intelligence, and to gain acceptance in the upper echelon of civilizations,â goals which would have been familiar to Russian leaders from Peter the Great to Dmitri Medvedev ( PKW) . As S.M. Plokhy points out, when dealing with the Soviet Union,
U.S. and British diplomatic services ... had a long tradition of treating cultural difference between the two sides as evidence of [the U.S.S.R.âs] inferiority ... it was customary to suggest that they displayed Oriental features, torn between extremes of humanity and cruelty. They presumably inclined towards tyranny, possessed a peasant mentality, were disorganized, and could work only in short bursts of frantic activity [64].
The Scarrans are viewed similarly. Scorpius/Harvey dismisses them without the crystherium utilia ï¬owers as âsimple, brutish creaturesâ (âWeâre So Screwed, Part III: âLa Bombaââ 4.21). Like the Soviets, the Scarrans are all too aware of this perception. As Staleek says, âat the peace table, we know how weâre viewed: brutish, ignorantâ ( PKW ). Such errors in judgment were to prove costly in both fact and ï¬ction.
Like the Soviet Union, the Scarran Empireâs apparently overwhelming strength protects a debilitating secret. For the Soviets the secret was a shrinking economy and industrial base which was unable to maintain both arms production and domestic growth, and ï¬nally incapable of doing either. For the Scarran Imperium it is the speciesâ reliance on crystherium utilia , without which they apparently devolve, at least intellectually (âLa Bombaâ). Scarran territorial expansion is predicated on establishing and maintaining lines of supply to crystherium production points, and the destruction of the crystherium mother plant at Katratzi resulted in the Imperium being forced to abandon an entire sector of space until a new crystherium supply could be established (âBad Timingâ 4.22).
It is in the escalating arms race between the two empires, however, that Farscape âs Cold War allegory blossoms. Like the Soviet Union, the Scarran Imperium seems to have concentrated its efforts towards building up its conventional forces, and as Scorpius reveals in âLosing Timeâ (3.9), this has been largely successful: âBy latest estimates, Scarran warriors outnumber Peacekeeper soldiers ten to one ... if and when they attackâwe will lose....â 3 Added to this numerical superiority is the undeniably superior individual toughness and physical endurance demonstrated by Scarrans as individuals, who are naturally resistant to pulse blasts, possess greater physical strength, have the ability to project a heat ray that is devastating to Sebaceans, and even lack external âmivonksâ! 4 Likewise, the Soviet soldier was âconsidered a superior adversary prepared for the most demanding of combat circumstancesâ (Hertling 20). In either case, the foe is formidable.
In response to these advantages, as the series opens the Peacekeepers are investigating several possible avenues of weapons-research: potential bio-weapons like the intelligent virus in âA Bugâs Lifeâ (1.18), creating hybrid Leviathan warships (âThe Hidden Memoryâ 1.20), and, of course, the possible military applications of wormholes (âNerveâ 1.19). Though the subject is never directly addressed, it seems logical to assume that the Peacekeepers have found themselves unable to match the Scarran quantitative advantage, and are therefore seeking a technological superiority which will counterbalanceâor preferably negateâthe Scarransâ conventional one. At a minimum, Peacekeeper High Command is seeking a weapon capable of deterring a Scarran attack through the threat of devastating retaliation, a strategy that bears more than a little resemblance to the nuclear stance of the United States and NATO in Western Europe.
Faced with a similar
U.S. and British diplomatic services ... had a long tradition of treating cultural difference between the two sides as evidence of [the U.S.S.R.âs] inferiority ... it was customary to suggest that they displayed Oriental features, torn between extremes of humanity and cruelty. They presumably inclined towards tyranny, possessed a peasant mentality, were disorganized, and could work only in short bursts of frantic activity [64].
The Scarrans are viewed similarly. Scorpius/Harvey dismisses them without the crystherium utilia ï¬owers as âsimple, brutish creaturesâ (âWeâre So Screwed, Part III: âLa Bombaââ 4.21). Like the Soviets, the Scarrans are all too aware of this perception. As Staleek says, âat the peace table, we know how weâre viewed: brutish, ignorantâ ( PKW ). Such errors in judgment were to prove costly in both fact and ï¬ction.
Like the Soviet Union, the Scarran Empireâs apparently overwhelming strength protects a debilitating secret. For the Soviets the secret was a shrinking economy and industrial base which was unable to maintain both arms production and domestic growth, and ï¬nally incapable of doing either. For the Scarran Imperium it is the speciesâ reliance on crystherium utilia , without which they apparently devolve, at least intellectually (âLa Bombaâ). Scarran territorial expansion is predicated on establishing and maintaining lines of supply to crystherium production points, and the destruction of the crystherium mother plant at Katratzi resulted in the Imperium being forced to abandon an entire sector of space until a new crystherium supply could be established (âBad Timingâ 4.22).
It is in the escalating arms race between the two empires, however, that Farscape âs Cold War allegory blossoms. Like the Soviet Union, the Scarran Imperium seems to have concentrated its efforts towards building up its conventional forces, and as Scorpius reveals in âLosing Timeâ (3.9), this has been largely successful: âBy latest estimates, Scarran warriors outnumber Peacekeeper soldiers ten to one ... if and when they attackâwe will lose....â 3 Added to this numerical superiority is the undeniably superior individual toughness and physical endurance demonstrated by Scarrans as individuals, who are naturally resistant to pulse blasts, possess greater physical strength, have the ability to project a heat ray that is devastating to Sebaceans, and even lack external âmivonksâ! 4 Likewise, the Soviet soldier was âconsidered a superior adversary prepared for the most demanding of combat circumstancesâ (Hertling 20). In either case, the foe is formidable.
In response to these advantages, as the series opens the Peacekeepers are investigating several possible avenues of weapons-research: potential bio-weapons like the intelligent virus in âA Bugâs Lifeâ (1.18), creating hybrid Leviathan warships (âThe Hidden Memoryâ 1.20), and, of course, the possible military applications of wormholes (âNerveâ 1.19). Though the subject is never directly addressed, it seems logical to assume that the Peacekeepers have found themselves unable to match the Scarran quantitative advantage, and are therefore seeking a technological superiority which will counterbalanceâor preferably negateâthe Scarransâ conventional one. At a minimum, Peacekeeper High Command is seeking a weapon capable of deterring a Scarran attack through the threat of devastating retaliation, a strategy that bears more than a little resemblance to the nuclear stance of the United States and NATO in Western Europe.
Faced with a similar
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