Klingons and Romulans rational fear of the Federation

[Stravo]

This is a rather long essay that I worked on and off since yersterday. Let me know what you think.


The Klingons and Romulans were portrayed as ireddemably bad in TOS. Yet even in that series there were nuggets of truth that one could extract when analyzing the Klingon Romulan Federation relationship.


Klingons

In Errand of Mercy, Trouble with Tribbles and Friday's Child we see the Federation as aggressively expansive and willing to make some sweeping grand promises and outright bribes to get a power to side with them or a world join them. In Trouble with Tribbles it is considered a foregone conclusion that the Federation will win their claim over the planet they are vying for through the use of quatrotricallie (super wheat) forcing the Klingons to try and sabotage the grain because they could not compete.

In fact in many instances where the Klingons and Federation square off for the loyalty of a world the Klingons only real advantage is in offering strength in weapons and ships while the Federation relies on technology and economic assistance. The Klingons obviously do not have the wealth and comfort of the Federation, in Day of the Dove the Klingons remark about the relative 'softness' of the Federation indictaing a sort of decadence in their eyes concerning the Federation.

The Klingons do not fear the Federation militarily - in fact they view the Federation as the only worthy opponenets they face in the quadrant. See Koloth's view of a Federation Klingon general war - "It would have been Glorious." in Errand of Mercy. (Perhaps a peak at the Viking mentality that would supplant Klingon culture later on)

It is in the Federation wealth and cultural advancement that the Klingons fear. They know they can't compete when it comes to food production and making people's lives 'better' The Klingons can only offer to make you 'stronger'. Faced against this credibility gap the Klingons progressively alternate between outright belligerance and hostility (TOS movies up until TUC) where flagrant attacks on Federation vessels in Federation space (ST III) are followed up by immediate demands and bluster "There can be no peace as long as Kirk lives" to Cold War states - the time between end of TOS movie era and Early TNG era when the peace is solid and the Klingons and Federation no longer maintain cool relations. In fact early TNG era indicates that perhaps there was even a brief era of introspection and closed borders shown in Heart of Glory with the Federation uncertain about what to expect from the Klingons when they come for their people.

This period of cool relations is still spiked with belligerant outbursts such as the Klingon Civil War and the ascension of Chancellor Gowron and his move to expand the Klingon empire that has been tellingly stagnant for generations. The Klingons seemingly gave up the ghost on even trying to compete with Federation expansion generations before the TNG era and instead resolved to hold on to what it had. Now in a burst of energy they engaged the Cardasians and then the Federation in wars of expansion that gained them little and left them exposed when the Dominion arrived in force in the Alpha quadrant.

With the death of Gowron and the decimation of the Klingon fleet is it unlikely they will attempt to expand anytime soon and have accepted their overall place in the quadrant's power structure.

It is only in late TNG era that the Klingons are completely comfortable with the Federation, to the point where they bleed their fleets in an valiant effeort to keep the Alliance alive against the Breen Dominion Alliance.

But up until this time it is not unreasionable to see why the Klingons opposed the Federation expansion wherever they could. The federation was much richer both wealth wise and culutrally making their efforts at acquiring new worlds far far easier than the Klingons.

And even their military advantage long a given in Trek lore - as far as mid TNG era it is a given that the Klingons were superior militarily (Yesterday's Enterprise has a 25 year war with the Klingons that ends in Klingon victory) This state of superiority is further supported by Federation fears of Klingon military superiority are found throughout the series and movies - a prime example of which is the depiction of the no win scenario - an attack by Klingon forces. This superiority is only challenged once in Trek history in a strange inbetween state in TOS movies does the Federation have a brief moment of superiority In The Undiscovered Country The Klingons see the only way of winning against the Federation is an all out attack and even then it is considered a foregone conclusion that they would proibably lose anyway. - See Colonel West's statement that they would clean their chronometers and the Klingon statement "better to die on our feet than live on our knees" indicating their own view that they would probably lose such a conflict.

However by late TNG era this militray state too erodes with time. The Klingons sapped by Civil Wars and Cultural and Scientific stagnation begin to slip so that by the Dominion War era they are no longer the overwhelming military power of the Quadrant. That title goes to the Federation for the first time in a remarkable increase in overall power and prestige by the end of the war.



Romulans

The Romulans aggressively patrol their neutral zone and are almost xenophobic about any contact with the Federation hinting at a two fold fear - an outright fear of the Federation invading and a fear of exposure to Federation culture and wealth.

