Alpha Prime — The past few days has seen a jump in activity with a number of nations joining in an embargo of the United Federation of Planets. The Infinite Beyond staff sat down with its own news analyst, Boral "The Bolian"

TIB: How bad is the situation for the Federation right now?
Boral: From a glance, it looks bad. There are some four nations that have an embargo in place against the Federation. In actuallity, it may not be that big of a deal. The Cimothians are the real threat. They have mobilized their forces to the border and are a real problem for Starfleet. The other nations are, pardon the phrase, nothing special. Only the Anipax Union has mobilized its forces and they are a mild threat. The Zapaneese Empire, Interplanetary Coalition and Interstellar Coalition are unproven military machines. I really dont see this entire thing going any farther than it has.

TIB: What leads you to that conclusion?
Boral: Well, the Anipax Union has allready addressed the Federation and basically said they don't want to have an embargo and are willing to lift it. Their rhetoric was much nicer than that of the Cyth. And the other nations involved in this embargo have done nothing. Don't look for the Federation to be bending over backwards to do much.

TIB: The Federation used the threat of force to remove the Cimothian diplomats from Starbase Normandy. How does this factor in?
Boral: It's signifigant as it looks bad for the Federation cause, but again, I really doubt any of the nations, aside from the Cyth, going to war over this. Here's the bottom line, with the exception of the Cyth, the other four nations who have placed embargos are all looking for recognition and that's it. It's a case of they feeling that no one pays attention to them and they've jumped on the "We hate the Federation" bandwagon.

TIB: Could other nations join the embargo?
Boral: There is a slight chance that we could see another nation or two join the bandwagon, but again, I think this whole thing has run its course and will be rectified very soon. I would have said the Neo Sapiens were a good prospect, but their government has said they have no plans to join in.