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World War III (Star Trek)

World War III (Star Trek)

In the fictional Star Trek universe, World War III is a nuclear war that devastated much of Earth which took place during the mid-21st century (estimated as 2050-2053, but never definitively stated). Some 600 million people died during this war. In the post-atomic horror afterwards, much of Earth reverted to a barbaric state, and legal systems were adopted that ended many individual rights including the right to legal counsel. An attempt was made to execute all lawyers during the post-atomic horror, which was at the very least largely successful. The New United Nations was disbanded after failing to end the war through peace efforts. The exact cause of the war has never been established in canon. The Eugenics Wars, described in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "Space Seed" as taking place in the 1990s, was refer to as "last so called world wars". However Star Trek: The Next Generation established that World War III was a separate, 21st century conflict. It was also strongly suggested in Star Trek: Voyager that the Eugenics Wars were not a global conflict since an episode of that series featured a visit to Los Angeles in 1996, seemingly untouched by the war. One philosopher of the time was Liam Dieghan, founder of the Neo-Transcendentalist movement. Dieghan advocated a return to a simpler life, one more in harmony with nature. ("Up the Long Ladder" Star Trek: The Next Generation) Key players in the Third World War are Colonel Green (who, after the war's end, ordered the deaths of thousands of victims of radiation poisoning in an attempt to keep the human genome 'pure' and free of mutation) and the Eastern Coalition of Nations (ECON). The ECON's true nature has never been revealed, although most fans assume that the ECON were one of the main villians of the conflict (when the Borg attack Earth of 2063, Lily Sloane assumes that it is the ECON). Also, Encounter at Farpoint implies that the ECON was based around China, or at least had a heavily Chinese influence. It is speculated that the ECON was an organization of nations which had been previously conquered by Khan in the 1990s. The ECON was also fond of employing soldiers who it had intentionally addicted to drugs to make them easier to control, a strategy also employed by the Jem'Hadar of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Following the war, with almost no major governments remaining (the United States of America was one of the few remaining nations), Earth was left to slowly recover from the nuclear carnage of World War III. Scientific advancement continued, however; in 2063 the development of the first warp engine was followed by first contact with Vulcans, ending the chapter of the post-World War III dystopia and beginning one of prosperity and hope. The United Earth Space Probe Agency was formed, launching first the unmanned probe Friendship One and, following that, the manned spacecraft S.S. Valiant. The exact ending of the post-atomic horror is uncertain. Star Trek: First Contact, which takes place in 2063, implies that it was already over. However in the TNG premiere episode, Encounter at Farpoint Q mentioned that the trial he was holding for the Enterprise command crew was based on a court of the year 2079. This would indicate that the post-atomic horror did not end until at least 2079. But Deanna Troi mentioned to Cochrane that fifty years after first contact in 2063, war, poverty, and disease had been eliminated from the Earth. Within 100 years of Zefram Cochrane making his first warp flight, humanity had solved most of the problems that had plagued them for centuries, and worked to become a full member of the interstellar community. Spock in the TOS episode Bread and Circuses said that 37 million people had died in World War III, but Star Trek: First Contact gives the death toll at 600 million, although the Federation's records of this period have been described as "fragmentary." [Star Trek Encyclopedia CDROM] Category:Star Trek wars and battles

Star Trek

Star Trek collectively refers to six science-fiction television series spanning 726 episodes, ten motion pictures, in addition to hundreds of novels, video games, and other works of fiction, all set within the same fictional universe created by Gene Roddenberry in the mid 1960s. It depicts an optimistic, almost utopian future in which humanity has overcome sickness, racism, poverty, intolerance, and warfare on Earth, and has united with other intelligent species in the galaxy; the central characters explore the galaxy, discovering new worlds and encountering new civilizations, while helping to promote peace and understanding. "Star Trek" (or sometimes merely "Trek") is one of the most popular names in the history of science fiction entertainment, and one of the most popular franchises in television history.

Television series

Star Trek originated as a television series in 1966. There have been five live-action Star Trek series and an animated series, altogether comprising (as of May 2005) a total of 726 individual aired episodes (not including the original unaired pilot) and thirty seasons’ worth of television.

Star Trek (1966-1969)

season Star Trek debuted on NBC on September 8, 1966, having aired in Canada some days earlier. Created by Gene Roddenberry, starring William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and DeForest Kelley, and co-starring James Doohan, George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, and (later) Walter Koenig, it told the tale of the crew of the starship Enterprise of the United Federation of Planets and Starfleet and their adventures "to boldly go where no man has gone before." The first episode aired, "The Man Trap," was actually the fifth produced. Originally, Roddenberry had created a pilot entitled "The Cage," with a very different cast, led by veteran actor Jeffrey Hunter, which was rejected by the three major television networks of the time. However, the NBC network liked the pilot enough to commission an unprecedented second pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before," which featured an almost entirely new cast led by Shatner. Only the character of Spock remained, at Roddenberry's insistence. "Where No Man Has Gone Before" was the third episode aired, while "The Cage" was reworked into a two-part episode, "The Menagerie." The last original episode, "The Turnabout Intruder," aired on June 3, 1969. The series subsequently became phenomenally popular in syndication, ultimately spawning the film and television sequels that followed. It has in recent years become known as Star Trek: The Original Series, abbreviated as ST:TOS or TOS, to distinguish it from its sequels. All subsequent films and television series, except the animated cartoon series of the 1970s, have subtitles included as part of their official names.

Star Trek (Animated) (1973-1974)

syndication The series was aired under the name Star Trek, but it has become widely known as Star Trek: The Animated Series (or abbreviated as ST:TAS or TAS). It was produced by Filmation and ran for two seasons, with a total of twenty-two half-hour episodes. It featured most of the original cast performing the voices for their characters. While the freedom of animation afforded large alien landscapes and exotic lifeforms, budget constraints were a major concern and animation quality was poor. A few episodes are especially notable due to contributions from well known science-fiction authors. However, the series is not considered to be canon, which has caused controversy among some fans. The episode "Yesteryear" is considered by some sources such as the Star Trek Encyclopedia to be a partial exception concerning the events depicted in Spock’s youth (although it still officially remains non-canon along with the rest of TAS). Even so, elements of the animated series have worked their way into official canon, such as Kirk’s middle name, Tiberius, first revealed in TAS and made official in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. Star Trek: Enterprise also incorporated several TAS concepts into canon. So, while the series itself is not strictly canon, it has been used as "canon fodder."

