The United Nations (UN) is a sovereign federation of formerly independent nation-states that spans across several territories on Earth and Luna, and within the Sol system. The United Nations is the centralized political body of Earth, with some devolution in administrative zones. As a Presidential Republic, the UN's government is divided into three branches: Executive, Legislative, and Judiciary. A democracy, the UN is one of the chief superpowers of humanity, rivaled only by Mars.

History

Global Unification

By the end of the 21st century, humanity finally started reaching out into space. Permanent settlements were established on Mars and Luna, as well as the Asteroid Belt. While Earth was still divided between the various national governments, the UN wielded significant power. Extraterrestrial colonization was organized under the UN. As time passed, Earth's ecosystem was deteriorating and nation-states began experiencing economic collapse, until the damage done reached dangerous levels. To successfully counteract this, humanity unified, with all national governments ceding their sovereignties to the UN. However, in some regions, most notably in the Pashwiri Autonomous Zone, the UN is widely distrusted and rebellion and dissent are commonplace.

The newly-established world government managed to decrease climate change and pollution to acceptable levels and enforced ecological recovery programs that are still active in the 24th century. Humanity was expanding, but no settlement farther than the Asteroid Belt was viable due to technological limitations. Mars, however, was becoming more and more populous.

Still stranded in the inner Sol system, overpopulation reached dangerously high levels on Earth by the end of the 22nd century-beginning of the 23rd century. Mars was vying for independence, but the UN rejected the colony's demand. It wasn't until the creation of the Epstein drive that Mars had an advantage that forced the UN into granting them independence. Thence free to expand into the outer Sol system, the UN established colonies on several Jovian moons, as well as Titan and Titania.

UN-MCR Cold War

Vesta Blockade

The Vesta Blockade was a significant confrontation between the UN and MCR during the Cold War at the asteroid station Vesta, during which the situation nearly escalated into war. While a standoff between UNN and MCRN ships escalated, with one MCRN cruiser singlehandedly disabling five UNN destroyers (the UNN Yasijuro being one of them), a battle and subsequent war was avoided by diplomatic talks.

Callisto Insurrection

The Callisto insurrection was an event involving high tensions amongst the inhabitants of Callisto and between factions backed by either the UN and MCR as a proxy conflict. The crisis was notable for causing the death of Charanpal Avasarala, the son of United Nations Under-Secretary-General Chrisjen Avasarala. His commander Cotyar Ghazi blamed himself for the death of Charanpal. While the result of the conflict is unknown, the UN and MCR both established facilities on Callisto and claimed it as their respective protectorate.

In the year 2350

Until the discovery of the Protomolecule roughly eight years prior to the Eros incident, the UN and the MCR remained neutral one towards the other, but continuously oppressed their colonies' inhabitants in the Belt and outer planets. Small insurrections started taking place but were quickly stifled. This authoritarian process continued, which led to the formation of the Outer Planets Alliance, a multi-movement organization that sought the independence of the Belt and outer planets from Earth. Called 'terrorist' by both Mars and Earth, the organization saw itself as opposed by the two superpowers. Eventually, through Tycho Station, Fred Johnson, a former United Nations Marine Corps (UNMC) marine, became the OPA's de facto leader and spokesperson.

Around the mid-24th century, the Martian government issued a project regarding the exploration and eventual exploitation of Phoebe for raw materials, mostly water. Their finding there prompted Mars to prolong research regarding the Saturn moon, establishing a decently large laboratory. They sought partnership with Protogen, a mega-corporation owned by Jules-Pierre Mao. Ultimately, they concluded that the pathogen found there-in the meantime dubbed the Protomolecule, or the 'Phoebe bug'-was extra-solar in origin and must have been implanted there by an alien civilization. The Martian government saw this as an opportunity to finally gain the upper hand over the UN.

After a series of events involving Julie Mao, the eldest daughter of Jules-Pierre, the Protomolecule was let loose on Eros station, killing 100,000 people. The biomass of the victims was absorbed by the alien pathogen, which then began manipulating gravity at the quantum level and launched Eros towards Earth. Fear and hysteria quickly spread through the planet's population, while governmental officials were already evacuating to Luna. Eventually, thanks to former detective Josephus Miller, human extinction on the planet was avoided, with Eros ultimately impacting Venus instead of humanity's homeworld.

Government Structure

The United Nations is the centralized political body of Earth, having been founded from the remnants of Earth's sovereign nations. Instead of having separate governments for each country, the UN wields authoritative power over all of Earth and Luna, however it is still maintains devolution and is comprised of semi-autonomous sub-regions.

As a democratic federal presidential republic, the UN's government is divided into three branches. The Secretary-General of the United Nations forms the executive branch; serving as head of state and government, and as commander-in-chief of the military. The Secretary-General is directly elected, and the Secretariat derives its authority from the Secretary-General’s power as the executive branch of government. The United Nations General Assembly serves as the legislative branch, and the Court of Justice as the judiciary. The Secretariat and the General Assembly are seated in New York City, while the Court of Justice is located in New Hague on Luna.