New Sci Fi Setting Seeds

[Astromancer]

Here's an idea. Picture a group of aliens contacting the governments of Earth to set up trading posts. These aliens aren't evil per se, but they are opportunistic in a similar way to 18th and 19th century British merchants. If the nation is stable, they'll trade and seek advantage. If they see instability, they'll try to take over.

The political and espionage games would be lively.

You'd need to define what the aliens want (after all they could strip mine the moon and no human could stop them) and why they need to deal with us humans at all. You'd also need to define what the Aliens offer, and why no one says no.