Star Trek: Phase II (1978; unproduced)

Star Trek: Phase II was set to air in 1978 as the flagship series of a proposed Paramount television network, and 12 episode scripts were written before production was due to begin. This series would have put most of the original crew back aboard the Enterprise for a second five-year mission, save for Spock, because Leonard Nimoy did not agree to return; a full-blooded Vulcan named Xon was planned as a replacement, although it was still hoped that Nimoy would make guest appearances. Sets were constructed and several minutes of test footage were filmed. However, partly because of the popularity of the recently released film Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Paramount decided to make a Star Trek film instead of a weekly television series. The first script formed the basis of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, while two others were eventually adapted as episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994)

Star Trek: The Motion Picture Star Trek: The Next Generation (also known, colloquially, as The Next Generation, NextGen, ST:TNG, or TNG) is set nearly a century later and features a new starship (also named Enterprise) and a new crew, venturing where "no one has gone before." It premiered on September 28, 1987, with the two-hour pilot episode, "Encounter at Farpoint," and ran for seven seasons, ending with the final two-part episode, "All Good Things..." on May 29, 1994. The show gained a considerable following during its initial run. Even during that time, the show was produced solely for syndication. Star Trek: The Next Generation had the highest ratings of all the Star Trek series and was the number-one syndicated show during the last few years of its original run. Many fans, both casual and "hard-core," often treat The Next Generation as a kind of 'golden age' of Star Trek, primarily because of its broad acceptance, its viewer base, and the active influence of Roddenberry (who was alive during the first part of its run).

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-1999)

golden age Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (ST:DS9 or DS9) ran for seven seasons and was the first Star Trek series to be established without any direct input from Gene Roddenberry. It introduced Avery Brooks as Commander (and, later in the series, Captain) Benjamin Sisko, the first African American in the commanding role of a Star Trek series. It chronicles the events surrounding the space station Deep Space Nine. In the first episode, the crew discovers the presence of a nearby stable wormhole, which provides nearly immediate travel to and from the distant Gamma Quadrant. This immediately makes the station an important strategic asset, as well as a vital center of commerce with the largely unexplored area of space. Deep Space Nine sheds some of the utopian themes that embodied the previous versions of Star Trek, and focuses more on war, religion, political compromise, and other modern issues. Although its ratings were never as high as those of The Next Generation, DS9 remains the most critically acclaimed of the Trek spin-offs.

Star Trek: Voyager (1995-2001)

Gamma Quadrant Star Trek: Voyager (also known as ST:VOY, ST:VGR, VOY or Voyager) was produced for seven seasons, and is the only Star Trek series to have had a female, Captain Kathryn Janeway, as the commanding officer. Essentially, the U.S.S. Voyager and crew were "lost in space": the series follows the adventures of the starship Voyager and her crew, joined by Maquis resistance fighters, who have all become stranded in the Delta Quadrant, seventy thousand light years from Earth by an entity known as the "Caretaker." Unless they can find a shortcut, it will take them seventy years to return to known space. Although Voyagers ratings were initially solid, they fell dramatically as the show progressed. It was during this show's run that criticism towards producer Rick Berman began to mount, coinciding with the growth in popularity of online discussion forums that amplified the message of a vocal group of fans who felt Berman was no longer welcome as the franchise leader. With the threat of cancellation, the character Seven of Nine was added, replacing Kes, which, in turn, increased ratings and allowed the series to continue for four more seasons.

Star Trek: Enterprise (2001-2005)

Kes Star Trek: Enterprise (named simply Enterprise during its first two seasons, the first few episodes of its third, and abbreviated as ST:ENT or ENT) is a prequel to the other Star Trek series. The pilot episode, "Broken Bow," takes place ten years before the founding of the Federation, about halfway between the "historic" events shown in the movie Star Trek: First Contact and the original Star Trek series. This series depicts the exploration of space by the crew of the Earthship Enterprise, a new, NX-class starship, which is able to go farther and faster than any humans had previously gone. Star Trek: Enterprise was promoted as being more accessible for newcomers to the Star Trek franchise, as well as for taking place during the formative years of the Federation. Ratings for Enterprise were never particularly strong; and, as it had done during the initial airing of The Original Series, fan support during Enterprises second and third seasons helped keep the series on the air. During the third season Berman and Braga turned much of their leadership role to writer Manny Coto, but retained final control for themselves. Although the show gained a much more positive reaction from fans during the fourth season, Paramount cancelled the show in early 2005.

Motion pictures

NX-class starship A total of ten Star Trek movies to date have been produced by Paramount Pictures. A common urban myth among fans is that the even-numbered Star Trek films are superior to the odd-numbered Star Trek films. This rule of thumb is most easily applicable to the first few films: Star Trek II and IV are usually at or near the top of the fan favorites, while I and V are usually at the bottom (though I has since received quite a bit of positive re-evaluation in the wake of an acclaimed "Director's Edition" revision released on DVD). This is not wholly applicable, however; III followed on from the success of II, which continued into IV, and VII (Star Trek: Generations) is regarded as a firm fan favorite. Another exception is X (Star Trek: Nemesis), which is one of the most critically derided Star Trek feature films, many critics accusing it of attempting to imitate the plot (and success) of Star Trek II. Despite fetching the lowest revenue at the box office in Star Trek history, it sold well on its DVD release in 2003. Although North American and UK releases of the films were no longer numbered following the sixth film, European releases continued numbering the films.

Canonicity and other storylines

The Star Trek canon is comprised of the five live TV series and ten motion pictures. Although the Star Trek animated series, books, comic books, video games, and other materials based on Star Trek (i.e., those licensed by Paramount Pictures) are generally considered "non-canon," there are several works which deserve mentioning, including a number of fan-made (or "fanon") productions set within the Star Trek universe. Outside of the television series and motion pictures produced by Paramount pictures, the Star Trek franchise has been officially expanded and elaborated on by various authors and artists in the so-called "Star Trek Expanded Universe," despite the fact that Paramount does not consider these derivative works canon. This expanded universe consists of the aforementioned animated series, books, comics, video games, etc. The creators of these works are generally free to tell their own stories set in the Star Trek universe, and are free to either keep an existing continuity, or use their own. (Similarly, writers for TV and film are under no obligation to pay heed to any of the derivative works, which has occasionally caused conflict.) Nonetheless, these works often expand the backstories of characters, species, planets, etc, already seen in the official live-action productions. For example, the Voyager novels Mosaic and Pathways are known to have given essential background information for characters in the Voyager live-action series. The Star Trek series has also inspired many non-official fan-made productions. For example, in recent years, so-called Star Trek "fan films" have been created for distribution over the Internet. None of these projects are licensed by Paramount, however. At one time, Paramount was against these productions, but has since reportedly loosened its stance on allowing them. See Star Trek, other storylines for more detailed information about these productions.

Uncertain future for the franchise

Star Trek, other storylines Predictions of the demise of Star Trek are nothing new. As early as 1993-1994, when Star Trek: Deep Space Nine failed to generate the high ratings of its predecessor, magazines such as Entertainment Weekly predicted the end of the franchise. The near-cancellation of Star Trek: Voyager in the mid-1990s led to more such predictions. Enterprise, which scored the lowest ratings of any Trek series to date, was widely reported in the media to be on the verge of cancellation after each of its first three seasons and a "death watch" of sorts was maintained throughout its fourth and final year. However, due to the cancellation of Enterprise and the poor box-office performance of the 2002 film Nemesis, executive producer Rick Berman has stated that Paramount intends to rest the franchise (film and television) for at least three years. Many Trek fans want Berman and the other executive producer Brannon Braga to be replaced. Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski, former Star Trek writer Ronald D. Moore, and current Enterprise executive producer Manny Coto have been suggested as possible replacements, and Straczynski has expressed an interest in taking the helm of Star Trek. In an ironic twist to the fan-based efforts to bring back Trek in the 1960s and 1970s, there are groups of fans who feel that the concept has run its course and who are actively seeking the end of Star Trek. Reruns of The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine are aired regularly on Spike TV in the United States. Spike TV will also begin airing reruns of Voyager in the fall of 2006, as part of its original deal for all three series. TOS, TNG, and Voyager air daily in Canada on Space: The Imagination Station, which has also purchased Enterprise for daily rebroadcasts starting in the fall of 2005. Cast members and fans have suggested that even if there are no further Star Trek series or movies, the franchise may continue in television movies, mini-series, specials, and other forms of media.

Future sequels to the original series

There is some desire among fans to bring back the character of Captain Kirk, as played by William Shatner, to give him a more dignified end than that shown in Star Trek: Generations. Recently, Shatner has made public on various talk shows his proposal for a Starfleet Academy series featuring a young James T. Kirk. He plans to pitch his idea to Paramount Pictures in 2006. George Takei and fans have made frequent attempts to convince the studio to create a series based on Captain Sulu's voyages on the Excelsior, but, despite support from fans, it has enjoyed little success. Sulu and the Excelsior originally appeared in the film Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country as well as in an episode of Star Trek: Voyager ("Flashback") but this did not lead to a new series. Sulu later appeared in the video game Star Trek: Shattered Universe set in the Mirror, Mirror alternate universe.

Future sequels to The Next Generation

After the failure of the tenth film in the franchise to meet expectations, the cast members indicated that they did not expect any future TNG films to be produced. Additionally, it has been reported that Brent Spiner is no longer interested in reprising the character of Data because, though every actor ages, the character, as an android, should not. However, Spiner portrayed Arik Soong, an ancestor of the creator of his character Data, in Enterprises fourth season. Later that year, Sirtis and Frakes reprised their TNG roles for the Enterprise finale. In December of 2005, Patrick Stewart, who had earlier maintained that he was not interested in portraying Picard again, revealed that serious meetings have been held with parties interested in a fifth TNG film, which would take place two to three years down the road. [http://trekweb.com/articles/2005/12/02/43903bfff2604.shtml] [http://www.sfx.co.uk/news/patrick_stewart_to_trek_again]

