 | THE PRIME DIRECTIVEwith emphasis on [Star Trek: Voyager] |  |
This style of text denotes behind-the-scenes or other information, and/or personal comment.
| THE PRIME DIRECTIVEwith emphasis on [Star Trek: Voyager] | |
This style of text denotes behind-the-scenes or other information, and/or personal comment.
WHAT IS THE PRIME DIRECTIVE?
SUMMARY
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Starfleet's Prime Directive dictates that there be no interference with the natural development of any primitive society, chiefly meaning that no primitive culture can be given or exposed to any information regarding advanced technology or alien races. It also forbids any effort to improve or change in any way the natural course of such a society, even if that change is well-intentioned and kept completely secret. So important is this principle felt to be that the Prime Directive not only prohibits Starfleet personnel and spacecraft from interfering in the normal development of any society as described, but mandates that any member of Starfleet whether vessel or individual people are expendable to prevent violation of this rule. Janeway describes the Prime Directive to Kashyk as being "The Federation's cardinal protocol." (her words "cardinal protocol" are a deliberate echo of the words that Kashyk uses to describe the main rule of his people and government, the Devore Imperium, namely that of hunting and suppressing telepaths, but nevertheless, Janeway's summary for Kashyk of the Federation's Prime Directive is correct).
The Prime Directive is a pre-determining factor for 'first contact', the sociological term for a civilisation's initial meeting with extra-terrestrial life. In Star Trek 'first contact' usually refers to first contact with representatives of the United Federation of Planets. In the Star Trek universe, it is usually a single civilisation, the top of the food-chain and predominant on the planet concerned, though sometimes more than one species or races within a single region might be included, and for costume reasons usually humanoid. First Contact, is perhaps the most risky and unpredictable of all of Starfleet's missions, because of the enormous risk of sociological impact for the civilisation being contacted; that sentiment, noted in [TNG: First Contact], is expressed by someone experienced in such missions, Captain Picard. Numerous Federation and Starfleet policies govern the conduct of first contacts. Among these are the Prime Directive, which prohibits interference with the normal development of any society, particularly a culture less technologically advanced than the Federation, as noted in [TNG: Tin Man]. Under the Prime Directive, first contact is generally avoided until a civilisation has attained significant spaceflight capabilities. Another policy calls for covert surveillance of many cultures prior to first contact, enabling Federation sociologists to anticipate probable reactions. This directive was instituted after the disastrous initial contact with the Klingon Empire led to decades of war, noted in [TNG: First Contact]. Starfleet's current first contact guidelines were written by Captain McCoullough, ref. [DS9: Move Along Home]. Earth's first official contact with extra-terrestrial life took place on 5th April 2063 after space pioneer Zefram Cochrane, upon completing his world's first faster-than-light spaceflight, attracted the attention of a passing Vulcan survey ship. The ship followed Cochrane back to Earth, landing in the state of Montana in the North American continent, where Cochrane became the first human to officially greet beings from another world. There were other alien landings on Earth which took place before that official first contact by Cochrane, e.g. three Vulcan survivors from a Vulcan planetary survey team who in the 1950s crashed near Carbon Creek, Pennsylvania USA, including the male Vulcan named Mestral who lived on Earth for the rest of his life ref. [Enterprise: Carbon Creek] (the story seems to be true despite T'Pol, NX-01 Enterprise's Vulcan science officer, indicating that it might not be true); three Ferengi who crashlanded at Roswell in 1947 ref. [DS9: Little Green Men]; and the Borg (connected with the timeline that established Cochrane's first contact), ref. [Enterprise: Regeneration], but Cochrane's was the pivotal first contact which brought Mankind into the interstellar community.
Starfleet's own definition and its official wording for the Prime Directive is not given in Star Trek in full nor the wording as it developed and not for the 24th century. This was done deliberately in order to allow flexibility for the scriptwriters.. Rather late in [TOS] considering that only three series aired (so "late" is due to hindsight; the series was cancelled), toward the end of [TOS] Season 2, in [TOS: Bread And Circuses], a fairly complete definition of the Prime Directive as followed at the time is given: "No identification of self or mission. No interference with the social development of said planet. No references to space or the fact that there are other worlds or civilisations." Generally, also, as regards the term "primitive culture" in the above paragraph, it tends to be accepted throughout Starfleet and indeed the United Federation of Planets that "primitive culture" means any society or group therein which has not yet attained warp drive (and thus able to explore space if wished). In the latter context, it can be seen why Humankind's first contact with Vulcans is significant, following as it does Zefram Cochrane's pioneering warp flight as depicted in [Star Trek VIII: First Contact]. Starfleet allows and even itself organises scientific missions to investigate and move amongst pre-warp civilisations provided that no advanced technology is revealed or explained to the society concerned, nor any of the advanced technology left behind, and that there is no interference with events and no revelation of the identity of mission or its taskforce. Instances of such scientific missions are seen in [TNG: Who Watches The Watchers] and in [Star Trek IX: Insurrection]. Secret observation of pre-warp societies by Starfleet officers also occurred before the formal introduction of the Prime Directive, and one such mission, in 2152, led to accidental contamination of the planet, as depicted in [Enterprise: The Communicator]; but the occurrence of such missions can be seen as rehearsal which eventually led to the formal framework for observation missions.
The Prime Directive is also known, or more formally known, as General Order number 1. It heads and forms part of the body of Starfleet's general orders which includes items titled not just 'General Order' (e.g. 'Directive 101' and 'Tactical Directive 36') and other regulations required to be adhered to by members of the United Federation of Planets. List and description of Starfleet General Orders and Regulations
The vastness of the Prime Directive's influence and overall significance can be more fully appreciated when it is remembered that the United Federation of Planets is a vast organisation which dominates the galaxy's Alpha Quadrant, being an intersellar alliance of planetary governments and colonies, united for mutual trade, exploratory, scientific, cultural, diplomatic, and defensive endeavours, and was founded in 2161 as noted in [TNG: The Outcast]. In 2373, approximately mid-way through the period that USS Voyager spends in the Delta Quadrant, the Federation comprised more than 150 member-planets, spread out across 8,000 light-years, as noted in [Star Trek VIII: First Contact]. Membership in the Federation is predicated on a number of factors, such as the existence of a unified planetary government ref. [TNG: Attached]. The Federation encompasses numerous planetary states including Earth. The latter, located in the Sol system, is also known as Sector 001 as it is the location of the main strategic and administrative offices of the Federation. The headquarters of Starfleet Command, for instance, are situated in San Francisco, North America, where also the governing Federation Council meets; and the Federation President's offices are in Paris, in France, also on Earth. Earth is the "home" that the crewmembers of USS Voyager are collectively hoping to reach. However, the Articles of Federation do not mention the terms Prime Directive or General Order no.1.
There is no definitive list of members in the Federation, since Star Trek writers desire the freedom to invent new members as specific stories require. The 150-member figure was deliberately chosen to approximate the members in Earth's present United Nations.
The Prime Directive was officially adopted by the United Federation of Planets quite early in Starfleet history, although the exact date is not recorded in Star Trek. The Vulcans may have originated the Prime Directive, as it is stated in [Star Trek VIII: First Contact] that, but for Zefram Cochrane's historic warp flight in 2063, a passing Vulcan ship would have deemed Earth unready for contact and ignored the planet, implying that it was a general policy of the Vulcans; the principle of the Prime Directive did not exist on pre-Federation Earth.
on behalf of Mankind, Cochrane greets a Vulcan, making official First Contact, in the film [Star Trek: First Contact]
This film was written and released before [Voyager] finished airing for the first time, and therefore before the fifth series [Enterprise] in which that policy is effectively confirmed. It is possible that the majority of the Federation's formal definition evolved rather than its strictures being fully formed at the outset, but the main guiding principle had been adopted by 2168 (see below).
