Laying the Foundations of a Political Equilibrium

In the previous post, we established the roughly defined eras of this world building project. Now, let’s take the time to take a closer look at the political landscape the era of interest (“the future”, for lack of a better term). Just as before, we will be taking a gradual approach to fleshing out the various intricacies of government, political alliances and interest, ideologies, and balance of power. Not all of which will be established in this post. However, we will be establishing the rough outlines of a political equilibrium within the solar system.

Following the collapse of the era of Imperial Rule, the political situation will have devolved into four major factions. In reality, there will be more than just four. And their characters and individual constitutions, will be more akin to a web varying alliances and economic cooperation treaties superimposing themselves on top of each other to create a complex picture of—disparate and often times seemingly unrelated—entanglements that from a zoomed out perspective form a semblance of a “sovereign state”. In this new era, while the modern concept of the “nation state” will still exist, it will be merely one of several characteristics of that which forms that political entity that has the “monopoly of violence”.

What we hope to achieve here is to balance the realistic tendencies of political arrangements to be complex, ad hoc in nature, and unique in every case, with a tidiness that helps a reader or perspective explorer of our created world orient themselves. For example, if this world building project were to be adapted into a video game or a table top war game, we’d like to easily allow players to create faction armies that are easily distinguishable, but also allow for customization.

That being said, here are the four “factions” we’ve decided upon (it goes without saying these names are temporary and are subject to change):

The Earth

Once the seat of imperial power, its political reach has waned since the days when it was the centre of an empire that stretched beyond the orbit of Jupiter. The decades long civil wars that followed the instability caused by the Succession Crisis, has shrunken Earth’s official influence to just the planet and its low atmosphere. And even that is only held together by the most tenuous alliance of convenience; the unlikely coalition between the representatives of the Imperial aristocratic order and the military dictators that survived the long civil wars.

The Moon

The centre of the political nucleus for a nation that encompasses not only the lunar surface but also a multitude of colonies strategically situated at Earth’s Lagrange points. These territories, once part of the imperial patrimony, declared their independence amid the chaos and destruction of the civil wars that followed the Succession Crisis. The lunar society was particularly devastated by the conflict, and even now, it continues to endure the brunt of Earth’s relentless expansionist ambitions.

Mars

Mars presents a stark contrast to its neighbours as an isolationist society governed by an astute technocratic regime. This administration has adeptly navigated the challenges presented by the empire’s decline, maintaining a semblance of prosperity across the various Martian settlements. Mars’ society is characterized by the uneasy coexistence of two sub-factions: the Planters, an affluent class of landowners situated on the planet’s surface, and the technocrats who inhabit the orbital colonies encircling Mars. Although these factions are culturally and politically distinct from one another, they are acutely aware of the looming threat posed by a resurgent Earth, which necessitates their mutual of cooperation lest they be subjugated by the ambitions of the Earth government once again.

Jupiter

Jupiter is the product of an ambitious colonization project of the former imperial government. When the civil war erupted and the empire’s central authority disintegrated, the colonists inhabiting Jupiter’s moons found themselves abandoned and forced to rely on their own resources. Through sheer determination and ingenuity, they managed to endure the challenges of colonial life and managed to construct a functioning autonomous society. Despite their relatively small population, the inhabitants of Jupiter’s moons have emerged as a formidable and ascendant power in their own right. However, due to the astronomical distances separating Jupiter from Earth and Mars, their interactions with the other great powers remain limited and infrequent.

In conclusion, this preliminary summary of the political landscape merely scratches the surface, and extensive editing, balancing, and reorganization will likely ensue. While these initial ideas are admittedly cursory and still remain quite vague, they provide a solid foundation for future elaboration and refinement.