Continuation of Enterprise

There is some consensus among Star Trek fans that the fourth and final season of Enterprise was better than the previous three seasons, and that continuation of the program under the new "mini-arc" writing style introduced in season four would have stood a chance of the series acquiring better ratings during a fifth season. A campaign by Enterprise fans was mounted to have the show aired on the Sci-Fi Channel, which was rumored to be interested in the show at one point (although TV Guide reported otherwise). Berman, however, stated that Paramount is not interested in shopping the show around to other networks. One campaign, Trek United, attempted to raise funds to finance a fifth season, raising pledges and cash donations of more than $3.1 million (U.S.) but its proposal which would have seen a fifth season jointly produced by Paramount along with Canadian and British production houses, was rejected by the studio. It has been reported that the decision to cancel Enterprise after its fourth season may have been made by Paramount as early as the 2002-2003 season, while lead actor Scott Bakula has gone on record as stating that management changes at Paramount in 2003-2004 left the Star Trek franchise without strong support at the studio. In April 2005, he claimed that up until 2003-2004 Paramount had actually intended for the cast of Enterprise to become the focus for the next Star Trek film. [http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire2005/index.php?category=0&id=30849]
New feature film?
Main article: Star Trek XI Most details about a possible eleventh film are either unknown or undecided. In a May 2005 interview for the UK Star Trek Magazine, Rick Berman stated that he does not expect Trek XI, if it is actually produced, to be released for several years.[http://trekweb.com/articles/2005/05/27/4297698c2c344.shtml] Some sources such as the user-edited Internet Movie Database have given the film the working title Star Trek: The Beginning, and have suggested a 2007 release, however Paramount has yet to announce any official title, or if it will actually produce an 11th Star Trek film. In a follow-up interview for the September 2005 issue of Star Trek Magazine, Berman stated that planning for the film is still "in its infant stages."[http://trekweb.com/articles/2005/09/15/4329bc20736c6.shtml] In late February 2005, Berman told Variety that screenwriter Erik Jendresen, producer Jordan Kerner, and former Paramount Television president Kerry McCluggage were attached to the project. [http://www.trektoday.com/news/230205_01.shtml] The announcement of Paramount's new DVD Premiere division, devoted to direct-to-DVD original productions and franchise spin-offs, has led to speculation as to whether a future Star Trek film might be produced in this format.[http://www.trektoday.com/news/221005_02.shtml] On December 1, 2005, it was reported via Patrick Stewart that discussions have been held regarding a possible new film featuring the TNG crew, although the actor indicated that his stage commitments would prevent him from participating in such a production until sometime in 2007.[http://www.trektoday.com/news/011205_01.shtml]
Video games
Star Trek videogames have a long history on the Personal Computer. As early as 1974, a text-based game simply called "Star Trek" was experimented with on one of the first large-scale computer networks. The first grapically driven Star Trek game was likely Sega's "Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator". It arrived in 1982, after the successsful release of the movie "Star trek: The Wrath Of Khan", and featured vector-based graphics and a viewscreen view of battles with Klingon ships. Among the first commercial games for home computers were text based adventures. The first commercial text-based Star Trek game was Star Trek: The Promethean Prophecy, which was released in 1986. Graphical adventures for the PC followed with limited success, but the first must-have title was created when the game publisher Interplay aquired the licence in 1992 and created "Star Trek: 25th Anniversary" to the delight of fans and critical acclaim. Much like the movie series, Star Trek videogames have been of a hit-and-miss nature. Among the most positively reviewed of contemporary game titles are the "Star Trek: Starfleet Command" series by Interplay; "Star Trek: Klingon Academy", also by Interplay; "Star Trek: Bridge Commander" by Activision; the "Star Trek: Elite Force" series by Activision; and the "Star Trek: Armada" series, also by Activision. Counted among the comercially unsuccessful Star Trek games are "Star Trek: Starfleet Academy"; "Star Trek: New Worlds"; "Star Trek Generations"; "Star Trek; Klingon Honor Guard"; and "Star Trek Deep Space 9: the Fallen". In 1998, Viacom entered into an agreement with Activision to produce Star Trek video games. Many games were released under this agreement, but in 2003, Activision filed a lawsuit against Viacom stating that they were not holding up to their end of the bargain because the Star Trek franchise was not as valuable as it once was. None of the games produced sold well, with the exception of the Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force games. Activision cancelled the contract and sought compensation for losses. In March 2005, an agreement was reached and all lawsuits were dropped, but the other terms have been deemed confidential [http://investor.activision.com/ReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=157785] In 2004, Perpetual Entertainment announced plans for an MMORPG based in the Star Trek universe. This will be the first game of this type to be based on Star Trek. Currently, the game is tentatively titled Star Trek Online and is expected to be set roughly 20 years after the events of Nemesis. More detailed information regarding the game can be found in [http://www.stowiki.com Stography], a wiki dedicated to the game.
Novels
Pocket Books, current publishers of officially licensed fiction based upon all the series (as well as numerous original Trek series of its own), plans to continue publishing original novels for the foreseeable future. However, soon after Enterprise was cancelled, the company [http://www.trektoday.com/news/220205_01.shtml announced] that it was halving the number of Star Trek novels it would be publishing, down to only one mass-market paperback per month, plus several trade paperbacks and hardcovers throughout the year. Although book line editors stressed that the decision to reduce the number of books was made a year earlier and was not related to popularity/ratings problems within the franchise, the announcement was seen by some as another indication that the Star Trek franchise is on the wane. Despite this, however, the company maintains that it has ambitious plans for the line, including (in May 2005) the confirmation that an Enterprise Relaunch series of novels is in the planning stages.[http://www.trektoday.com/news/180505_01.shtml]
References
Star Trek may be the most documented entertainment franchise in history. Here are a few of the major reference works related to the production and influence of the franchise.
- The Making of Star Trek by Gene Roddenberry and Stephen E. Whitfield (Ballantine Books, 1968)
- Enterprise Zones: Critical Positions on Star Trek, edited by Taylor Harrison, Sarah Projansky, Kent A. Ono, Elyce Rae Helford (Westview Press, 1996)
- Inside Star Trek: The Real Story by Herbert F. Solow and Robert H. Justman (Pocket Books, 1996)
- Beyond Uhura by Nichelle Nichols (Putnam, 1994)
- Star Trek Memories by William Shatner and Chris Kreski (HarperCollins, 1993)
- City on the Edge of Forever by Harlan Ellison (White Wolf Publishing, 1996)
- The World of Star Trek by David Gerrold (Ballantine Books, 1973; revised edition, Bluejay Books, 1984)
- Star Trek Lives! by Jacqueline Lichtenberg, Sondra Marshak, and Joan Winston (Bantam Books, 1975)
- On the Good Ship Enterprise: My 15 Years with Star Trek by Bjo Trimble (Donning Starblaze, 1983)
- The Making of the Trek Conventions by Joan Winston (Doubleday Books/Playboy Press, 1977)
- Future Perfect: How Star Trek Conquered Planet Earth by Jeff Greenwald (Viking Press, 1998)
- Get a Life! by William Shatner and Chris Kreski (Pocket Books, 1999)
- A Star Trek Catalog edited by Gerry Turnbull (Grosset & Dunlap, 1979)
- The Physics of Star Trek by Lawrence M. Krauss (Basic Books, 1995)
- I'm Working on That: A Trek from Science Fiction to Science Fact by William Shatner and Chip Walter (Pocket Books, 2002)
- The Trouble with Tribbles by David Gerrold (Ballantine, 1973)
See also

- Lists of Star Trek episodes:
- List of Star Trek: TOS episodes
- List of Star Trek: The Animated Series episodes
- List of Star Trek: TNG episodes
- List of Star Trek: DS9 episodes
- List of Star Trek: Voyager episodes
- List of Star Trek: Enterprise episodes
- Star Trek: New Voyages
- Star Trek Further Reading
- Chronological list of Star Trek stories
- List of Star Trek characters
- List of Star Trek races
- Wikipedia:WikiProject Star Trek
External links

