To be fair it did invent the concept of space marines AND was one of the first and most well-known examples of sci-fi power armor. Even if it's focus isn't mostly on the sci-fi stuff it's still a very important book in the genre.
Also yeah the Federation isn't fascist. In concept, philosophy or execution it simply isn't.
Glorifying military service on a philosophical level =/= Fascism, and the sheer amount of civil liberties and personal freedoms that civilians have flies in the face of any kind of fascist doctrine. The Federation didn't even stop the retarded Mormons from wandering into bug space because the Federation had no right to impose their will on them, and look how that turned out.
The Terran Federation and the United Federation from Star Trek have almost the exact same origin lore-wise, the only difference is that one thinks that personal enlightenment and intellectualism is the key to self-improvement and a functioning society whereas the other views personal freedom and sacrifice through service as the only path to truly understanding what the democratic process really entails and how society can be at it's best because of it.
It's a society built by hopeful scientists reaching to the stars vs a society built by disaffected war veterans looking within themselves. Neither are evil totalitarian regimes just because they have guns and fight in wars.
Fuck the bugs and fuck the skinnies.