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Ah Quark a reliable bit of information

The ferengi with a heart of platinum

If Dukat is any example than it seems that some of the Cardie Guls are at the very least ruled by their pants. He got a Bajoran woman pregnant after all.

More like their vices in General, Dukat's vice is exotic alien women, others have been overly fond of K'nar...

The Cardassians appear to be a predominantly racist society, with the sense of entitlement over other races that entails. It could be that when the first wave of conquest netted signifigant resources for the Cardassians they simply hauled back all they could to the homeworld to keep the populace happy (and keep the leadership in power), a combination of wastefull miss-managment, lack of forethought and corruption then left little for the later colonists to set roots into these new footholds.. thus, inspiring another wave of conquest to feed the Cardassian appetite. Been done before by David Weber and his 'People's Republic of Haven'.

Also I think they would spend a far larger part of their GDP on military than us. They don't seem to be that large yet can still put up a fight.

Hmm.. could be a combination of the two. 'Slash-and-Burn' resource extraction in a mad dash to feed a military-industrial machine working at breakneck speed to both feed the need for resources and to protect the empire from reprisals resulting from this militant attitude, and for 'bread-and-circuses' back home. Remember the Cardassian legal system? Verdicts decided well in advance and show-trials broadcast across the empire for the benefit of the populace?

I agree with Les on the Cardies' apparent sense of enfranchisement over other species. An attitude of this type could very easily lead to outright hatred when it is found that, when played out on the field of battle, that your hypothesis of superiority isn't exactly ture...

It is rather common for Races who are looked down apon for social reasons to think themselves above others. Look at the Japs in WWII.

I always thought the Romulans mentality was a bit like imperial Japans'.

out-groups and in-groups, the ripe fertiliser of social psychology.....let me forget it lol
Romulans could be more menacing minus the 1980s' foam shoulder pads and beatles' haircuts... their uniforms are so spongey ,that the baby-manager from the andrex toilet tissue commercials,probably snoozes on them.

Obviously the Romulan culture was based on ancient pre-Christian Rome, and I think it carries out that character very well - a combination of military fervor, lip service to republicanism, infighting and intrigue, and some good ol'-fashioned spying, wetwork, and various dirty deeds.

on the Subject of Race Mentalitys I Dont think i need to say this but Cardassia Reminds me Of Iraq. Anciant Civilization yet, Desolate and Falling Apart.. The Federation is also Aiding their Revolt. which is Like the US to Iraq.

I could also see how as soon as a civilisation gets warp flight it gets so complacent that it doesnt push fowards like humans did.

on the Subject of Race Mentalitys I Dont think i need to say this but Cardassia Reminds me Of Iraq. Anciant Civilization yet, Desolate and Falling Apart.. The Federation is also Aiding their Revolt. which is Like the US to Iraq.

I don't think we know enough about Cardassian history to make that analogy. The most ancient "Iraqi"civilizations - pre-Akkadian, Babylonian, Chaldean, and Assyrian - were completely supplanted by a number of different empires well before what we see as even a remnant of "modern" Iraqi culture. What culture is current in Iraq is not at all a descendant of those ancinet civilizations. Even in the Muslim era, what had gone before is vastly different since the split of the Sunnis and Shi'ites.

A little late, but I'm fond of throwing my two cents in....

Cardassia seems to me, from a military standpoint, at least, derived from Nazi Germany. Cheap, fast, and a lot of them. Fed, Klingon, and Romulan ALLIED fordes? Breen(italians) and Dominion(Japanese Empire)?

Just a though, pick it apart if you want.....