The first is easily explained by the fact that the Romulans are portrayed as playing catch up throughout TOS in terms of technology and weapons. Their one shot wonder plasma weapon is never seen again because of the obvious deficincies in its design and use that Kirk exploited and the cloaking device which the Enterprise was able to partially pierce in their very first encounter (Balance of Terror).

They are so far behind in weapons and ship technology that they all but abandon their warship construction program and adopt wholesale the Klingon ship designs that they are given in what must have been some lend lease program where the Klingons gave them monkey models of their D-7's.

It is only in TNG era after a particularly long period of isolation are the Romulans able to field their own homegrown warships that can challenge the best that the Federation can field. During the Dominion war era the Warbirds are shown to be aging and obsolescent as they suffer heavy casulties in every fleet engagement shown. Significantly their replacements are lighter smaller warships like the Valdore indicating that they can no longer afford large ships like the warbirds. (Scimitar an obvious exception this thought but it was a one shot weapon)

The Romulans are also afraid of exposure to Federation culture and ideals as evidenced by their constant refusal at direct communications and the zealous defense of their borders. It is heavily hinted in Nemesis that no federations atrship has ever even orbitted Romulus itself. Ever. That contact with the Romulans has always been kept at arm's length. Considering the aggressively erossive nature of Federation culture and ideals to alien societies (Evidenced by numerous examples of aliens acting human - Spock, Worf, Quark, Rom, Garak (to a lesser extent), etc) could you blame the rigid and secertive Romulans from wanting to avoid cultural contamination?

Romulan expansion much like Klingon expansion in the TNG era is almost non existent. There is talk of the Romulans fighting in far off territories away from the shared Klingon/Federation border - fighting that is mentioned as far back as Balance of Terror - indicating some form of military expansion but never anything concrete enough to ever become a threat to the federation in terms of size and diversity and certainly none of these conquests bring riches into the Romulan Empire to even be considered a contender against the Federation.

In closing, given the remarkably aggressive and expansionist nature of the Federation which by Dominion War era has expanded to over 800 ly across and 150 member worlds could the suspicion and aggression of the Romulans and Klingons be so easily explained by somethign so trite as "they're just bad."?

[NecronLord]

Significantly their replacements are lighter smaller warships like the Valdore indicating that they can no longer afford large ships like the warbirds. (Scimitar an obvious exception this thought but it was a one shot weapon)

Both of these are unjustified assertions. A move to smaller warships does not indicate an inability to build large ones - by that logic the Culture's economy is inferior to the SW Galactic Empire because they build smaller ships. A Valdore is notably considerably faster than its predescessor, faster even that the newest federation flagship, and given its light defences in comparison to its predecessor, it is likely optimised for the persuit of light vessels, and not intended as a replacement for the D'Deridex.

It is not surprising that the D'Deridex class underpreformed in the Dominion war battles we saw. It is generally considered to be designed to have a maximal first strike capacity, capable of destroying any known warship (IE, everything up to a first run GCS) in the opening minutes of an engagement. Because of this, when they are forced by the use of Federation fleet tactics which the combined forces adapted (approach enemy in flying wall formation) as opposed to the tactics they are intended to use (basically submarine tactics. Powerful disabling strike from a stealthed position). In the role their alliance forced them into, they were effectively large flying targets. In their intended role, they are highly effective ship killers.

Effectively, to fight alongside federation ships, the D'Deridex has to give up its advantages and change its mission profile. No wonder they get mashed when they do. It doesn't make them an outdated ship, it just makes them a ship being asked to do something it was never intended to do.

The lack of a post Nemesis canon also means you cannot say if the Scimitar was a one shot vessel with any certainty. For all we know, the Romulans could be producing more of them after Nemesis.

[Stravo]

You have to wonder though why are the only ships that can be scrambled to stop the Scimitar are two Valdores. The D'Deridex class ships were always pretty abundant, particularly when you take into account that they were heading out of the neutral zone, so where were the ships? The best the admiralty could come up with two Valdores? Or were the Valdores the replacement for the D'Deridex and one of the reasons we don't see them in Nemesis because of Dominion War attrition and no new models being built?

[Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba]

My best explanation for the Valdores was that they were very new ships- clearly the Romulans had decided after the Dominion War that they could no longer afford to put all their eggs in one basket as it were, with fleets of super-battleships. Thus, there were probably only a few in existence at all at the time, and only two available for use.