- http://www.startrek.com — The official Star Trek home page
- http://www.memory-alpha.org/ — Memory Alpha, a Star Trek Wiki
- http://startrek.wikicities.com/wiki/Main_Page — A Star Trek Wikicity
- http://www.trekology.com — How Star Trek and other sci-fi space adventures persuade audiences
- [http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/cri/cri-jrnl/web/crj0147a.html Strange New Worlds: The Humanist Philosophy of Star Trek] by Robert Bowman, Christian Research Journal, Fall 1991, pp. 20 ff.
- [http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/S/htmlS/startrek/startrek.htm Encyclopedia of Television]
- [http://www.ditl.org/ Daystrom Institute Technical Library] — A wealth of Star Trek related information
- [http://www.staryards.com/ Starfleet Command Staryards] — A technical database of Canon and non-Canon Star Trek spaceships
- Category:Science fiction television series Category:Science fiction by franchise Category:Space opera Category:Star_Trek_games zh-min-nan:Star Trek ja:スタートレック simple:Star Trek

21st century

The 21st century is the century that began on 1 January 2001 and will last to 31 December 2100. Frequently common usage regards the 21st century as spanning 2000 to 2099, though this method of counting ignores the fact that there was no year 0. In 2000 the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) implicitly backed the common usage by defining a calendar that places the origin of the counting in a year zero.

Overview

The 21st century has had an influence on culture since well before it began. Speculation about future, social, cultural, and technological trends frequently centered on the year 2000, starting with late-19th century essays and novels (often of a utopian nature) such as Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward. It's been said that the event horizon of Western culture was steadily shrinking in this period, since as late as the 1990s people were still often focusing on the year 2000 in their discussions of the future. Religious beliefs in a "millennial apocalypse" were supplemented by genuine concerns about the Y2k computer "bug" and about possible terrorist attacks centered on the year-2000 celebrations, but the actual turn of the millennium (both the popularly-celebrated one in 2000 and the "purist" one in 2001) went by in a fairly anticlimactic manner. However, the years since have continued in the tumultuous manner people of the 20th century were accustomed to expect, with wars, terrorism, and other conflicts, as well as continued advances in science and technology including the continuing expansion of the use of computers and the Internet (despite the "tech bubble burst" where the overexuberance of early Internet companies was deflated). So far in the 21st century, the main historical trends have been the violent conflict between Western Civilization and extremist Muslim Fundamentalism, the search for solutions to global warming, the continued growth of the European Community and the rapid emergence of China and India as global industrial powers. More Y2k-style computer date failures are due before the end of the 21st century; the Unix datestamps, consisting of a count of the number of seconds since 1970, may overflow in 2038, while the family of operating systems descended from MS-DOS (including the various versions of Microsoft Windows) can't handle dates beyond 2099.

Important developments, events, achievements

Politics

- 2003 International Criminal Court opens
- 2004 EU Enlargement: 10 countries join
- 2005 UN Security Council decides war criminals in Darfur will be tried by the International Criminal Court (Resolution 1593) [http://www.un.org/Docs/sc/unsc_resolutions05.htm]
- 2003 - 2005 A series of non-violent revolutions known as the color revolutions overthrew authoritarian regimes in Georgia, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan and Lebanon.

Science and technology

- 2002 Mars Odyssey arrives in orbit around Mars.
- 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia disaster February 1
- 2003 Dolly the sheep dies prematurely February 14
- 2003 Chinese space program launches its first manned space flight, Shenzhou 5 on October 15.
- 2003 Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) spreads around the globe.
- 2004 Mars rovers discover evidence of likely flowing water on Mars. Both are still in service as of 2005.
- 2004 Cassini-Huygens probe arrives at Saturn.
- 2004 SpaceShipOne makes first privately-funded human spaceflight, June 21
- 2005 Huygens probe lands on Titan, the largest of Saturn's moons, January 14
- 2005 Deep Impact probe impacts Comet Tempel 1 July 4.

Conflicts and civil unrest

- September 11, 2001 attacks
- 2001 U.S. invasion of Afghanistan
- 12 October 2002 Bali bombing
- 2003 Invasion of Iraq
- 11 March 2004 Madrid train bombings
- September 2004 Beslan hostage crisis
- 7 July 2005 London bombings
- 2005 civil unrest in France

Worldwide deaths from war and terror attacks

- Second Congo War, approximately 1.8 million deaths (3.8 million since 1998)
- Darfur conflict, approximately 200,000 deaths
- U.S. Invasion in Iraq, most estimates claim 30,000 – 50,000 Iraqi and 2,300 coalition deaths. The Lancet recently estimated 100,000 Iraqis have died as a result of the invasion. [http://www.countthecasualties.org.uk/docs/robertsetal.pdf]
- Civil War in Côte d'Ivoire, 3,000 deaths
- September 11, 2001 attacks, 2,993 deaths Furthermore, there are several wars and dictatorships continuing from the 20th century. In most cases, the death toll is unclear. See also [http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/wars21c.htm].

Natural disasters

- Earthquake in Bam, Iran on December 27, 2003 killed more than 26,000 people.
- 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. On December 26 an undersea earthquake in the Indian Ocean created a large tsunami, which impacted land across the region and caused approximately 310,000 deaths in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and other countries in the region.
- 2005 U.S Gulf Coast Hurricane Katrina - The Category 4 hurricane impacts the Gulf Coast, flooding New Orleans in Louisiana, most of Mississippi, Tennessee, and Alabama. The current number of fatalities stands at 1,277. This hurricane surpassed Hurricane Andrew in cost of damage, becoming the costliest natural disaster in U.S history.
- Earthquake in Kashmir on October 8, 2005. An earthquake in Kashmir has so far claimed over 80,000 lives in India and Pakistan.

