Who Were The Fourteen?

[Nira Said]

So...it never specifies in "Star Trek: Picard" who the 14 races that threatened to secede from the Federation if aid was given to the Romulans were. I suppose it would be left to imagination of who these races were (some, if not most, of which obviously races with deep grudges against the Romulans).

Who do you all think they would be?

[T'Vas]

To repost this for the purposes of discussion from the findings on Discord...

I don't think it's ever listed, or the show creators of Picard have decided to leave it ambiguous. There's a few references from the non canon books, and Memory Beta.

I'd also point out as a last comment, the only references to the novel aren't linked, which means there isn't a corresponding reference in an episode at all, or only a footnote. But to document this...

https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/The_Last_Best_Hope

Olivia Quest is elected as the junior Federation Councilor from Estelen, an agricultural colony near the Romulan border. She is frustrated that the Federation's founding member worlds hold considerably more influence over Federation policy, and benefit more from technological advancements and resources, than do frontier planets such as her own. Quest establishes and oversees a committee to scrutinize the relief mission and its allocation of resources away from lesser member worlds.

and Olivia Quest is approached by the councilors from several other border worlds, who feel that their planets are being neglected and unheard. They discuss seceding from the Federation and forming their own local alliance for mutual protection and trade. Quest isn't ready to go that far, but leverages the threat of secession to pull some relief ships and resources back to these worlds. Clancy believes that each of these worlds working toward their own advantage would make the increasingly unstable region even more dangerous.

https://memory-beta.fandom.com/wiki/B%27rq
https://memory-beta.fandom.com/wiki/Nytis
https://memory-beta.fandom.com/wiki/T%27Lottei

Each of these, again, from the non canon source also states their intention. It's worth mentioning the above Olivia Quest, even her home world (of which she is a Councillor) of Estelen doesn't have its own Memory Beta page. However, also keep in mind that the generally canon Children of Mars has it as 2385, which is the theoretical end date for this. So any of this secession (etc) would've been fourteen years in the past.

Based on this, it would have to be very minor, technologically less advanced worlds. Very likely none of the major Federation species or even minor ones would be represented.

[Nine]

I think it would be valuable to confirm whether the show used the word 'Races' or 'Systems' or 'Planets'. Usually, a Planet becomes a Federation member. Sometimes it isn't even everyone on the planet, just a major government on the planet (thinking of the Kes and Prytt from 'Attached').

In the spirit of the question, 'who do I think it would be', I have a tough time imagining who. I think that the Federation might only worry about the threats if they're believably possible. If a secession threat is to be believed, then surely a planet's majority voting body would have to be behind actually voting to secede. Are there that many planets, with enough upset people, willing to leave the Federation if it dares to provide humanitarian support to a people in need?

I don't know what secession means for a planet. If it means that the benefits of Federation membership are lost, does that mean technology that was given to that planet is taken away? Does Starfleet show up and yank your replicators out of your house and repossess your artificial heart that they gave you? Do cackling Orion raiders immediately descend as Starfleet takes back its protective satellites and patrolling ships? Without knowing what's lost, it's more challenging to guess who would make such a threat that was believable. It could have just been political representatives from those worlds blowing smoke at the Council.

I think that if there's a specific system that you want to have been one of the 14, then I it could narrow the discussion. We could figure out reasons why that particular system would be willing to go that far and threaten to secede.