As for the Scimitar, I can easily see it being cranked out as the new replacement for the D'Deridex. It can be built by some backwater renegade slaves for their master, and even when 90% of it is designed to just be a big Thalaron Radiation weapon, it still had enough conventional weapons to kick the ass of the Federation flagship and two other ships before offensive character-shields came online.

[teleguy]

It is heavily hinted in Nemesis that no federations atrship has ever even orbitted Romulus itself. Ever.

No, it had already been done in Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges.

[NecronLord]

You have to wonder though why are the only ships that can be scrambled to stop the Scimitar are two Valdores. The D'Deridex class ships were always pretty abundant, particularly when you take into account that they were heading out of the neutral zone, so where were the ships? The best the admiralty could come up with two Valdores? Or were the Valdores the replacement for the D'Deridex and one of the reasons we don't see them in Nemesis because of Dominion War attrition and no new models being built?

For the same reason that the Ent Nil was the only ship they could scramble against Vejur. The other ships were racing after it (Vejur) but were simply not fast enough to catch it. Only a ship directly in its path could rendevous. Remember, in terms of speed it's D'Deridex<GCS<Sovvie<Scimitar<Valdore. That discounts all but the ships actually on the Neutral Zone, and even then, only some of them would be able to intercept, and their loyalty is in question.

Let's not mention, the D'Deridex cloak can be detected when it's at high warp, if you know what you're looking for (according to the Romulan commander in The Search) and Shinzon would see those ships coming and simply dodge them. The Valdore has a more up to date cloak (with different Special effects) which presumably allowed to to get the drop on the Scimitar.

So, we have the Valdores, the only ships that can catch Shinzon and that he couldn't simply detect and avoid. The loyalty of the rest of the fleet not under Donatra's control is still hard to garuntee - Shinzon did have their support for his coup after all, the last orders they received from the Praetor were probably to stand down and allow him to pass - and for all they know, ships ordered from the Neutral Zone to intercept Shinzon would have opened fire on the Enterprise, or simply said, "Screw you we're staying put. Time for Feddie dogs to die."

[Sidious]

The first is easily explained by the fact that the Romulans are portrayed as playing catch up throughout TOS in terms of technology and weapons. Their one shot wonder plasma weapon is never seen again because of the obvious deficincies in its design and use that Kirk exploited and the cloaking device which the Enterprise was able to partially pierce in their very first encounter (Balance of Terror).

They are so far behind in weapons and ship technology that they all but abandon their warship construction program and adopt wholesale the Klingon ship designs that they are given in what must have been some lend lease program where the Klingons gave them monkey models of their D-7's.

Agreed, in TOS The Deadly Years two (Sulu later mentions as many as 10(!)) Romulan BoP's pound the Enterprise for several minutes with conventional torpedoes and the Enterprise is still able to warp away with minimal damage after Kirk regains command and dupes them with a fake call to Starfleet.

The best the admiralty could come up with two Valdores? Or were the Valdores the replacement for the D'Deridex and one of the reasons we don't see them in Nemesis because of Dominion War attrition and no new models being built?

Theres always the possibility that much of the Admiralty didnt actually want to stop the Scimitar until after it had ruined Earth. "Blood on their hands" or not, its been shown again and again that the Federation would be devastated with the loss of Earth. A token response on the part of the Romulan military to stop the Scimitar early on and they can claim they tried to prevent the disaster. Later a fleet of warbirds obliterates the Scimitar (assuming starfleet is unable to at Earth, which i find highly unlikely) and the Shinzon problem is resolved. While the Federtation is in chaos, the more sinister elements of Romulan Empire have time to take advantage and further their own interests?

Anyway, great essay Stravo!

[Uraniun235]

The D'Deridex cloak failure at high warp was also seen in TNG Tin Man, where a Warbird had to burn out it's engines in order to keep up with the Enterprise.

[Junghalli]

The Klingons and Romulans were portrayed as ireddemably bad in TOS. Yet even in that series there were nuggets of truth that one could extract when analyzing the Klingon Romulan Federation relationship.

I don't know about the part about them being portrayed as irredeemably bad, I didn't really get that impression.
My take on it is that you could sort of think of much SF (including Trek) as kind of a Western. We're the great explorers, and then generally there are alien species which take on the headhunting natives role. So basically the Klingons and Romulans are there to play the Indians to our cowboys. And in that context of course they have good reason to fear human expansionism: look what happened to the Indians in RL!
In that context it's also predictable that they'll be portrayed as the agressors. In Westerns it's always the Indians attacking the wagon trains and towns. We're always defending ourselves, and somehow in the process of defending ourselves we totally destroyed them and conquered won the West for ourselves. You see a similar pattern in a lot of SF.