| In the Star Trek series which follows [Voyager], namely [Enterprise], which is set in the period commencing 2151, it is established that the Vulcan High Command has long had a formal policy of non-interference in pre-warp societies. In [Enterprise: Carbon Creek], assuming T'Pol's story is true, a Vulcan survey ship takes readings from 1950s Earth, and all the survivors of the ship's crash spend time in the USA (one for the rest of his life) taking measures to ensure that the natives do not realise they are extraterrestrials. The Vulcan ship whose crew made First Contact with Mankind in 2063 may have been such a survey ship, though whether so or whether their mission was to observe Earth are not known. Prime Directive issues are explored in [Enterprise], the story situations of course occurring before the formation of both the Federation and therefore of the official adoption of the Prime Directive.
In a Season 1 story, which occurs in 2151, [Enterprise: Dear Doctor], on a planet that has two indigenous sentient species, the more advanced one (the Valakians) is suffering from a degenerative genetic disorder. A cure was not pursued because it was determined that the more advanced species was genetically stagnant, and that the lesser one (the Menk) was genetically progressive, and considered contrary to nature to help the dying race. The Vulcan policy of non-interference is strongly inferred in that story. In a Season 2 story, in [Enterprise: The Communicator], the Prime Directive is followed though at this time there is no formal directive. A landing party, in native guise and including superficial cosmetic facial alterations, observe a pre-warp civilisation, but end up causing contamination when they return to retrieve a forgotten communicator. Two are apprehended (Archer and Reed) by one side in an impending war and their disguise and difference in anatomy discovered. Rather than reveal that they are extraterrestrials, since the peoples of this planet have not advanced far enough (they have not yet split the atom), they pretend to be genetically enhanced soldiers from the Alliance, the opposing side, that they are the only two such prototype beings and that each piece of their equipment forms the sole existing piece of an advanced prototype. Their execution is ordered and among themselves raise but reject the idea of revealing their true identity — it is better to die than interfere; there is no telling how the natives would react to the stunning news of extraterrestrials among them; because [Enterprise] aired after [Voyager], Star Trek viewers remember [TNG: First Contact] in which public hysteria greeted the rumour of extraterrestrials having landed generating fears of alien invasion. The Enterprise crew mount a successful rescue bid, even managing to remove the incriminating evidence of their presence (equipment and X-rays). But in snatching Archer and Reed to safety utilising the cloaking ability of a Suliban cell ship, the contamination is made worse. The Alliance's enemy is left with the fearful impression that the Alliance have developed stealth technology, more powerful weapons, sophisticated communication devices, and genetically enhanced soldiers. These two stories are instructive because it reflects the views of spacefaring humans and their allies in the years leading up to the creation of the Federation, and indicates the trend of thought which ultimately becomes voiced in the form of the Prime Directive. As explained above, that trend of thought was driven by already long-established Vulcans policy. |
4 screenshots: [Enterprise: Season 1: Dear Doctor]: Dr Phlox and Archer discuss the implications of Phlox having attained a cure for the Valakians 5 screenshots: [Enterprise: Season 2: Carbon Creek]:   in a bar, seeking food  with food won by playing pool  Mestral uses a Vulcan weapon to blast a hole through rock and rescue trapped miners  the Vulcans receive a communication from the Vulcan rescue ship |
In any case, although the Prime Directive was (and remains) a key part of Starfleet and Federation policy toward newly discovered civilisations, it was (and remains) one of the most difficult to administer or at least to administer consistently, as indicated in [TOS: A Piece of the Action], and evident in a number of Star Trek stories spanning all the series - these are noted in individual entries in this article.
In most cases, the Prime Directive applies to any civilisation that has not yet developed the use of warp drive for interstellar travel, ref. [#4 Time and Again].
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But that rule (regarding pre-warp civilisations) was not in force in 2168. In 2168 the Federation starship USS Horizon contacted planet Sigma Iotia II, resulting in disastrous cultural contamination, namely that elements of the early 20th century history of the United States of America were adopted as a way of life by the natives of that planet, these elements being specifically certain attributes of the Chicago mobs, ref. [TOS: A Piece of the Action].
It can be surmised that violations (or known violations) of the Prime Directive in early Starfleet history, such as that mentioned above, almost certainly form part of the information which entrants to Starfleet Academy are required to learn, for Early Starfleet History is one of the pre-requisite subjects. In 2377, USS Voyager's youth named Icheb, in the position equivalent to Starfleet cadet, demonstrates to Captain Janeway that he has amply and ably covered Early Starfleet History and accordingly she gives him a pass in the subject, ref. [#165 Q2]. The instances of the violation of the Prime Directive are given later in this article categorised under [TOS], [TNG] and [Voyager]. 
To write this article I referred extensively to Icheb's course notes.
Incidentally, Icheb's presentation in Early Starfleet History includes the words: "Though it was a blatant violation of the Prime Directive, Kirk saved the Pelosians from extinction, just as he had the Baezians and the Chenari many years earlier. Finally, in the year 2270, Kirk completed his historic five year mission and one of the greatest chapters in Starfleet history came to a close. A new chapter began when Kirk regained command of the Enterprise." This increases the number of known violations of the Prime Directive by Kirk previously known only from [TOS].
Tom Paris' father, Owen Paris, was a firm believer in Starfleet's highest law, the Prime Directive, and was known to lecture his family on the subject once a year, which Paris notes in [#4 Time And Again]. Owen Paris is seen in [#24 Persistence Of Vision] (as an hallucination seen by his son) and in certain Project Pathfinder stories in Seasons 6 and 7. But the Prime Directive had its detractors, such as Captain Jean-Luc Picard who contravenes it in, for instance, [TNG: Pen Pals].
There is one formal legal exception to the Prime Directive. Classified Starfleet General Order known as the Omega Directive requires the captain of a starship to notify Starfleet Command immediately upon detection of an Omega molecule, and authorises the use of any and all means necessary to destroy an Omega molecule. "Omega" is technically a codename. The Omega Directive even authorises a starship captain to violate the Prime Directive if necessary to erase knowledge of even the existence of Omega. The Omega Directive was implemented by Starfleet after a Federation scientist, Dr Ketteract, synthesised a single Omega molecule. A few Omega molecules are contain enough energy to power an entire planet. But the particle remained stable for only a fraction of a second before it exploded, destroying the research station and causing subspace ruptures extending across several light-years, making warp travel impossible in the region. Starfleet Command immediately realised that the use of even a few Omega molecules could effectively end spacefaring civilisation as we know it and accordingly not only banned research into Omega but issued the Omega Directive. Starfleet's Omega measures themselves violate the Prime Directive - this is discussed later in the article.
The Prime Directive is an occasional though essential element of Star Trek and stories involving it appear in every series (though not named as such in [Enterprise] which is, apart from time-travel stories, set in the mid-22nd century) and in the film [Star Trek IX: Insurrection]. Although the Prime Directive is clear-cut and allows no exceptions, requiring even the sacrifice of Starfleet lives to uphold it where necessary, in practice it was not always applied, for various reasons usually involving a moral dilemma or the safety of Starfleet personnel. In addition, enforcement by Starfleet in the form of discipline following a breach seems not to have been implemented e.g. court martial, demotion or ejection from the service. At some point, every one of our hero Starfleet captains has to deal with issues thrown up by Starfleet General Order no.1. In this article, major stories involving the Prime Directive are described and discussed, both in individual entry pages and in the section MAIN DISCUSSION (mostly non-[Voyager]) and discussed in [VOYAGER] AND THE PRIME DIRECTIVE, concluding with a final summary and conclusion.
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