"NEVER AGAIN" 

As humanity recovered from the destruction of the Great Global Wars, the nations of the world vowed never to let such destruction occur again.   They recognized that one of the major factors permitting such devastation to be unleashed on the earth was the existence of two specific sets of genes in the human DNA: the "aggression" set and the "doctrinal belief" set.   These are combinations of genes which cause a person's character to lean towards either aggressiveness or extreme belief in a religious faith or a particular doctrine.  

It had been established that when either of these gene sets were primary in a person, that person was more likely to engage in acts of violence to other people.   When both sets of genes were primary, it was a virtual certainty that the person would act in a violent or intolerant way to others in society who didn't share his beliefs.  

Therefore, in signing GALT, all countries agreed that the only legitimate genetic optimization to be permitted would be that which subordinated both the "aggression" and the "doctrinal belief" gene-sets to a secondary position in the genetic hierarchy of an embryo, thus ensuring that the d-human society of the future would never again embark on the self-destruction that had occurred with the Great Global Wars.  

It was, of course, essential that all nations agreed to this treaty without exception, and that this was strenuously enforced by the UN.   Otherwise, a rogue nation could secretly create a generation of warriors who would be genetically equipped to conquer their less aggressive neighbors.

THE REJECTIONIST REACTION TO GALT

By the early twenty-second century, virtually all national leaders were d-human.   Their primary concern was to separate themselves from the destruction brought about by the human race up to that time.   They viewed the progress made by genetic engineering as their secret weapon to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.  

That was the underlying rationale of GALT – to create a world of d-humans that, without the dual influences of aggression and religion, would never again resort to such terrible violence and destruction.

All the major religious faiths in the world endorsed GALT.   They all had little choice, following the devastation of the Great Global Wars.  

However, in the view of many orthodox Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs, GALT came at an unacceptable price – the ability to know God, the ability to remain human, to keep one's soul intact.   It was, in their view, a Faustian bargain.

This caused the formation of the Rejectionists, people who believed that there were alternative paths to worldwide peace rather than sacrificing man's contact with the infinite.   The Rejectionists were mostly, but not entirely, Muslims.   The Sikhs of India were closely allied with the Muslims in the Rejectionist movement, along with some Hindu sects.  

In fact, in the late 22nd century, an ongoing insurrection is taking place throughout this region known as the "Believers' Belt", the only place in the world where d-humans and Primals were aligned in a set of values against their own ruling class.

HOW GALT WAS IMPLEMENTED

While GALT was being negotiated, a few countries were still being ruled by humans, rather than d-humans.   They were generally small countries without a modern infrastructure – Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Eritrea, and some others.  

These leaders were the only hold-outs in the United Nations, refusing to sign the GALT treaty, and therefore preventing it from achieving global unanimity.

In each case, the combined force of China, the U.S. and Europe, working through the United Nations, ensured that the human leaders were toppled, and that "progressive", "moderate", educated d-humans took over the control of these countries.  

That was how GALT was finally signed by all countries of the world.

EFFECTS OF GALT

The effects of GALT are controversial, depending on one's point of view.

The conventional view is that since the establishment of GALT early this century, the world has enjoyed a longer period of uninterrupted peace and prosperity than at any other time in history.  

As Harry Shields remarked: "Since the signing of GALT, there have been no major wars anywhere on this Earth, a state of peace which has now existed for over seventy years, longer than any period of world peace in the history of Primal civilization."

However, in the view of the Rejectionists, GALT was the beginning of the struggle for the survival of the human race.

[Read an excerpt from a speech given in 2117 by Juan José Gonzalez, the newly-appointed Chairman of the United Nations Governing Council, about the historic achievement of GALT.]