Sport

- 2000- 2000 Summer Olympics held in Sydney, Australia.
- 2001- NASCAR (American stock car) driver Dale Earnhardt dies after hitting the wall on the last lap of the Daytona 500. Earnhard's son- Dale Earnhardt Jr. claimed a tearful victory in the next race held at Daytona, less than four months later.
- 2001- In baseball, Barry Bonds breaks Mark McGwire's single-season home run record with 73.
- 2002- In soccer, Brazil win the Football World Cup becoming the first team to win the trophy 5 times.
- 2002- 2002 Winter Olympics held in Salt Lake City, Utah
- 2003- Vancouver, Canada elected host city for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games
- 2003- In baseball. Chicago Cubs fan Steve Bartman interferes with a foul ball during Game 6 of the National League Championship Series. Rather than the Cubs recording the out- and probably the win- the Florida Marlins won Game 6 and Game 7 en route to their second-ever World Series win.
- 2004- In American football, the Pittsburgh Steelers go 15-1 in the regular season, the first American Football Conference ("AFC") team to do so (The Steelers fell short of the Super Bowl with a loss to the New England Patriots in the AFC title game). This is also the first time a rookie National Football League quarterback (Ben Roethlisberger) has gone undefeated in his first season. Roethlisberger won Rookie of the Year.
- 2004- American Lance Armstrong wins his 6th consecutive Tour de France, becoming the first cyclist to win it six times.
- 2004- Greece wins the European Football (soccer) Championship for the first time.
- 2004- The Boston Red Sox baseball team win their first World Series in 86 years, defeating the St. Louis Cardinals 4 games to 0.
- 2004- 2004 Summer Olympics held in Athens, Greece.
- 2005- England's Liverpool F.C. overcome a 3-0 halftime deficit to Italy's A.C. Milan to win soccer's 2004/2005 UEFA Champions League. Liverpool win 4-3 on penalties. It was Liverpool's fifth Champions League victory.
- 2005- American cyclist Lance Armstrong wins his 7th consecutive Tour de France and retires.
- 2005- the 100 meters sprint record is broken by Jamaican Asafa Powell with a time of 9.77 seconds.
- 2005- The Chicago White Sox baseball team win their first World Series in 88 years, defeating the Houston Astros 4 games to 0.
- 2005- The Sydney Swans win Australian (rules) Football League premiership after a 72-year "drought".
- 2005- London elected host city for the 2012 Summer Olympics
- 2006- 2006 Winter Olympics to be held in Torino, Italy

Issues and concerns

Some of the things that have dominated discussion and debate in this century include:
- Globalization. Advances in telecommunications and transportation, the expansion of capitalism and democracy, and free trade agreements have resulted in unprecedented global economic and cultural integration. This has caused (and is continuing to cause) huge economic and cultural shifts which have been the subject of considerable controversy.
- Overpopulation. The United Nations [http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/02/24/un.population/ estimates] that world population will reach 9.1 billion by mid-century. Such growth raises questions of ecological sustainability and creates many economic and political disruptions. In response, many countries have adopted policies which either force or encourage their citizens to have fewer children, and others have limited immigration. Considerable debate exists over what the ultimate carrying capacity of the planet may be; whether or not population growth containment policies are necessary; to what degree growth can safely occur thanks to increased economic and ecological efficiency; and how markets should accommodate demographic shifts. Evidence forms that developed countries (such as Japan) suffer population implosion, and the population debate is strongly tied with poverty.
- Poverty. Poverty remains the root cause of many of the world's other ills, including famine, disease, and insufficient education. Poverty contains many self-reinforcing elements (for instance, poverty can make education an unaffordable luxury, which tends to result in continuing poverty) that various aid groups hope to rectify in this century.
- Disease. AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria each kill over a million people annually. HIV remains without a cure or vaccine, and is growing rapidly in India and much of the African continent. Antibiotic resistance is a growing concern for organisms such as tuberculosis. Other diseases, such as SARS, ebola and flu variations, are also causes for concern. The World Health Organization has [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3524824.stm warned] of a possible coming flu pandemic resulting from bird flu mutations.
- War and Terrorism. Active conflicts continue around the world, including civil wars in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Indonesia, Chechnya, Côte d'Ivoire, Somalia, Nepal, Senegal, Colombia, and what some called a genocide in Darfur, Sudan. The 9/11 terrorist attacks triggered invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. The War on Terrorism has seen controversies over civil liberties, accusations of torture, continued terrorist attacks and ongoing instability, violence and military occupation. Violence continues in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Considerable concern remains about nuclear proliferation, especially in Iran and North Korea, and the availability of weapons of mass destruction to rogue groups.
- Climate change. Some scientists expect that significant anthropogenic climate change will occur during the 21st century, resulting in unprecedented economic and ecological costs. Others dispute the severity of the problem. Trends such as global warming, pollution, biodiversity loss and resource depletion all are growing factors that will contribute to significant issues in this century. Resources in immediate danger of depletion include water, oil, and natural gas.
- Global power. Issues surrounding the cultural, economic, and military dominance of the United States and its role in the world community have become even more pointed given its recent military activities, problematic relations with the United Nations, disagreement over several international treaties, and its economic policies with regard to globalization. Integration of the European Union and the African Union have proceeded.
- Intellectual property. The increasing popularity of digital formats for entertainment media such as movies and music, and the ease of copying and distributing it via the Internet and peer-to-peer networks, has raised concerns in the media industry about copyright infringement. Much debate is proceeding about the proper bounds between protection of copyright, trademark and patent rights versus fair use and the public domain, where some argue that such laws have shifted greatly towards intellectual property owners and away from the interests of the general public in recent years, while others say that such legal change is needed to deal with the threat of new technologies against the rights of authors and artists (or, as others put it, against the outmoded business models of the current entertainment industry). Domain name "cybersquatting" and access to patented drugs to combat epidemics in third-world countries are other IP concerns.
- Technology developments show no sign of ending. Communications and control technology continues to augment the intelligence of individual humans, collections of humans, and machines. Cultures are forced into the position of sharply defining humanity and determining boundaries on desire, thought, communication, behavior, and manufacturing. It is predicted that by the middle of this century there will be a Technological Singularity when artificial intelligences are created that are smarter than humans. As these then create even smarter AI's technological change will accelerate in ways that are impossible for us to foresee.
- Energy is becoming scarce and more expensive, due to the esclating demand for petroleum ("oil") and oil-based products such as gasoline and kerosene, unmatched by production. Discovery of new oil fields has not been sufficient to sustain current levels of production, and some fear that the earth may be running out of economically viable oil. While complete depletion will not happen in the near future, some fear that a peak in production will cause an end to the trend of economic expansion in modern society, perhaps resulting in a collapse of modern civilization itself. Others believe that alternative sources of energy will prevent this disaster.
- Civilization is subject to increasing pressures due to overpopulation and culture clash. Samuel Huntington has spoken of a crash that may lead to extended wars and global instability. At the same time, there is increasing concern of decadence in Western arts and sciences among the leading intelects of the time, from Jacques Barzun to John Horgan´s "End of Science" to the columnist Spengler of Asia Times (who took his pseudonym from Oswald Spengler). The United Nations lists global issues on its agenda [http://www.un.org/issues/ here] and lists a set of [http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/ Millennium Goals] to attempt to address some of these issues.