Romulan expansion much like Klingon expansion in the TNG era is almost non existent.

That's a myth IMO. The Romulans didn't stop expanding completely. They ran into the Federation and had to stop their push into that part of the the galaxy, but there's no reason they couldn't have been expanding into the deep Beta Quadrant, away from the Federation. So have the Klingons in all likelyhood.

[frigidmagi]

That's a myth IMO. The Romulans didn't stop expanding completely. They ran into the Federation and had to stop their push into that part of the the galaxy, but there's no reason they couldn't have been expanding into the deep Beta Quadrant, away from the Federation. So have the Klingons in all likelyhood.

Is it possible that the Beta Quadrant is resource poor somehow compared to the Alpha Quadrant? Could that be why neither the Klingons or the Romulans seem to be able to compete with Federation wealth?

[Junghalli]

Is it possible that the Beta Quadrant is resource poor somehow compared to the Alpha Quadrant? Could that be why neither the Klingons or the Romulans seem to be able to compete with Federation wealth?

Maybe, the deep Beta Quadrant does seem to be mostly uninhabited (based on the fact that nothing ever seems to happen in that part of the galaxy). Maybe there are less habitable worlds there.
Let's see, the galaxy is supposed to have two main resource rich zones: the core and the life belt. The core will have a lot of high metallicity systems, hence lots of industrial resources. The life belt goes through the middle of the spiral arm disc, and is the part of the galaxy expected to have the most habitable planets. Earth is in the life belt.
Maybe the Romulan & Klingon worlds are outside the life belt? Which would put it maybe close to the core in the Sagittarius arm. Or it might be in the outer Orion arm or the Perseus arm. I'd lean toward the second option as it would put the Klings and Roms in "our" part of the galaxy.
This is where Trek's IMO assinine system of dividing the galaxy into random squares annoys me. It completely ignores the natural geography of the galaxy in favor of an artificial and arbitrary system. It would be as if we divided the world map into four quarters and ignored the continents and geographical features therein.

[Isolder74]

may be why the Klingons felt the Genisis device was such a threat if they have in theire borders a large stock of barren worlds

[SCVN 2812]

may be why the Klingons felt the Genisis device was such a threat if they have in theire borders a large stock of barren worlds

That and its ability to extreminate all life on a planet and replace it.

[Coalition]

You have to wonder though why are the only ships that can be scrambled to stop the Scimitar are two Valdores. The D'Deridex class ships were always pretty abundant, particularly when you take into account that they were heading out of the neutral zone, so where were the ships? The best the admiralty could come up with two Valdores? Or were the Valdores the replacement for the D'Deridex and one of the reasons we don't see them in Nemesis because of Dominion War attrition and no new models being built?

The admiral could have handled that by saying, that her two ships ar all that is left of her fleet. In a novelization, we could see her leaving a Fleet base with several dozen of each. As she heads to the front, there are uprisings all over, and several fleet bases send out squadrons to stop her.

Her D'Deridex ships break off, to buy the fleet the room it needs. They are engaging at 3:1 odds, merely to give the admiral the chance to break through. The two Valdores are all that is left of her fleet when she gets there.

As for the Scimitar, I can easily see it being cranked out as the new replacement for the D'Deridex. It can be built by some backwater renegade slaves for their master, and even when 90% of it is designed to just be a big Thalaron Radiation weapon, it still had enough conventional weapons to kick the ass of the Federation flagship and two other ships before offensive character-shields came online.

Given the large and solid body, I'd like to think it was a Dominion toy. Shinzon got a lot of victories in the Dominion war, and he could have captured a Dominion shipyard, with the ship under construction. Add the targeting wings, add in a Thaleron generator, and he would have had a planetkiller ship. He likely advanced the original idea to kill the Dominion troops, to counter their rapid cloning.

The wings were added to make the ship more Romulan like, like a slap in the face to the Dominion. Essentially saying they will take what the Dominion has, and make it Romulan.

When the end of the war came suddenly, he still had the ship, with its capabilities.

So there could be basic versions of the Scimitar, but without the wings.

[Kamakazie Sith]

You have to wonder though why are the only ships that can be scrambled to stop the Scimitar are two Valdores. The D'Deridex class ships were always pretty abundant, particularly when you take into account that they were heading out of the neutral zone, so where were the ships? The best the admiralty could come up with two Valdores? Or were the Valdores the replacement for the D'Deridex and one of the reasons we don't see them in Nemesis because of Dominion War attrition and no new models being built?

