star trek - Did Captain Janeway violate the Prime Directive by stealing a transwarp coil from the Borg?

Did Captain Janeway violate the Prime Directive by stealing the Borg transwarp coil in "Dark Frontier, part 1" since she and the Voyager crew have no right to steal from any species just for their own personal needs, without there being any kind of special circumstances?

Answer

The Prime Directive (although never quoted verbatim in complete length in canon, and apparently quite long) forbids Starfleet officers from interfering with the development of pre-warp species. The Borg have not just discovered interstellar spaceflight, they reached a level of technology which is even higher than that of the Federation, so the Prime Directive does not apply to them.

Also, the theft of that one transwarp coil was definitely not a notable interference with the development of the Borg species as a whole.

There likely are other directives which address under what circumstances Starfleet officers are allowed to steal from other species or commit other crimes on them, but that's not what the Prime Directive is about.

Comments

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