Significant people

Influential people in politics as of 2005

(in alphabetical order)
- Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian President
- King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia
- Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations
- Jan Peter Balkenende, Prime Minister of the Netherlands
- José Manuel Durão Barroso, President of the European Commission
- Silvio Berlusconi, Italian Prime Minister
- Tony Blair, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
- George W. Bush, President of the United States of America
- Fidel Castro, President of Cuba
- Jacques Chirac, President of France
- Hugo Chávez, President of Venezuela
- Jean Chrétien, former Prime Minister of Canada
- Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, President of Italy
- Luigi R. Einaudi, Secretary-General of the Organization of American States
- Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish Prime Minister
- Vicente Fox, President of Mexico
- Lawrence Gonzi, Maltese Prime Minister
- John Howard, Prime Minister of Australia
- Hu Jintao, President of the People's Republic of China
- Abdul Kalam, President of India
- Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan
- Mohammad Khatami, President of Iran
- Kim Jong-il, General Secretary of the Korean Workers' Party and chairman of the National Defense Commission of North Korea
- Junichiro Koizumi, Prime Minister of Japan
- Aleksander Kwaśniewski, President of Poland
- Paul Martin, Prime Minister of Canada
- Thabo Mbeki, South African president and current leader of the African Union
- Angela Merkel, German Bundeskanzler (chancellor)
- Pervez Musharraf Pakistani President
- Osama bin Laden, Al-Qaeda leader
- Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, President of the Russian Federation
- Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Prime Minister of Denmark
- Condoleezza Rice, United States Secretary of State
- Karl Rove, President Bush's senior advisor, chief political strategist, and deputy chief of staff in charge of policy.
- Saddam Hussein, deposed President of Iraq, currently held by US forces
- Gerhard Schröder, former German Bundeskanzler (chancellor)
- Ariel Sharon, Prime Minister of Israel
- Luis Inácio da Silva, President of Brazil
- Dr. Manmohan Singh, Indian Prime Minister
- Javier Solana, Foreign policy chief of the European Union
- Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, President of Latvia
- Ong Keng Yong, Secretary-General of ASEAN
- Viktor Yushchenko, President of Ukraine
- José María Aznar, Former President of Spain
- José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, President of Spain

Astronomical events and predictions

- Tuesday, June 8, 2004: Transit of Venus occurs after 122 years
- Full eclipse of moon during World Series, 2004
- November 8, 2006: Transit of Mercury
- 2009: Triple conjunction Jupiter-Neptune
- 2010/2011: Triple conjunction Jupiter-Uranus
- Wednesday, June 6, 2012: Transit of Venus to occur a second time this century
- May 9, 2016: Transit of Mercury
- Monday, August 21, 2017: First total solar eclipse of the 21st century for the United States, and the first visible in the continental US since February 26, 1979.
- November 11: Transit of Mercury
- 2024 (plus or minus 5 years): Next predicted return of Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks.
- 2025/2026: Triple conjunction Saturn-Neptune
- Friday, April 13, 2029: The asteroid 99942 Apophis (previously better known by its provisional designation 2004 MN₄) will pass within 30,000 km (18,600 mi) of the Earth.
- November 13, 2032: Transit of Mercury
- 2037/2038: Triple conjunction Jupiter-Uranus
- November 7, 2039: Transit of Mercury
- 2041/2042: Triple conjunction Mars-Uranus
- October 1, 2044: Occultation of Regulus by Venus. The last was on July 7, 1959. After 2044 the next occultation of Regulus by Venus will occur on October 21, 3187, although some sources claim it will occur again on October 6, 2271.
- 2047/2048: Triple conjunction Jupiter-Neptune
- May 7, 2049: Transit of Mercury
- November 9, 2052: Transit of Mercury
- 2061: Next return of Comet Halley.
- 2063: Triple conjunction Mars-Uranus
- November 11, 2065: Transit of Mercury
- November 22, 2065: At 12:45 UTC, Venus will occult Jupiter. This event will be the first occultation of a planet by another since January 3, 1818. Unfortunately this event will be very difficult to observe, because the elongation of Venus and Jupiter from the Sun on that date will be only 7 degrees.
- 2066: Triple conjunction Jupiter-Uranus
- July 15, 2067: At 11:56 UTC, Mercury will occult Neptune. Unfortunately this rare event will be very difficult to observe.
- 2071/2072: Triple conjunction Mars-Neptune
- November 14, 2078: Transit of Mercury
- 2079: Triple conjunction Saturn-Uranus
- August 11, 2079: At 01:30 UTC, Mercury will occult Mars
- Friday, November 10, 2084: Transit of Earth as seen from Mars
- November 7, 2085: Transit of Mercury
- 2085/2086: Triple conjunction Jupiter-Neptune
- October 27, 2088: At 13:43 UTC, Mercury will occult Jupiter
- 2088/2089: Triple conjunction Mars-Neptune
- 2093: Triple conjunction Jupiter-Uranus
- April 7, 2094: At 10:48 UTC, Mercury will occult Jupiter
- May 8, 2095: Transit of Mercury
- November 10, 2098: Transit of Mercury

Scientific Predictions

- Human Genetic Engineering becomes possible.
- Development of Artificial Intelligence.
- Technological Singularity
- Every human body part capable of being either cloned or replaced with an artificial replacement, or both.
- Global Warming accelerates
- Development of anti-matter propulsion rockets and travel close to the speed of light, leading to the colonization of the Tau Ceti system using space habitats fabricated by nanites from asteroidal and comet material.

