2 Ups And 7 Downs From Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 3.7 — What Is Starfleet?

7. DOWN — Prime Directive, Be Damned!

Star Trek Strange New Worlds What Is Starfleet Lutani Kasar Casualties
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The Prime Directive (or General Order 1) is not just about hiding the existence of aliens from pre-warp civilisations. It is about non-interference as a basic tenet. That includes non-interference with the internal affairs and development of warp-capable (non-Federation) worlds. How many times did we have that lecture from Captain Picard? Worf had to quit for pity's sake!

Sure, Captain Kirk interfered (or will interfere) all the time. At least in his case, we had context, and often the need for a new computer. What Is Starfleet? spent no time explaining why the titular organisation and the Federation were demonstrably violating the Prime Directive by ferrying a weapon of war for the Lutani. The only reason, beyond 'sorry, that's a bit above my paygrade' and/or 'that's classified,' seemed to be 'because we can' and 'maybe the Klingons?!'

Contributor
Contributor

Jack has been a content creator for TrekCulture since 2022, and a Star Trek fan for as long as he can remember. He has authored over 170 articles, including one of TrekCulture's longest, and has appeared several times on the TrekCulture podcast. He holds a first-class honours degree in French from the University of Sussex, a master's with distinction in Language, Culture and History: French and Francophone Studies and a PhD in French from University College London (UCL). He has previously worked in the field of translation. His interests extend to science-fiction television and film more widely. His favourite series is Star Trek: Voyager, followed closely by Stargate SG-1.