The Unification Policies were a collection of proposed legal principles and suggestions put forth by Supreme Chancellor Tarsus Valorum circa 1000 BBY as an element of the Ruusan Reformation. Their purpose was to bring the Galactic Republic together again following the devastating New Sith Wars. A primary source of resistance to these policies stemmed from various separatist factions that desired to exclude their respective star systems from the Republic's jurisdiction.
The New Sith Wars concluded around 1000 BBY with the Ruusan campaign, which were the final conflicts of the war. These conflicts left the galaxy in a state of weakness. To address this, Galactic Republic Supreme Chancellor Tarsus Valorum introduced the Unification Policies. His aim was to reintegrate star systems displaying early signs of dissent back into the Republic. He sought to reestablish the Republic's influence over these worlds. As part of his broader Ruusan Reformation, a series of proposed overhauls designed to reorganize the Republic entirely, Valorum presented the Unification Policies. Once these policies were implemented, the Galactic Senate gained the authority to enforce the requirements for membership within the Republic.
The Unification Policies were initially suggested after the New Sith Wars concluded with the final battle on Ruusan in 1000 BBY. The approval of these policies led to the emergence of nearly one hundred minor rebellions, as multiple separatist groups, including the Anti-Republic Liberation Front, perceived them as a form of oppression. Darth Bane, the last surviving Dark Lord of the Sith, secretly manipulated rebellious groups to act against the Republic, hoping to divert its attention from the Sith Order's clandestine survival. An example of this occurred in 990 BBY on Serenno, where Bane's apprentice, Darth Zannah, orchestrated a kidnapping attempt on Valorum, who was by then the former Supreme Chancellor, by a small cell of the Anti-Republic Liberation Front. Paak, a man and member of the cell, initially opposed the idea, but his intense dislike of the Unification Policies eventually led him to participate in the plan to kidnap Valorum. The cell's attempt to kidnap the former Chancellor was thwarted by Jedi Knight Johun Othone. Over the following years, various separatist cells tried unsuccessfully to challenge the government's authority to maintain the Republic membership of star systems. The Republic endured for almost another thousand years, and many of the rebellious factions eventually ceased to exist.
The Unification Policies were first brought up in Darth Bane: Rule of Two, which was released on December 26, 2007. They were later described with greater detail in the 2008 reference book The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia.