Which is all TOS ever attempted to show us. A lot better than the world of the 1960s (we were no longer trying to blow ourselves up, for instance) but still far from a utopia.
Spoilers Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 2x02 - "Ad Astra Per Aspera"
- Thread starter Commander Richard
- Start date
I think that the only time the Federation Utopia came close to actually existing was in the largely undocumented period inbetween Star Trek 6 and Encounter at Farpoint. A long period of peaceful expansion and economic growth relatively unmared by large scale war, given the peace with the Klingons and the isolationism of the Romulans.
But by the end of season 1 of TNG, we've already start to see the Romulan starting to poke cautiously at the Federation's resolve, and the first evidence of Borg incursion.
In the second season of TNG, not only is the Federation exposed to the reality of the Borg threat, we also see them doing things with a more militaristic slant. The reason the starbase in "A Measure of a Man" was established was explicitly stated to "show the Romulans the flag", and the war games in "Peak Performance" we're also stated to be due to the Borg threat and the heightened state of alert with the Romulans.
After that, the Klingon Civil War, followed by a second Borg Invasion, the brief breakdown of the Khitomer accords, and then, finally the devastation of the Dominion War. It's hard to maintain a Utopia when the shit is so consistently hitting the fan like that.
But by the end of season 1 of TNG, we've already start to see the Romulan starting to poke cautiously at the Federation's resolve, and the first evidence of Borg incursion.
In the second season of TNG, not only is the Federation exposed to the reality of the Borg threat, we also see them doing things with a more militaristic slant. The reason the starbase in "A Measure of a Man" was established was explicitly stated to "show the Romulans the flag", and the war games in "Peak Performance" we're also stated to be due to the Borg threat and the heightened state of alert with the Romulans.
After that, the Klingon Civil War, followed by a second Borg Invasion, the brief breakdown of the Khitomer accords, and then, finally the devastation of the Dominion War. It's hard to maintain a Utopia when the shit is so consistently hitting the fan like that.
I think the decision of TOS to never show Earth in the 23rd century was a smart idea. It gave the impression Earth did solve a majority of its problems, but was still not a utopia. Hard to challenge something if you never see it.
there was also a war with the cardies in that period…
And the Tzenkethi. And the Talarians.
And the Cardassians. That's why I said that they got through that period "largely unmarred" by "large scale" warfare. The war with the Cardassians was explicitly called a "border conflict", and I imagine the others were largely the same. They weren't the existential threats posed by the Klingons, the Romulans, the Borg or the Dominion. Just the unfortunate consequence of trying to expand where they weren't wanted.
And the Thoians.
Yep, true. Riker's father had to devise a strategy against a Tholian attacker in the 2340s.