Abstract
Star Trek indicates three distinct politics resulting from the creation of a global society: (1) Federation; (2) Empire; and (3) Neoliberalism. The federation path to world government is predicated on the concept of justice known in the academic literature on Star Trek as “liberal humanism”—a classless society, free of gender/ethnic bias. The justice (i.e. liberal humanism) evident in federation inspires others to become part of the global polity. The Empire strategy of establishing global governance relies on national, religious (for Star Trek “species”) identity. Within Empire, a particular identity group seeks to politically impose themselves on other (species) societies. They do so through military (violent) means and deception—claiming racial/political superiority in the process. The proponents of neoliberalism argue for a global regime based on practical considerations—expanding trade relations and bolstering international security. Star Trek indicates that a political basis of neoliberalism is the WE/THEY distinction—à la Carl Schmitt. Utilizing these templates, as set out in Star Trek, it can be concluded that the American-led global hegemonic system contains characteristics from all three templates. Star Trek suggests, however, that only the federation route to global government is viable.