Peace

"Chaos and order, peace and war, regulation and self-determination. We humans tend to think in terms of binary, but what if true harmony comes somewhere in the middle, in that gray space between volatile absolutes?" - Zahrah Yakubu, twenty-second-century poet and human rights activist 

While in the midst of the Anarchy Wars, the remnants of Earth's governing bodies quickly realized there was no one with which to negotiate peace, as they were fighting a nebulous body of militants with no obvious leaders or objectives. As a result, they were forced to form an international coalition as the only way to survive and reestablish order. This loose alliance of governments laid the foundation for what would one day become the United Global Council. 

But things could not continue as they were if lasting peace was to be established, not when their enemy was chaos embodied. The path to order would have to paved with trust and cooperation, not with force. As a result, this proto-union drafted an international agreement called the Articles of Global Unity, a pact to never again subject the world's population to the level of bloodshed seen during the Anarchy Wars. The Articles centralized global security, limited the size of national militaries, established a route for ordered conflict between members, and called for a governing body to oversee peace efforts—The United Global Council (UGC). The world's population, weary of war, in general accepted this olive branch of stability and peace.

The flag of the United Global Council

Global Security

The UGC Defense Force insignia

Over time, the UGC grew in power and influence, quickly becoming the world's foremost governing body charged with establishing international legislation. Unlike many of their predecessors, which were all toothless organizations with minimal ability to enforce their resolutions—even in the rare instances when their various constituents agreed with one another—the UGC was armed with the power to assert their authority on the world's population, thanks to national disarmament and a conglomerated body of security forces known as the UGC Defense Force.

Although complete global disarmament would take another few decades, and skirmishes outside the bounds of the Articles continued to flare up, the world enjoyed a level of peace only ever dreamed of in the entirety of human history. As part of Article Seven of the Articles of Global Unity, the UGC Defense Force was charged with preventing disputes from escalating to armed clashes, as well as regulating and monitoring the process of structured conflict resolution according to the third subsection within Article Seven—The Squad Protocols.

Squad Warfare

The Squad Protocols are the framework for modern-day conflict resolution between governing bodies. Instead of raising gargantuan militaries with unfathomable destructive capabilities, nations are limited to training and maintaining a single nine-member squad. Whenever one nation raises a dispute with another, and negotiations reach an impasse, the two send their squads to face off according to a structured warfighting format. The better a nation's squad performs, the more power the Protocols grant that nation at the negotiating table—a relic of pre-Protocol warfare conventions, where military victories and performance on the battlefield were directly tied to leverage at the tables of diplomacy. Fighting ceases the instant negotiations reach a resolution, or when one squad loses all of its members. 

These Protocol matches are typically held in one of the many ghost cities left desolate as a result of the Anarchy Wars, ensuring that no civilians are placed within harm's way, while simultaneously serving as a solemn reminder of the consequences and horror of boundless war.

The typical Protocol Squad structure adopted by most nations. Although a small number of squads vary from this template, all are bound by the nine-member limit.

Brought to you by the United Global Council Office of History and Public Messaging

COMING 14 December 2021

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