The Reunification Alliance Charter is a binding legal agreement that governs membership of the Reunification Alliance. Originally signed by the Terran Reunification Alliance and the United Centauran Enclaves in 2959, it has since expanded to encompass a vast number of full-member worlds and civilisations, bound together by a shared reliance on the Alliance Central Authority’s (ACA) trade protection, anti-piracy, and collective defence operations.
There are a number of pre-requisites a world or civilisation must meet before it can be considered for membership. These are known as the Baseline Standard for Modern Civilisation, and include the provision that a prospective member must be harmoniously united under a single government, capable of at least short-range interstellar travel, and not currently engaged in any external wars, disputes, or other conflicts. Support is available in achieving this baseline standard via the Alliance Membership Pathway, which offers financial support, advice, and scientific assistance to promising prospects. Worlds or civilisations thought to be a long way from meeting the baseline can instead apply to join the Affiliated Worlds Programme.
The Charter itself consists of a long and ever-expanding list of binding principles, the most significant of which is the Joint Astrotime Agreement, stating that a world must agree to give up all jurisdiction over non-terrestrial matters and leave them under the ACA’s direct control. In addition to this, member worlds must also abide by the Alliance Moral Principles, a series of agreements outlining what rights are afforded to all Alliance citizens and the obligations of a planetary government to its people. Failure to adhere to these principles will lead to ejection from the Alliance - often disastrous given the member’s reliance on Reunification Navy starships for defence.
Departures from the Alliance are consequently rare, but the Crisis of Faith (3155-3158) saw a number of Earth’s then-largest colonies break away after violating the Moral Principles. This came after a series of brief but violent exchanges of fire between local Planetary Auxiliary units and Alliance Combat Forces, as the seceding colonies protested the new Android Rights Clause.
Outside of these two elements, Alliance member worlds are largely left to govern themselves regarding domestic matters. Perhaps the most controversial element of the Charter is the almost total lack of input afforded to members regarding matters of foreign policy, but it was considered that in a near-post-scarcity society foreign relations should be left to the experts; outside the outbreak of a major war their impact on the lives of regular people should be minimal, and the Charter precludes the ACA from launching wars of aggression without a consensus from member states.
Related Index Pages
Alliance Member Worlds
Alliance Member Species