ontact between the two planets is maintained only through a single spacesport. The terms of settlement forbid anyone from Urras from leaving the spaceport, while social pressure has precluded anyone from Anarres from going to Urras. (It is this social pressure which the novel's protagonist, Shevak, rejects.)
Urras itself is divided into a number of national states. A Council of World Governments (CWG) operates as a sort of United Nations, but lacks the authority to prevent war between the states. Thus, in principle, there are two levels of international relations operative within the Cetian star-system, a pattern of territorial states on Urras, and interplanetary relationships between Urras and Anarres. The latter, however, seems to be an effective nullity. Trade is minimul, and passes only through the single "treaty port" on Anarres, and cultural contact is practically nonexistent.
Trade and cultural contact, of course, are not the only form of international relations; as already noted, nations on Urras can and do go to war against one another. Interp
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