In reality it was probably some stupid licensing thing. However, D'Deridex class Warbirds are known to be slower than the E-D. Perhaps these were the only class of ship that had the warp capability to intercept the E-E and the faster Scimitar.

[FTeik]

That's a myth IMO. The Romulans didn't stop expanding completely. They ran into the Federation and had to stop their push into that part of the the galaxy, but there's no reason they couldn't have been expanding into the deep Beta Quadrant, away from the Federation. So have the Klingons in all likelyhood.

Is it possible that the Beta Quadrant is resource poor somehow compared to the Alpha Quadrant? Could that be why neither the Klingons or the Romulans seem to be able to compete with Federation wealth?

They couldn't compete with Federation wealth, because they poured most of their resources into the military as well as their scientific research and development were largely dedicated towards the creation of new and more powerful weapons. Civilian research and a free economy probabely didn't exist.

Compare this to the TOS-Federation, a free market, the diversity of dozens of species, what adds up to a dozen different ways to approach a problem.

It is also a miracle, that industrial-wise and population-wise single-species empire like Romulans and Klingons could compete with an Organisation like the UFP.

[Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba]

As for the Scimitar, I can easily see it being cranked out as the new replacement for the D'Deridex. It can be built by some backwater renegade slaves for their master, and even when 90% of it is designed to just be a big Thalaron Radiation weapon, it still had enough conventional weapons to kick the ass of the Federation flagship and two other ships before offensive character-shields came online.

Given the large and solid body, I'd like to think it was a Dominion toy. Shinzon got a lot of victories in the Dominion war, and he could have captured a Dominion shipyard, with the ship under construction. Add the targeting wings, add in a Thaleron generator, and he would have had a planetkiller ship. He likely advanced the original idea to kill the Dominion troops, to counter their rapid cloning.

The wings were added to make the ship more Romulan like, like a slap in the face to the Dominion. Essentially saying they will take what the Dominion has, and make it Romulan.

When the end of the war came suddenly, he still had the ship, with its capabilities.

So there could be basic versions of the Scimitar, but without the wings.

I say not. The Bridge structure and the hallways look entirely different than any Dominion/Jem'Hadar ship we have ever seen. Besides, it is described as a "Reman Battleship" more often than not.

[Chris OFarrell]

I say not. The Bridge structure and the hallways look entirely different than any Dominion/Jem'Hadar ship we have ever seen.

Which means little. Especially if Shinzon captured the ship at the keel and hull frame stage. Where its primary systems were installed, but the ship wasn't finished. Frankly, having it be a Dominion prototype makes far more sense from a lot of angles.

1. The basic design is Dominion. That’s just a fact. Its almost exactly the same design as the JH Battle cruiser for all intents and purposes, just scaled up.

2. The more advanced technology in it, which would appear to be beyond Romulan technology. Example. The Thaleron weapon. The 'perfect' cloak. The much higher warp speeds. The shear size, in line with Dominion superships. The double shielding layers. Its absurd to think Shinzon with his few loyal followers and almost no infrastructure could overcome all these problems by himself that no-one else has.

3. Its in the Dominions nature to seek a WMD/superweapon/BIG solution to problems. Like the 'quickening' virus. Or the plot to make Bajors star go nova. Or the Breen Energy Weapon. Or the Argus Array. Or the Pa'Wraith into the wormhole. Or the Superships. Its entirely plausible that towards the end of the war they commissioned a prototype Thaleron weapon, Advanced Dominion technology letting them walk this line, while the other AQ powers were unable to turn it into a viable weapon. They started building a prototype, then the war ended. Shinzon saw an opportunity in this, seized the unfinished prototype, then brought it back to a shipyard under his control where they then finished and filled it out. Secondary Romulan weapons systems, sensors, possibly the cloaking device a mesh of Dominion and Romulan technology.

4. The Romulans are unlikely to let someone they view as a rebel and necessary evil build a God Damned super weapon that can blast planets clear of life. You saw how Denartra reacted when they realised he had the weapon and guessed what he was going to do with it. If they had known he had it in the first place, they would NEVER have supported him. And without the Romulan military backing him, Shinzon would NEVER have come close in his coupe attempt. If however he kept the Scimitar more or less an unknown until Picard arrived, that explains that.

