4.0 Mars State on Earth

If a planetary sovereignty is to be established on Mars by any company or government it would have need of an earth based presence. The establishment of an earth based country / sovereign state of Mars would mean that commerce and diplomatic relations would be possible with earth in a formally recognized manner.

One of the main advantages of having an independent state of Mars on earth is so that no restrictions are placed on the Mars state by other nations. An example of this would be the U.S. restrictions on hiring non U.S. citizens to work on rocketry programs. (National Security directives etc.)

It's noted that it is incredibly hard for SpaceX to hire any foreigners due to ITAR restrictions.

4.1 Declaring as a Sovereign State

The process of declaring as an independent state is not totally agreed to by all other nation states on Earth.

General rules of acceptance are rather vague and the last successful application to be recognized as a sovereign state was the Republic of Montenegro admission to membership in the United Nations July 2006 as the 192nd UN member

The people of Montenegro, within just two months, transformed their nation from creating a newly independent republic in a referendum in May 2006 to saluting a reinvented flag and becoming a full-fledged member of the United Nations.

4.2 Make sure you are eligible

Customary international law actually does specify minimum standards for statehood.

1.         You must have a defined territory.

2.         You must have a permanent population.

3.         You must have a government.

4.         Your government must be capable of interacting with other states. (This one is somewhat controversial. It was included as a qualification in the 1933 Montevideo Convention, which established the United States good neighbor policy of nonintervention in Latin America, but is generally not recognized as international law.)

4.3 Declare independence

However, now that your state is established, there are certain benefits you can expect, even if you’re not recognized by anyone.

Once an entity has established itself as a de facto state, it will benefit from territorial integrity and certain guarantees of sovereignty. (Stefan Talmon, professor of public international law at Oxford University and author of Recognition in International Law.)

You will benefit from the prohibition of the use of force under the U.N. Charter. These rules were established during the Cold War to protect new states that were not yet recognized by one bloc or another.

4.4 Get recognized

International recognition is what gives a country legitimacy in the international community and the established countries are going to take some convincing. Recognition is quite complicated because it combines international law and international politics. Talmon says. Some people say that recognition is a purely political act. It is at the discretion of existing states whether they recognize, so there is no right to recognition.

This was especially true during the Cold War, when the national legitimacy of North and South Vietnam, North and South Korea, and East and West Germany depended on which side you asked. Even today, a number of entities are recognized as states by some countries, but not by others. Palestine, Taiwan, and Northern Cyprus fall into this category.

The United States has no official policy on what is required for recognition, according to its State Department.

Since its founding in 1945, membership in the United Nations has become the gold standard of international legitimacy. When you are admitted to the U.N, that’s a form of approval, Talmon says. Its like a stamp [that says] you are now a full member of the international community.

Applying for U.N. membership, according to U.N. rules, is as simple as writing a letter to the secretary-general requesting membership. These letters are remarkably short and simple. (See PDF - Application of Montenegro to the United Nations)

Mail the application to:

Ban Ki-moon

Secretary-General

The United Nations

First Ave. at 46th St.

New York, NY 10017

The Security Council would then refer you to the General Assembly, which must determine by a two-thirds majority that you are a peace-loving state that can carry out the duties of the U.N. Charter.

The biggest obstacle to U.N. membership is power politics. Neither North nor South Korea got U.N. membership until 1991 because of vetoes by one bloc or another during the Cold War. The Taiwanese government has applied for membership every year since 1993, but to no avail.

The point at which a territory officially becomes a country is very much in the eyes of the beholder. International recognition can be an elusive prize, however, the longer you wait, the better your chances become. In international law, which is often based on custom, the longer you can maintain your de facto sovereignty, the more likely you are to be accepted.

An extreme example of waiting is the 900-year-old Sovereign Order of Malta. It has diplomatic relations with 100 countries and observer status at the United Nations even though its entire territory is contained in a few buildings in Rome.

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