Planetary Citizens?
Scene: United Nations Headquarters, New York. Private chamber overlooking the East River. Folders stamped with the UN insignia read: “PLANETARY PASSPORT INITIATIVE.” Solid Snake leans against the wall, half in shadow. Secretary-General António Guterres sits neatly at the head of the table. General Angelina Jolie, in crisp blue-peaked UN military uniform adorned with campaign ribbons, stands tall with the presence of someone who has commanded in the field.
Snake: (low growl)
Planetary passports… another dream cooked up in a boardroom. You really think a piece of paper is going to stop wars?
Guterres: (diplomatic, steady)
Not stop, Snake—redirect. If everyone has the same passport, no human is left stateless. It redefines identity at the highest level: we are Earth’s citizens first.
Snake: (snorts)
Sounds nice. But I’ve been behind too many checkpoints. The guy with the rifle doesn’t care about philosophy. He cares about who’s us and who’s them.
General Jolie: (steps forward, voice firm, carrying battlefield weight)
You think I don’t know that? I’ve walked through Mogadishu under sniper fire. I’ve escorted children out of minefields in Cambodia. I’ve buried peacekeepers under a blue flag. I know exactly what rifles care about.
Snake: (narrows his eyes, almost respectful)
…So you’ve seen the ground truth. Then you know a passport won’t save someone when bullets start flying.
General Jolie: (level tone, not flinching)
No, but it can get them through a border before the bullets fly. It can make sure a refugee is treated like a human being instead of contraband. Soldiers like us fight wars… but paperwork decides who lives long enough to escape them.
Guterres: (nodding firmly)
Precisely. A planetary passport removes excuses. No government can deny someone entry, no authority can label a child “illegal.”
Snake: (gruff chuckle)
You’re dreaming big. But what happens when a dictator tears one up on TV, shows the world it means nothing?
General Jolie: (steps closer, commanding presence)
Then the world sees the crime for what it is. When I wore the armband in Sierra Leone, I learned that symbols—uniforms, flags, documents—carry power. A planetary passport would carry all of us. You burn it, you burn humanity’s flag.
Snake: (low growl, impressed but skeptical)
Bold words for a peacekeeper. You sound more like a general who’s tired of fighting.
General Jolie: (grim smile)
I am tired of fighting. That’s why I’ll never stop pushing for peace. And Snake, if you want to know the truth—peacekeepers fight too. Only difference is, we’re trained to hold the line without losing the soul of the mission.
Snake: (after a pause, softer)
…You’ve got guts, General. More than some brass I’ve met.
Guterres: (raising his hand, calm but passionate)
Imagine it, Snake. No passports dividing us by nation, only one recognizing all of us as human. It’s not utopia—it’s survival.
Snake: (lights an imaginary cigar, sighs)
One world, one passport. Sounds like a fantasy. But sometimes fantasies are the only things worth bleeding for.
General Jolie: (nods, firm and steady)
Then bleed with us, Snake. Because I’d rather fight for an impossible peace than surrender to a permanent war.
Snake: (grunts, faint smirk)
…Heh. You sound like you’ve been through more battlefields than me.
General Jolie: (locks eyes with him, unflinching)
I have. And I’ve seen enough graves to know the only war worth winning is the one that ends all the others.