So in short, its more logical to be a stolen Dominon superweapon. It explains why there is only one of them. Why Shinzon has it. Why it has technology the rest of the Romulans do not have (even new ships like the Valdores). How Shinzon was able to build it (he didn't, he just outfitted it) without hijacking a Romulan shipyard and making everyone forget, while working in the shadows.

[NecronLord]

So in short, its more logical to be a stolen Dominon superweapon.

Of course, when we apply logic to the situation in Star Trek, we get some very bizzare results. Klingons as a dwindling or dead power, Romulans schemes actually working. The Ferengi as a dominant power. The Federation divided by constant peril. The Borg crushing Earth under a torrent of cubes via that portal next to it.

In any case, I would expect the 'perfect cloak' to be a Romulan piece of equipment. We've never seen the Dominion use such technology. They would have had an insurmountable advantage if they were able to use it during the war.

[buzz_knox]

Neither the Klingons nor the Romulans were described as irredeemably bad in TOS. The Organians specifically stated that the Klingons would be allies with the Federation. Further, both the Romulan and Klingon commanders were depicted as essentially honorable individuals: Mark Leonard's character questioned in his orders; the Romulans weren't the wrong doers in the "Enterprise Incident;" and Kang was certainly shown to be a warrior capable of reason.

The Klingons represented the Soviet Union during that period, and there was that tension between seeing them as enemies and our former allies. During that period, there was also discussion/hope that such an alliance would possible again.

The Romulans represented the Chinese, as shown not only by their cultural remarks (a common ancestry with the Federation's logical [dare we say Asian] allies) but also with their going from semi-cladestine opposition to detente and technology exchanges (with the Klingons, just as the Chinese enjoyed with the Russians). And there again, the tension between seeing them as historic allies turned political opponents with whom the United States was attempting to normalize relations can be seen.

[Dark Primus]

It is heavily hinted in Nemesis that no federations atrship has ever even orbitted Romulus itself. Ever.

Actually in one DS9 Dominion War arch episode (Can't remember the name), one Federation ship I believe did orbit Romulus itself. It had Section 31 involved.


I think if the Federation really wanted to if given the motivation it could become the US of the Milky Way, it already dominates Alpha Quadrant, and has a moderate size chunk of the Beta Quadrant.

[NecronLord]

Inter Arma Einem Silent Leges

And it had a half dozen D'Deridexes visible around it to dissuade it from doing anything foolish.

And no, the Borg would crush them in a confrontation, as would the full might of the Dominion, and they have no way to project power on a galactic scale.

[Crazedwraith]

You have to wonder though why are the only ships that can be scrambled to stop the Scimitar are two Valdores. The D'Deridex class ships were always pretty abundant, particularly when you take into account that they were heading out of the neutral zone, so where were the ships? The best the admiralty could come up with two Valdores? Or were the Valdores the replacement for the D'Deridex and one of the reasons we don't see them in Nemesis because of Dominion War attrition and no new models being built?

Or the Admiralty scrambled everything they had and the two Valadores (does any one know where the name 'Norexan' came from for them?) were simply the first vessels to get there.

[Darth Fanboy]

I think Stravo's essay has hit alot of things right on the money, but what I think it fails to address is that the Federation sprang up to become a contender in such a relatively short period of time, and that its completely different from what the Klingon Empire and Romulan Star Empire represent. The Klingons and Romulans seem to have been powers for along time and then suddenly (in terms of galactic history) this new power arises to challenge them both. While the Klingon and Romulan territories seem to be largely homogenous (due to the species specific dominance) the Federation compromises multiple species (which is probably the best reason for their quick rise). The Federation seems to have lots of room for expansion too, in terms of territory (UFP is "seeking out new worlds and new civilizations") and population (150 member worlds plus all those colonies with more worlds joining) and even in the time of TNG they don't show many signs of slowing down.

The Klingons and Romulans I Think see just how fast the Federation has come onto the scene and might be thinking: "in the last 200 years they've gone from scattered societies to a major powerbroker, in the next 200 years at this rate they'll be unchallenged." A hefty amount of fear is probably warranted from that perspective. You think maybe in 250-500 years the entirety of the Klingon Empire will be a part of the Federation entirely? I think its not a stretch to imagine, but still debatable. The Romulans, possible but I Don't think that everythin is as peachy post-Nemesis as we'd like to believe plus they seem like the kinda folk who would try and form their own little grouping instead.

[Uraniun235]

The Borg crushing Earth under a torrent of cubes via that portal next to it.

I prefer to pretend that that episode, nay, that whole series, did not happen.