Known Governments in Ghost in the Shell

[Slipstream]

Alliance – Russian / American: Russia became more powerful since WWIII and signed an alliance with the Northern States of old America. What formed was the Alliance. It is assumed Canada is also a member of this group, giving the Alliance domination over a large portion of the Northern Hemisphere. It is not known their position in the global circle but given their relationship with the AE, it is assumed they formed a Democracy with the American Democratic Party at its core.

American Empire: Shocking, as it may seem, one of the biggest loser of World War III was the United States, which found itself fractured after the war. The conservative party, along with the majority of the defense industry, took control of the Southern States. They formed Empirical America, or the American Empire, as it is often known. The Empire is predominantly right wing and carries an antagonistic relationship with the America/Russia Alliance. The American Empire has been demonstrating its authority as a military state since the last Great War. However, it started to suffer from a collapsed economy recently. Part of this is due to the reduction of Nuclear weapons as a deterrent now that almost every nation has them and with the Japanese Miracle, fallout is no longer a fear.

Although still a very important nation, America’s superpower status has been giving way to the economic behemoth of Japan in recent years. Currently, it is suffering from a faltering economy and a divided population. Class and racial lines have divided people into separate groups, each struggling against the others. Crime has risen to an all time high and the under funded government cannot keep enough police on the streets to do anything about it. The major corporations have stepped in somewhat offering privatization of law enforcement in some areas. As for foreign policy, the government is looking to do anything that will improve their status economically.

European Union (EU): Previously called the European Community (EC) and sometimes known as the Common Market – it is an intergovernmental organization of 12 Western European nations with its own institutional structures and decision-making framework. The aim of the EC's founders was to construct a united Europe through peaceful means and create conditions for economic growth, social cohesion among the European peoples, and for greater political integration and cooperation among governments. Despite criticism early on, the EU has become a formidable economic competitor to Japan and the Americas. Although relations are good between the EU and Japan, this economic rivalry has become the basis for several corporate sponsored covert actions between the two entities.

They survived World War III with battle scars. It is known that Berlin was struck. Thanks to the resolve of its people, it rebuilt itself faster than any other city after the war.

Gavel Republic: The Gavel Republic is a small, relatively new sovereignty in Asia that used to be a military dictatorship. It recently survived a revolution and is now a democracy. The old leaders of Gavel attempted amnesty in Japan. Gavel may sound like an odd name, but that is because it is a conglomerate or capitol group.

Japan: By 2029, Asia became the most important and most powerful economic region in the entire world and at the helm of all the prosperity in the Pacific-Rim is none other than Japan, home to the biggest and most technologically advanced cites in the world. Details are in their own chapter.

Jenoma: Located in South America, this nation, like Gavel, became a democracy. It owes this status thanks to Marcelo Jarti. Jarti was a drug kingpin and a known murderer. He is also responsible for freeing Jenoma from a military dictatorship and securing the democracy that now stands. Jarti lead the Democratic Revolution and remained the military advisor to the current administration. Jarti avoided multiple assassination attempts--the last, in Panan City. He is regarded as a true hero even though he had no interest in politics afterward. He considers himself a soldier and assisted neighboring countries in revolutions of their own. He has thwarted five attempts from SAS and Delta force to have him wiped out.

LAS – League of Arab States: The League of Arab States was formed in Cairo on Mar. 22, 1945, by Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Transjordan (now Jordan), and Yemen. The main aim of the league is to coordinate the political action and safeguard the sovereignty of the Arab states. In the council of the league, on which each member has one vote, only unanimous decisions are binding.

The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990 split the league. Twelve of its members condemned Iraq, and nine sent ground forces to join the anti-Iraq coalition in the 1991. The league was split again during World War III when 11 members left the League for good. Today the League has negotiated lucrative trade agreements between several of its members and Japan. This has, of course, led to problems with Israel, and the fighting has spilled over into the streets of Japan. Recently, Japan's Foreign Minister, Hidaka, tried to remedy the problem by getting Japanese corporations to form joint ventures with Israeli corps. The whole thing was scraped when it was discovered that the Mossad was manipulating events in order to sway public opinion over to the Israeli cause.

Pegasus: A floating city being built in the Indian Ocean. Large unzoned sectors exist for corporations to take root. The process continues and it may be decades before the city is populated to capacity.

Russia: Russia, or the Russian Federation, is the largest country in the world, extending from the Baltic Sea in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east, and occupying more than half of the Eurasian landmass. From 1922 to 1991, Russia was the main constituent republic in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. In the early 2000s, a hard-line communist faction seized control of the Russian Federation once again, but by the end of WW III, it became apparent that economically, Russia would have to change. After a plot to gain access to EU markets through a German connection failed, Russia turned to Japan for help. In order to grease the gears between the two nations, Russia withdrew its presence from the Northern Islands (which it has occupied since 1945), returning them to Japan.

UN --The United Nations: The UN is a general international organization established at the end of World War II to promote international peace and security. The main purposes of the organization were to "save succeeding generations from the scourge of war." It has since participated in almost every major war including the "peacekeeping actions" that escalated into World War III and WW IV. It should be noted that by 2029 Japan has become a principal supplier of military aid to the UN.

[Motoko2030]

Slipstream, can I ask you, where do you get all of the information about the countries and governments, is it from the films, manga and TV series?

[Slipstream]

Yes, yes...and....yes...Also don't forget DVD special features, snippets from official websites, the Record Log, and actual factural information for the real ones.

[Motoko2030]

Wow, you must have good eyes and ears to pick out details about all of these governments, like Russia joining with the Northern States of old America.

[Lightice]

It's mentioned in a single sentence in the last episode of the 2nd Gig. The same episode, incidentally, shows the map of the world, of the time. It ignores all borders in Africa and South-America, though and doesn't show very many in Asia, either...

[Motoko2030]

I haven't seen the episode 26 of SAC 2nd Gig yet, I am waiting until it is dubbed in English and shown on Adult Swim and on SAC 2nd Gig volume 7 DVD.

[Black Mamba]

This info should prove handy for the 2nd gig, since the story(s) has quite alot to do with governments and alliances (at least thats what I've picked up so far).

I have to ask, is all this info (this thread and all the others Slipstream made) finale? I wanna print them, but won't if its not all done.

[Motoko2030]

I think Slipstream should write a fan book devoted to Ghost in the Shell, he has a lot of useful background information on every aspect of Ghost in the Shell.

[Slipstream]

Print the Game...its all there....

[sonic]

Whoops, I posted this in the wrong place originally

Slipstream, having read all of these, I think you need to make your own GitS encyclopaedia and put it on a website somewhere. That way, it will be more handy for people and easier to use. You've worked at getting a lot of information, and it'll only probably get lost here as time goes by and the forum gets bigger... Hmm, maybe we need to make a seperate area for GitS fan projects that everyone will know to go to... Jeff?

[Motoko2030]

I agree with Sylphisonic that a Ghost in the Shell encyclopedia website would be a great idea for fans to find the information easier, I wonder if someone could use the Wikipedia website, which currently has a lot of information on Ghost in the Shell films and Stand Alone Complex and add the different governments, corporations, locations to that website, that way that person will just have to add the content and not worry about the layout or the fees of owning a website.

[Slipstream]

Well...there IS...the game site....

[Black Mamba]

Wikipedia website, which currently has a lot of information on Ghost in the Shell films and Stand Alone Complex and add the different governments, corporations, locations to that website

I noticed that the other day. Who really clicks on those dictionary links, but that Wikipedia is an excelent source of SaC info. I was pretty surpised, now I finally know the 2nd gig's episode classifications.

[Decoy]

We could make a GitS Wiki (one of the small ones seperate from the main site, I'm not sure how you get your own Wiki, but they are realy cool)

[Donshonto]

Hmmm.... I think I'd like a comic book, a novel, or maybe if we're lucky a series taking place in other locations. Like a spin off. You know, that way we really get a balanced political view of the GiTS world,we get more background information, and maybe same general theme yet different because of different types of people/location. I'd like this. But I doubt it'll be made. I am a dreamer.