federal government. Relations between it and the other powers and states is legally codified and institutionalized in the federal governing system. For the vast majority of its history, the Republic Authority, the federal government of the Galactic Republic, was the galactic superpower (briefly superceded by the Imperial State, and the New Republic Government - now renamed the Republic Authority). Unopposed and unchallenged, it was also dubbed a hyperpower or hegemon. Periodically threats or decline diminished its standing or power, but it remained a force to be reckoned with throughout its history. Most questions of international relations are, “how can we do x while not upsetting Coruscant?”*
Although the central government technically had no statehood or base of power in its own right - in theory it was purely a creature of the member states for governing the Galactic Union -, the fact remains that the central government often had an agenda of its own, and an informal power base in its judiciary, bureaucracy, and armed services that protected the central government’s prerogatives and often pursued policies at odds with the class interests of the member states, just as was feared by the Anarchy Worlds. Furthermore, its paramountcy over the member states and its legal supremacy, as well as its considerable constitutional mandate to guarantee peace and order in the galaxy gave it considerable clout in confrontations with the member states. Member states who violated citizens of their basic rights and guarantees, invaded another member, or sponsored terrorism or piracy could be subject to check by the central government’s awesome military might. A member state invaded could suffer humiliating regime change or even, in extreme cases, dissolution.
Another strong tool was the mandate system. The vast majority of discrete political entities in the Galactic Union were not self-governing in their own right and had no sovereignty (though Organic Acts granted by the Senate over the mandates and other territories directly administered by the central government directly typically granted self-government and relative autonomy in domestic affairs). The majority were organized and governed according to the mandate system, where the central government retained basic legal rights to, and control over, the territories, but could grant responsibility and discretion over them to individual member states, which it did in most cases. The ability of the central government to strip a recalcitrant or illegally behaving member state of its mandates and retain, or worse yet, grant them to a neighbor or rival, was a powerful incentive to mind its unique and dominant role in galactic affairs.
GREAT POWERS
The great powers are among the oldest states and loci of power in the galaxy. Many of the great powers were associated with the formation of the Republic and the last series of wars that marked the birth pangs of Union. However, many founding powers have since slid into irrelevance or even oblivion, and newcomers have joined the first ranks of powers. Nearly all great powers (some qualify the strongest of unincorporated powers as great powers, regardless of their lack of direct, institutional political participation) are represented in the Senate, and represent some of the largest and best-disciplined clienteles or caucuses of loyal junior senators loaning votes-by-proxy. Many of them are ensconced in Sector or even Regional Governments which are largely their creatures (the casual identification of the Corellian State with the Corellian Sector Government comes to mind). The great powers are defined by their ability to resist political pressure and aggression from other great powers - even in coalition - without fear. The great powers are often well-identified with one or more Old Families which have steered their destiny for millennia. The Organas and the Antilles of Alderaan. The Tagges of Tepasi. The Corrinos of Kaitan. The Kuats of Kuat. However, it should not be understood that the great powers were but mere creatures of Old Families (though this was certainly near to the truth in examples such as the Tagges and Tepasi): the Valorums were scions of many worlds - the Eriadu Valorums were rivals of the Tarkins of Eriadu -; the Kuats had to contend with their Kuati brethren, formidible Families and Great Patricians in their own right,; and the Organas and Antillies maintained a healthy competition, but despite their participation and leadership, in Alderaanian politics, it was by all accounts a healthy liberal democracy. Great powers, like many of their associated Old Families, ranged from benign advocates of unity, democracy, sapient rights, free expression, and high and equitable living standards like the Kingdom of Alderaan, to haughty citadels of privilege such as Kuat, to galactic robber barons like the Federal Republic of Wukkar.
The great powers were frequently at the center of constellations of great influence both seen and unseen. Apart from the obvious dominance they exerted within their Sector and Regional Governments, great powers frequently more indirectly exerted influence through non-political means. Kuat (contrary to popular belief, the official name of the state), for example, obviously directed influence by being home to the largest single starshipwright in the galaxy, and one hosting of the largest multistellars (the eponymous Kuat Drive Yards, whose hereditary CEO from the Kuat Family typically served several terms as one of the Consuls of Kuat). The Corellian State dominated many of the foremost mercantile and shipping firms in the galaxy. Of course, there were great exceptions to these generalities. The Tapani Federation (and the Greater Tapani Empire before that) shied away from the messy struggles of senatorial politics, and frequently loaned their votes and clientele to senators of neighboring sectors. The Lords of Expanse often considered themselves too aristocratic and olympian to get their hands dirty in day-to-day affairs of state, and despite their considerable wealth, resources, and standing, refrained from plying their advantage in the markets and other public spheres of influence. Nevertheless, consistent surveys show that the Great Powers. together with their clienteles or Spheres (as the associated states are commonly and collectively called), collectively account for 20-25% of the galactic gross domestic product, some 30-35% of heavy industrial output, and 20% of the galactic population despite accounting for less than 5% of Republic member states (with the Great Powers individually accounting for an infinitesimal .08% of the galactic member states).