To understand global politics, watch ‘Star Trek’

Bill Muller

Monday, April 10, 2000 | 9:09 a.m.

To analyze U.S. foreign policy, it takes a keen intellect, years of study and a deep understanding of international affairs.

Then again, you could just watch "Star Trek."

For more than three decades the popular science fiction show has provided a stunningly accurate barometer -- make that a tricorder -- for the nation's philosophy on world affairs.

Foreign policy is bound to become a major issue in the upcoming presidential election, so what better way for the candidates, especially George W. Bush, to bone up?

Instead of trying to sort Greeks from Grecians, Bush can keep his phasers on stun and engage the warp drive. Trouble on "Larry King Live"? Have Scotty beam you up.

If Bush gets behind in the polls, he can hint to the media that Al Gore just might be a Borg. Given the vice president's robotlike movements, who could argue?

No need to crack those books when you can watch "Star Trek."

The exploits of characters such as Capt. Kirk, Mr. Spock and Capt. Picard have created a unique forum to analyze -- and criticize -- U.S. foreign policy, said Howard Fienberg of the Statistical Assessment Service, a Washington group that specializes in scientific and social research.

In the late 1960s, with the U.S. mired in the Cold War, "Star Trek" offered parables about the folly of nuclear proliferation, the danger of brinksmanship and the arrogance of superpowers.

"It was safe because it was a metaphor," said Fienberg, who counts himself as a "Trek" fan. "Because you put it out in the realm of science fiction, you can think about these things in a different way ... as opposed to fighting it out on the editorial pages of the Washington Post and the New York Times."

The show's mythology has kept up with the times, morphing from a pro-interventionist bent in the 1960s (the original show), to a less aggressive, post-Vietnam style in the 1980s and '90s ("Star Trek: The Next Generation) to the current version ("Star Trek: Voyager"), which reflects the management-by-crisis of the Clinton administration.

However, nothing can match the original show for political content and social commentary. The program, which first aired in 1966, presented a mirror image of the real world, with superpowers dominating the action.

The United States was represented by the United Federation of Planets (along with Capt. James T. Kirk and the starship U.S.S. Enterprise) while the Soviets were the Klingons -- violent, underhanded enemies who would stop at nothing to vanquish Star Fleet.

The Red Chinese were the Romulans, a mysterious, powerful enemy that popped up every now and then.

The show offered strong anti-nuclear proliferation themes. One episode, "Assignment: Earth," sent an agent from the future into Earth's 20th century to frighten the superpowers out of the arms race. In another, "The Omega Glory," the Enterprise crew encounters a planet where World War III has already been fought and the Asians won.

The show also proffered anti-interventionist rhetoric in the form of the "prime directive," the Federation's policy against interfering in the development of other worlds.

But Capt. Kirk was more Douglas MacArthur than Colin Powell. While paying lip service to diplomacy, he discarded the prime directive (much like MacArthur defied Truman in Korea) when it suited him.

In the episode "A Taste of Armageddon," the Enterprise is dispatched to a solar system where two planets have been fighting an interstellar war for generations.

To preserve their culture and infrastructure, they don't fire real weapons. Instead, battles are fought by computer, real people are tagged as casualties and then willingly march into disintegration chambers.

This offends Kirk's sensibilities, so he and his trusty first officer, Mr. Spock, roam the city, destroying the disintegration chambers and pushing the planet to the edge of real war. Naturally, they come to their senses, but the episode is hardly commentary on the virtues of anti-interventionism.

The mythology that surrounds the show and its companion films has matured over the years. Kirk ultimately pays the price for his earlier cavalier behavior. In the TV episode "Space Seed" Kirk dumps a group of troublemakers on a planet and then forgets about them.

Years later (on the show and in real life), the Federation stumbles over the group, who have been decimated because a nearby planet exploded. They are led by Khan, a genetically engineered warrior from the 20th century.

Don't want to ruin it for you, but the resulting film is subtitled "The Wrath of Khan."

Although the original show was canceled in 1969, the "Trek" myth survived in ubiquitous reruns. Then, in 1987, came "The Next Generation," a kinder, gentler "Star Trek" that reflected the Vietnam Syndrome that dominated U.S. foreign policy since the '70s.

"They were afraid to get involved, basically, in any conflict overseas, for fear they'll get bogged down and trapped in it," Fienberg said.

"They want to make sure they can win. ... They're looking for the cheap and easy Grenada-type conflict."

In "The Next Generation," the Enterprise (newer model, sans mod bucket seats) is commanded by Jean-Luc Picard, a cerebral Frenchman (more Powell than MacArthur) who follows the rules, doesn't like to blow things up and employs a half-psychic "counselor."

"You have to have someone around to make sure everyone gets along," Fienberg said. "Whereas in the old show, if you don't get along, you get shipped out or they put a red suit on you and you get shot."

When Kirk needed to talk, he got liquored up with the ship's doctor, Leonard "Bones" McCoy. Picard chatted with the bartender of the ship's lounge, which is more like a Portland coffeehouse than any bar Kirk would be caught dead in.

Meanwhile, the hated Klingons, still representing the Soviets, have become a shaky ally, and their home world is in political turmoil, mirroring the breakup of the Soviet Union. Keep in mind that the early seasons of "The Next Generation" aired as the Berlin Wall was coming down.

Ironically, it is Kirk himself who sets the stage for the peace treaty (in the film, "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country"), shortly before Mr. Spock tells him that "only Nixon could go to China." Somewhere along the way, the Klingons are transformed from bloodthirsty cutthroats to futuristic Samurai, just as the U.S. began to de-demonize the Soviets.

In the two most recent shows, "Deep Space Nine" and "Voyager," the Federation is on the defensive.

"Deep Space Nine," which was canceled last year, placed the characters on a far-flung space station, trying to keep the peace among warring factions, much like recent U.S. efforts in China and North Korea.

The station is filled with other races and species, who are annoyed at the homogenous nature of the Federation. That relects "how other nations resent the Americanization of their nations," Fienberg said.

Meanwhile, the "Voyager" crew is lost in space, trying to deal with problems as they come and somehow survive. That's a good metaphor for Bill Clinton's foreign policy, Fienberg said.

"They're trying to get home," he said, "and then this race comes up saying you can't pass. And they're thinking, 'How are we going to get through this without getting killed?' "

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