Chapter FORTY-SIX
SOLAR LEADERS REACH ACCORD TRANS-SOLAR NEWS SERVICE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FLASH: SYSTEM-WIDE Filed at Solar Conference Site
The meeting of the Solar System's Heads of Stateis a success. President Camari of the UIPS openedthe proceedings with a brief speech. Ignoring pastdifferences, he emphasized common interests,interdependence of peoples and nations, andbenefits through collective efforts to meet theneeds of the dispersed communities of humankind.
"The singular authority of the old United PlanetarySystem," Camari said, "had no need for meansto resolve issues among separate nation-states.That is no longer true. We must provide forinterregional and international deliberations anddecision-making. Furthermore, our diminishedreserves of metals, minerals and other essentialsubstances, on the one hand, and the benefits ofan operational Slingshot, on the other, creates newchallenges of common concern and more options inthe search for solutions. Unless we accelerate ourcollaboration to resolve the resources crisis ourcivilizations may well erupt once more towardpotential disasters such as the one we are heretrying to escape."
Following President Camari's opening remarks, theconference was addressed by INOR Chiefs of State.Each expressed the aspirations of his or her peopleand their capabilities toward attainment. All agreedthat their meeting was timely, that the problemswere mutual, and that the agenda be addressedwithout delay.
The exchanges were intense as the conferees soughta balance between inalienable rights and solemnobligations. Many issues were extremely complex:What are an inhabited planet's or satellite'sjurisdictional limits within territorial andcontiguous space? What are the rights andobligations of one Region's military and commercialvessels and citizens when inside the lawfulboundaries of another? What is the definitionof "innocent passage" in the context of amulti-national Solar Community? How are ourdynamic and constantly changing interplanetaryand interregional space lanes to be maintained? Whowill pay for such services? Questions posed in onecontext were injected into others or phrased tohighlight a wide range of diverse interests andnuances.
Discussions among the primary conferees were, attimes, suspended for caucuses of Heads of Statesorbiting a central planet with their advisors. Adhoc committees were set up to explore optionsin depth, or at minimum, to provide clarity andcontext to the issue. The meeting rooms alongthe periphery of the assembly hall filled withspecialists who argued loudly, in whispers, and atlength.
Often, additional data was needed from Seats ofGovernment. The spunnel communications channelswere loaded with traffic, and archives throughoutthe system opened, many for the first time inmillennia. The Conference Disk's computers absorbedfacts and expert opinions and spewed distillationsof new conclusions.
Slowly, positions clarified and consensus took form.
A draft Declaration of Principles emerged fromthe back rooms. It dealt with only a few of manyproblems that needed immediate attention, leavinga broad array of issues open for further review.
After hours of debate the Draft Declaration ofPrinciples was approved by the Leaders of the SolarCommunity. (See Appendix.)
All agreed that the First UIPS-INOR Conferenceaugured well for the future of humankind.