In the StarCraft universe, the United Powers League (UPL) was a world government and police-state formed by most countries of Earth. Only a few politically unstable South American countries were not part of it. The UPL was the predecessor of the United Earth Directorate.

History

Following a period of social anarchy and the "fall of western civilization", a new world-government is re-asserted over Earth: the United Powers League. A police-state, it encompasses all but a few politically unstable South American countries.

Rounding up "undesirables" —cyborgs, geneticly "impure" individuals, hackers, policital dissidents— Project Purification was instituted: a genocide in which millions died.

However, the UPL wanted to explore deep space. It was very risky, but they had no problem with sending political prisoner "lab rats" to their deaths. Thousands were loaded into four sleeper-ships and loaded for a one year journey into deep space. However, the guidance computer failed, and they traveled at faster than light speeds for 30 years. When they awoke, the survivors had no idea where they were or where Earth was: all hope of making contact again was lost.

One of the spaceships crashed killing all aboard, one founded the colony of Umoja, another founded the colony of Moria, and the last built the main Terran colony in the sector: Tarsonis. The Terrans of Tarsonis eventually re-built the stardrive and created an interstellar Terran Confederacy. There were roughly a dozen important Terran colony planets in the sector by the 25th century. However, war broke out with the Zerg invasion and subsequent clashes with the Protoss.

As was later revealed, the UPL had been observing the Terran breakaway colonies for some time. By this time, Earth had developed its own interstellar empire that was far larger than the combined colonies of the Koprulu Sector. Shocked by the appearance of two alien races in the Terran sector, the UPL reformed into the United Earth Directorate; now it encompassed all nations of Earth.