2078, May 7
The concept that the foundation of state formation is the territory it occupies has been key to human civilization for millennia. During Antiquity and the Middle Ages, this idea was entirely logical and dictated by the level of communications and information technologies of those epochs.
Today, however, when citizens of many countries live on the territory of others, form entire communities there, and may never set foot in the country where they were born, this concept is increasingly blurring.
In recent decades, we have witnessed the emergence of a huge number of organizations, structures, and communities that claim to have built their state formations without their own territory. This trend, which began a century and a half ago, is now at its peak with dozens of formations claiming state status.
And just now, the first union of such communities has been announced – the Federation of Different States (FDS). It includes fifteen members and aims for their recognition as full-fledged states, as well as the establishment of their authority in international affairs alongside other countries.
Among the members of the newly formed Federation are artificial islands, sea platforms, entire fleets sailing the open sea, aerostats also flying over the oceans, underwater bases, orbital space stations, as well as an international corporation that has declared its employees to be its citizens.
“In the past, the roots of statehood have always been closely linked to the formation of nations and, accordingly, to the geographical territories that these nations inhabit. We respect that. Today, however, a growing number of citizens want to join a new kind of state formations that are based mainly on common principles of coexistence, not necessarily on common territory or nationality. We created this new Federation precisely to help all these communities that have been seeking recognition for decades and want their voice to be heard in the discussion of international affairs,” said Keith Downing, President of Space State and first rotational chairman of FDS.
Space State, created around the space station of the same name, is a rapidly developing community claiming state status. Although the number of its “citizens” already exceeds 50,000 people, only a few percent of them have so far set foot on the orbital station itself. The rest live in different countries around the world but insist they are residents of Space State. The state itself is heavily dependent on the planet for the delivery of all kinds of resources. Nevertheless, it is extremely wealthy, and its economy is mainly focused on scientific research, innovations, intellectual property management, and financial operations. So far, its state status has been recognized by only eight traditional nations.
The Federation’s leaders has already announced that they will continue to attract new members among the remaining communities claiming state status, whose number already exceeds one hundred and is rapidly increasing. However, they announced that virtual states, whose citizens are anonymous and there is no evidence of their number or identity, will not be admitted to membership.