Socio-Political Predictions

- A woman once told Winston Churchill: "By the year 2100, women will rule the world." Churchill asked: "Still?"
- Several leaders in politics, religion, etc., have set goals for the elimination of anti-Semitism, dictatorship, disease, homosexuality, hunger, illiteracy, lack of drinkable water, over-population, poverty, racism, tyranny and war in the 21st century.
- Near the end of the 21st century, people will still be arguing whether 2100 is the last year of the 21st century or the first of the 22nd.

Science Fiction set in the remaining years of the 21st Century

Television and film

- The events of Stargate SG-1 continue into the early 21st century.
- Stargate Atlantis is set in the early 21st century.
- Transformers: The Movie: is set in the year 2005. The subsequent Generation 2 Transformers series takes place after the events of the movie.
- The Japanese anime show The Super Dimension Fortress Macross spans the years 1999 to 2012 (its final episode takes place in January of 2012, and a direct to video epilogue featurette takes place in September 2012). Its prequel and sequels take place in 2008 (Macross Zero), 2040 (Macross Plus) and 2045 (Macross 7). A dramatized historical fiction movie about the First Space War, The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love?, premieres in 2031.
- The American cartoon show Robotech, composed from the footage of three unrelated anime series (including Macross, above) spans the years 1999 to 2015, 2030-2031 and 2044-2045.
- Part of Back to the Future Part II is set in 2015.
- The Japanese anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion is also set in 2015.
- The modern classic film Blade Runner takes place in November, 2019.
- Both parts of the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Past Tense" take place in 2024.
- The anime universe of Ghost in the Shell, its sequel Ghost in the Shell: Innocence, and anime television series based on the same premise (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd GiG), are centered somewhere around 2029.
- The Terminator is set up during the early years of the 21st century in terms of the wars between humans & Skynet. Some of the interveing years are dealt with by the, at the moment 2, sequels, Terminator 2: Judgment Day & Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines with the whole franchise building to a conclusion of the War in 2029.
- Demolition Man is set in 2032.
- I, Robot was set in 2035.
- Minority Report was set in 2054.
- The 1998 remake of Lost in Space was set in 2058.
- Most of Star Trek: First Contact takes place in 2063. In Star Trek canon, the human Zefram Cochrane develops faster-than-light travel and makes first contact with an alien race during this year.
- Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within Is set in 2068.
- The Japanese anime show Cowboy Bebop is set in 2071.
- The Nickelodeon cartoon My Life as a Teenage Robot is set in 2072.
- Equilibrium is set in 2072.
- Total Recall is set in 2084.
- In Star Trek: Insurrection, it is discovered that the Ba'ku moved to the Briar Patch at some point in this century.
- The Jetsons is supposed to take place in the late 21st century.
- Due to the time-travel nature of its stories, Doctor Who has taken place at various points during the 21st century.

Computer and video games

- Uplink is set on the internet of the year 2010.
- Perfect Dark is set in 2023.
- The races in San Francisco Rush 2049 take place in 2049.
- The events of Deus Ex take place in 2052.
- The levels "Breaking and Entering" and "You Genius, U-Genix" in TimeSplitters: Future Perfect take place in 2052.
- System Shock is set in 2072.
- Future Cop: LAPD takes place in the year 2098.
- The discovery of the Zohar in Xenosaga takes place in 20XX.
- The Great War of the Fallout universe starts on October 23, 2077; nuclear bombs are launched, nobody knows who the aggressor was.
- The Classic Mega Man franchise supposedly begins in 200X (circa 2008?). Megaman 3 introduces the 20XX numbering scheme (circa 2010?)
- The events of Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne occur in 20XX.
- In Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction, the 2nd Korean War starts early in this century

Novels

- Tad Williams' Otherland series is set at some undefined point in the 21st century
- Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age is also set in the 21st century, after some disaster befell the centralized telephone network. This led people to build a decentralized network, which they used to transfer money, thus destroying normal methods of taxation and bringing down most large governments.
- Red Mars of Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy begins in 2027.
- Some books by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky are set in 21st century

Decades and years

External links

- [http://www.longbets.org/ Long Bets] Foundation to promote long-term thinking
- [http://www.longnow.org/ Long Now] Long-term cultural institution Category:Centuries Category:Postmodernism als:21. Jahrhundert ko:21세기 ja:21世紀 nb:21. århundre simple:21st century th:คริสต์ศตวรรษที่ 21

World War III (Star Trek)

Star Trek

Television series

Star Trek (1966-1969)

Star Trek (Animated) (1973-1974)

Star Trek: Phase II (1978; unproduced)

Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994)

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-1999)

Star Trek: Voyager (1995-2001)

Star Trek: Enterprise (2001-2005)

Motion pictures

Canonicity and other storylines

Uncertain future for the franchise

Future sequels to the original series

Future sequels to The Next Generation

Continuation of Enterprise

New feature film?

Video games

Novels

References

See also

External links

21st century

Overview

Important developments, events, achievements

Politics

Science and technology

Conflicts and civil unrest

Worldwide deaths from war and terror attacks

Natural disasters

Sport

Issues and concerns

Significant people

Influential people in politics as of 2005

Influential people in religion as of 2005

Influential people in technology as of 2005

Influential people in science as of 2005

Influential people in mathematics as of 2005

Astronomical events and predictions

Scientific Predictions

Socio-Political Predictions

Science Fiction set in the remaining years of the 21st Century

Television and film

Computer and video games

Novels

Decades and years

External links

2053

Overview

Important developments, events, achievements

Politics

Science and technology

Conflicts and civil unrest

Worldwide deaths from war and terror attacks

Natural disasters

Sport