The European Union was discussed the other day in my Peoples of the Baltic class, specifically new members and the economic implications. When the idea that Turkey should be allowed to join the EU there was much opposition to the notion, bordering on revulsion. One of the minor reasons was that Turkey is considered part of the Middle East and not Europe. One of the other reasons was that Turks would be a bad influence if they were allowed free passage through Europe, claiming that neighborhoods go downhill whenever Turks move in. Clearly Europeans are not as civilized as they would have everyone believe. The guest speaker explained that Turkey entering the EU would be an economic strain on the other EU members as they would have to invest a large amount of money to bring Turkey to the same level as the rest of Europe. That was the same reason why he said that Russia would not be able to join the EU for a very, very long time; Russian membership would bankrupt the EU.
So, membership in an organization that promotes equal economic footing for all its members has to exclude nations that are substantially poorer. Also, a particularly rich country (Norway) would not want to join such a union if membership would actually reduce their economic strength.
This got me thinking about the economics of the Federation in Star Trek. Since the Federation is largely modeled after unions of nations on Earth, such as the UN and one would presume some of the EU, would the same rules still apply? In Insurrection, they say that they're giving Federation membership to a race that just became warp capable the year before. One must assume that they are nowhere near as economically powerful as, say, Earth. As large as the Federation is, modernizing an entire planet with technology centuries ahead its time and making it economically stable would be financially draining. Would that be where the Prime Directive comes in? Now not just as a rule designed to protect cultures from outside contamination but also relieving the Federation of the obligation to instantly modernize new members, as the EU protects itself from having to equalize economically weaker countries. Would they then create trade barriers with this new member planet to keep the more powerful nations from exploiting it? That doesn't seem like it would ahve happened in this case considering they say that the reason they want the planet to join is because they need all the help they can get to fight a war. Since the race isn't technologically advanced enough to provide military support, the only thing they could really offer are raw materials. So if they can't instantly modernize them and don't have the time to gradually modernize them, the only thing the Federation could do to make use of the planet is to colonize it. That would definitely contaminate their culture , not to mention that colonialism is something Earth supposedly eliminated centuries before. So unless there's another option provided by some alien economic system, this planet and its inhabitants really got screwed.
So, back in real life the EU can't accept Turkey without hurting itself in its obligation to equalize the member nations, it sure as hell can't colonize Turkey, so the only thing that can be done is try to help it improve its economy until it is strong enough to be an EU member. Given that Turkey is roughly the European equivalent of Mexico right now, that might take awhile. And who knows, maybe by that time there won't be as many bigots opposed to Turks in Europe.