Engineering Paradise - Foreign Affairs Ministry

This ministry is straightforward.  Every self-governing nation will operate differently than other nations according to the wishes of its population.  We see this today and it won’t be that much different in the future.  With nations carrying a fair amount of influence on their own and the world economy being entirely globalized, there is a need for a strong foreign affairs entity that can manage beneficial diplomatic relations with all nations on the planet.

We will assume for the moment that most nations of the Earth will respect each other and will trade fairly without need for sanctions and other negative diplomatic tools if the world’s population all have their basic needs met.  The assumption may seem silly to some in today’s strained political environment but remember that we assume a population will feel minimal stress levels.  The population is much more likely to demand good domestic governance and peaceful coexistence with other nations, races, religions and so on.  However, there are always exceptions.

Of course, just like the other ministries, this one will be able to leverage plenty of artificial intelligence to gather information and maintain relationships more effectively by doing so.  Also, thanks to a highly efficient and flexible governance structure between ministries, it will be able to take requests from other ministries and provide information to them with minimal bureaucracy, keeping the information flowing.

Unlike most other ministries, the foreign affairs ministry may not need to gather much information directly from the population as its task is centered on the highest national levels.  However, it will still want to be fed the desires of the population about international relationships, need for trade deals that would help the nation.  Healthy international relationships require constant communications, understanding and respect.

It is easy to imagine with proper  AI and networked communications that the amount of staff needed in foreign affairs would be significantly reduced compared to what we see today due to technological streamlining.

World government

An ideal world would not exist without some form of world government allowing for constant communications to occur and relationships to thrive.

The United Nations today serves as a sort of world government for all 195 nations (including Palestine and the Holy See as observer states).  However, five of the most powerful nations in the world have permanent seats at the Security Council with the rights to veto any vote from the council.  Therefore, the UN is at the mercy of the whims of the “big five”, who consider themselves the moral authority of the world:  China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States. 

In a world in desperate need for equality, no collection of nations should be able to veto or have any power over others.

In the ideal world, we should have such an entity but restructured in such a way that each nation of the planet has equal power, representation and consideration.  No exceptions.

Each nation’s foreign affair ministry would represent their respective nation at the table and reach global consensus with other nations on topics of international interest such as global weather patterns, spread of disease, proliferation of beneficial advanced technologies and of course, to curtail international aggressive behaviors.

As mentioned previously, a world police force funded and provisioned by each nation-state should become the defenders of all life on Earth and defend the rights of every citizen of the planet without bias.

With the proper direction, such an entity could usher the world into a new age of understanding with no single nation or sub-group of nations benefiting from it more than others.