The human race is new on the galactic stage. The development of the hyperdrive and associated technologies have revealed the existence of subspace tunnels that run between stars, a method of faster than light travel which could transform humanity into an interstellar species. But it's been a long road to leave the cradle, and the Earth of 2200 bears little resemblance to the Earth of 2020. But the process of its transformation began long before the 22nd century began.
Following the Resource Wars of the 2060s, the great nations and power-blocs of Earth had been reordered by political and military turmoil. In particular the land and resource-rich countries which had emerged from the chaos and would prove to be a vital component of global recovery had learned hard lessons from their predecessors about the necessity of strong, central government. To the chagrin of some Old World powers, these lessons were not necessarily those they wished the world to be defined by as it entered the closing decades of the 21st century.
[ ] The regimented effectiveness of authoritarianism had proven itself useful in responding rapidly to emerging problems, and it was increasingly common sense in politics that the survival of new nations was dependent on being able to take decisive action. This was a form of control much more sophisticated than the clumsy dictatorships and oligarchies of the past, one able to steer the ship of state as its leaders demanded and required. The crude guides of subsidies and financial incentive are not needed to solve problems - the government simply acts. When every ton of ore is precious and every semiconductor an asset, it must go where it is needed, not where it is profitable.
[X] The Resource Wars made painfully clear that the divorced nature of government from the people of its nation was a source of conflict, the individual scourge of oppression writ large on the national stage. It was when individuals were able to recklessly mobilise their influence and power without the true consent of the governed that dispute was settled with drone fleets rather than diplomacy. The individual has become the most important component, not because of their innate rights but because many viewpoints see solutions to problems that a small cabal never imagine. Government must act decisively, but it must act as a superorganism of its people, not its master.
