Y R there just minbari, narn, centari, and earth?

on the council? y does the league of nations get to vote and everyone counts as one vote but minbari, earth and narn and centari count separate? I never did know..or i did and forgot...

Think the UN and the Security Council. There are lots of countries on the UN, but only a few are on the Security Council.

Just as Channe said. The "Big Five" are the ones with the most political and military clout. The League has a single vote for all the members. The "Big Five" themselves also represent client alien species who live on their borders or within their territory. Nothing much is done with this in the series, but it is mentioned in the bible and in other B5 documents that the Earth Alliance includes a few worlds with non-Human populations. The "Non-Aligned" worlds are called that precisely because they aren't allied with the major powers, and therefore aren't represented by their votes on the Council. The "Big Five" are most especially like the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council. The Security Council is actually made up of 15 members, with 5 permanent members (who have veto power in the Council) and 10 other seats which are filled from the General Assembly (excluding the 5 permanent members) on a rotating basis.

Regards,

Joe

The Vorlon also have a vote.

Well, we gotta remember the difference between the old B5 council set up with the station and the Alliance. On the council the major races had the vote, and the League of Non-Aligned Worlds had a tiebreaker (IIRC). Which, as the Vorlons abstained as a matter of policy, may have come up fairly frequently.

The Alliance, however, has one vote per race that's joined. The Humans and the Minbari will be the Big Two, with the Vorlons gone and both the Narn and Centauri firebombed, but every race has a vote.

Correct me if I missed anything, but I think that's where the difference lies. (Also worth mentioning is the old coalition that Sheridan and Delenn formed against the Shadows, which wasn't nearly as formal as the new Interstellar Alliance and basically had the "one man, one vote" principle -- the man was Sheridan, and what he voted for passed.)

Even the alliance has an advisory council made up of the major players though.

Sheridan didn't always get his resolutions passed, he wasn't allowed to take the White Star out on it's own in Walkabout, the war council insisted on back up being readily available... good job too!

Yeah, The Humans, Minbari, Narn, Centauri and Vorlons are like the UN Security Council made up of the U.S., Britain, France, Russia, and China. They are the top dogs of the place, and any resolutions voted on must meet the approval of at least 3 of them.

They are the top dogs of the place, and any resolutions voted on must meet the approval of at least 3 of them.

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Actually, any one of the 5 permanent members can veto anything they want.

They are the top dogs of the place, and any resolutions voted on must meet the approval of at least 3 of them.

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I don't think that's correct. Any resolution must get a majority of "yes" votes from the total membership of 15. (8 or more "yeses" or fewer if some nations abstain rather than cast "no" votes.) I'm not aware of a provision that requires a majority of the votes of the permanent members. Of course any permanent member can veto a proposal, but as far as I know a motion in which carries 8 to 7 still passes, even if 4 of the permanent members abstain. I also believe that there is a difference between a simple "no" vote from a permanent member, and an actual invocation of the veto. A "no" puts the member on record as disliking the measure, but leaves the decision up to the majority of the council. A "veto" kills the measure entirely and renders the votes of the other members meaningless.

Regards,

Joe

So, I was wrong. That's why I'm not into politics. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

So, I was wrong. That's why I'm not into politics.

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Heh. That never stopped the politicians. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif