One of the major plots of the Babylon 5 series is the conflict between the Centauri (an ancient but declining empire) and the Narn (a rapidly industrialising former Centauri colony), represented on Babylon 5 by the ambassadors Londo Mollari and G'Kar, two of the greatest characters in TV sci-fi whose character arcs and relationship are one of the main highlights of the show.
Like many aspects of the Babylon 5 universe, the Centauri-Narn conflict can be seen as reminiscent of various things in real-world politics, while not being a 100% blatant reference to anything in particular.
Has JMS, or others involved in the show, ever acknowledged specific source(s) of inspiration? Either one real-world conflict that Centauri-Narn relations are broadly based on, or perhaps more than one real-world political relationship inspiring several different aspects of the fictional one. Or do they prefer to keep it neutral so that different watchers can find their own connections with different things, perhaps according to their own political viewpoints?
