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Knowing the UFP they'd probably invoke the Prime Directive in that case.

Steve wrote:Knowing the UFP they'd probably invoke the Prime Directive in that case.

"If we don't intervene, the Bajorans will be bombed into oblivion and their world strip mined for any resource of value."
"The Prime Directive says we can't get involved."
"But the Cardassians will butcher them all!"
"Computer, Tea, Earl Grey, Hot, and a roll of duct tape for the mouthy subordinate."
"Captain, we can't just sit by and do nothing!"
"You're right, we can't. Computer, popcorn, extra butter."

But I believe that the Bajorans have developed warp technology in the past, so the PD does not come into effect here.

Enigma wrote:But I believe that the Bajorans have developed warp technology in the past, so the PD does not come into effect here.

The Prime Directive prevents interactions with 'primitive' cultures (i.e. those who haven't developed Warp Travel, aren't unified, and a host of other conditions) and matters that are strictly internal. Technically, the Cardassians, having occupied Bajor in the past, that was considered an internal affair because it was part of the Cardassian Union. However, since Bajor is now free, the Federation could become directly involved if they chose to. The question here is, would they? We saw the lengths the Federation was willing to go to in order to keep the peace, even at the cost of several colonies. How far would the Federation allow things to go before they stepped back, "We want peace! So um, yeah you go right ahead and conquer Bajor. Just uh, don't attack us or it's war."

The Prime Directive, as stated, also forbids interference in internal affairs of other nations. That gets a bit blurry though, since the argument of whether or not that forbids protecting one state or another can come up.

Steve wrote:The Prime Directive, as stated, also forbids interference in internal affairs of other nations. That gets a bit blurry though, since the argument of whether or not that forbids protecting one state or another can come up.

When the Circle tried to overthrow the Provisional Government, clear evidence came up that the Cardassians were funneling weapons to the Circle to help destabilize the government and get the Federation thrown out. Despite having the evidence, Starfleet Command decided that the Prime Directive applied, even though the only reason the civil war was happening was due to Cardassian involvement.