Union of Nation States

The Union of Nation States (abbreviated as The Union) refers to both all human civilizations combined, and the organization that governs those societies. It consists of more than 700 nation states and several hundreds of Colonial Territories. It comprises seven different races of humans, divided over six home planets and more 197 colonial planets. It is essentially a federation of countries that acts as a single political entity. The term "Union of Nation States" is therefore also used to refer to all parts of the universe that are officially part of the extent of human civilization.

The Union of Nation States is a federation of nation states, meaning that all nation states that are member of the organization are considered equal. The Union can overrule any national decision, and is the supreme body of power on all planets. The lay-out of the Union is complex and consists of many layers. Its various suborganizations, organs and services deal with every aspect of human civilization, from military to interplanetary transport, from construction projects to planetary development, from scientific innovation to law, and so on.

The Union of Nation States is a democratic and multiconfessional organization. The Union governs according to a corpus of principles and treaties that were decided upon by its member states throughout the history of the organization. Those standards are complemented by an extensive body of laws. These laws are documented in the Code of Union Regulations and the Union of Nation States Code. The constitution of the Union of Nation States is documented in the Constitution of the Union of Nation States.

It allows for member states to appeal for national amendments, which make it possible for members to deviate from the international standard. Various Liosannian states have their own national military alongside the Union Armed Forces. Ubisa, Cochuka and various smaller states on the Eastern Hemisphere of Harvia, alongside a couple of Sgesensian states, opted for an autocratic national government instead of a democratic one.

Government and politics
The capital of the Union of Nation States is Union City in the Union Territory on New Earth. A couple of other cities are Union-designated World Capitals and fulfill a leading role in subregions of the Union.

Territory
The Union of Nation States includes 6 home planets, 197 colonial planets, several thousands of planets with either no, a semi-permanent, or a small human population called non-colonial planetary territories, and hundreds of thousands of other space objects called designated non-planetary objects. The combined total of all these territories is referred to as the Union Territory. Union Territory currently consists of more than 6,400 solar systems, of which only around 1100 have been inhabited by humans at one point in Union history. All solar systems have been visited, however. Currently, there are more than 800 solar systems that are inhabited by humans. Most of these solar systems only have a small human population, mostly researchers and military personnel. Almost 200 of them boast at least one colonial planet, and oftentimes inhabited non-colonial planetary territories. There are also several hundreds of inhabited moons and asteroids.

Article 3 of the Constitution of the Union of Nation States contains several laws that decide the extent and expansion of the Union of Nation States. Article 4 and 5 describe the approach towards other intelligent life. The following rules apply:
 * An object in space becomes Union Territory when its surface or atmosphere has been visited by humans, is not inhabited or claimed by other intelligent life, and is declared Union Territory by the International Assembly.
 * The solar system of which the object in space is part of will also automatically become Union Territory. Objects of which neither the surface nor the atmosphere can be (safely) visited will then also become Union Territory, unless declared otherwise by the International Assembly.
 * Union Territory encompasses the complete solar system, including all space within the outer boundaries of the solar system and all objects, small and large, within those boundaries.
 * If this object in space is already inhabited or claimed by other intelligent life, the Union will not attempt to claim the territories associated with this intelligent life, nor will it claim any other objects in the same solar system.
 * The International Assembly will decide on an approach towards the intelligent life that was found. In general, their civilization will be studied from a distance and then from closer by, without making the presence of the Union known to the civilization yet. The Union will then initiate first contact with the civilization in question, first by means of communicating the existence of the Union and a message of peace by means of long distance communication techniques. Shortly afterwards, the Union will initiate surface contact and visit the planet in question.
 * The Union will then offer a peace treaty.
 * If this offer is denied, the International Assembly will decide whether this denial poses a threat or not. The Union will proceed with military action if the denial is perceived as a threat after a vote. This situation (nor a denial of a peace treaty) has ever happened in Union history.
 * If the offer is accepted, the Union will also offer inclusion in the Union. Up until now, there have been five instances of finding other intelligent life forms (all humanoid). In all five cases, the offer of inclusion was accepted, and the associated civilizations became part of the Union.
 * The International Assembly can also decide to declare an object Union Territory by a special decree, without having sent any humans to the object. This has happened three times in Union history. In all cases, the object was visited later on.