State Business
Fingolfin_Noldor wrote:"Decius did have a talk with Zorin trying to get a feel of the CSR's intentions. Zorin.. is quite the hard bastard who pushes to the limit as far as he can go. But the CSR can be reasonable and.. with the proper persuasion, they will be more relenting.
"So I've noticed. I just hope our attempts to buddy up with the CSR won't come back to bite us in the form of soured relations with the A.F.S.R. Though frankly, I suspect they'll have more important matters to attend to right now."
Regarding the future of the FTO, I think my Exarch has made it clear; you have to coordinate yourselves better and everyone does their part of the alliance at least in proportion to their capabilities. As I see it, the FTO are having the trials and tribulations of a ... fast accelerated birth, with many trials by fire to come. As I see it, in the short term, you have to be particularly forceful with Coilerburg. Military men have their... ways of tasting forbidden fruit and want a lot more. I foresee them presenting you a bit of trouble in the near future.
For starters, a joint strategic force and a common defence plan will be a good start for the FTO. For an organisation such as this, common consensus must really be needed to give the FTO direction. But with common consensus you will inevitably have bickering. But if you descend into bickering, then other powers will seek to take advantage of division. "
"I agree. We do need better coordination on almost all fronts, but I'm left to wonder how we'll achieve that right now. Baerne, Indhopal and San Dorado usually find themselves of one mind on most matters, but the Vineyards are far more pacifistic than we are - not that I blame them, all things considered...
And then there is Coilerburg. The junta has claimed they will relinquish power shortly and reinstate civilian rule... But at this stage, I frankly no longer trust them. They are far too flippant to be to my liking. Did you know they were drawing up plans to blockade our ports 'in case of war'? Coilerburg! The nation whose collective asses we saved no more than a few months ago!
Anyway, we somehow have to get all members on one line, but I'm hard-pressed to think of a way to do that. A joint strategic force though, I think we can do that on a fairly short term. We managed to organize the Joint Naval and Air Command in fairly short order."
Indeed not. Insisting on isolation at all cost makes you actually look silly. Not to mention, bad for a nation which prospers on trade. You need a firm backbone to stand up against others, while being capable of indulging in some give and take. I think the FTO can be successful, but you need to establish rapport with other nations beyond the FTO. I do not see the SNC becoming a threat in any way to the FTO and I believe Comrade Stas will be a man of his word, though admittedly, he's a bit rash at times."
"Quite so. Now that we have established a diplomatic mission in Stasograd though, hopefully we'll have no more misunderstandings. Speaking of which - can I interest you for a San Doradan consulate in Constantinople?"
"The immediate goal of the Old Continent is achieve a certain detente with Japanistan. We keep the Japanistanis at arms length. While allowing them to use our spaceport in Jerusalem, we view their intentions with suspicion, not least because of his association with Shepistan. While the Japanistanis are content to mind their own borders and build a wall of secrecy around themselves, for the moment, the goal of the SNC is to build up our military capability so that we can at least meet the Japanistanis as equals on the battlefield and not routed like frightened headless chickens. That of course requires money and I am indulging in heavy spending over the next few years. The current 5 year plan is to build a credible littoral defence and air defence, while maintaining a credible deterrence and the ability to retaliate.
"That sounds like the proper way to go about it. I don't like the seemingly total radio silence maintained by Japanistan, I don't like it one bit. Whereas other nations seem eager enough to engage in trade and the mutual exchange of ideas, they shroud themselves in secrecy and isolation. The only reason I can think of to do something like that is because you either don't trust the outside world, or because you have... plans, for that outside world. I see no reason to assume the former, given the Japanistani's preposterously huge army, so one is left to wonder what plans they are crafting. Hell, even Shepistan, not exactly the most upstanding member of the international community, seems more open than they are..."
As for the CSR's actions against Astaria, the way I see it is that so long as the Astarians indulge in slavery, the rest of the world will regard them with disdain. Though personally, I would have preferred that the CSR avoided using munitions against the Astarians. It won't do much good in my opinion beyond sending a strong message which may or may not be heeded. However, to me, the more pressing issue is not Astaria's slavery, but rather Astaria's decision to sign a friendship treaty with Japanistan. Whether or not that treaty will develop into an alliance concerns me greatly.
"I have no sympathy whatsoever for Astaria, so whatever the CSR did to them - insofar as I'm concerned it's not enough as long as they maintain their disgusting slavery. As for the Japanistani involvement - my guess would be they are simply after protection of their own holdings in Velaria. Given the lack of a credible navy, I sincerely doubt that the Emperor would come to the rescue of Astaria should someone mount a foolhardy assault on the island.
Of course, given how bloody the invasion of Shepistan turned out to be, I doubt anyone will be much willing to actually invade Astaria in the short term."
The MESS on the other hand, is evolving into a passive alliance rather than a strictly defensive one. I think the recent war and the losses involved has resulted in some.. misgivings. However, the MESS will continue its goal of mutual cooperation in scientific, trade and defence technologies, and Byzantium sees value in such an alliance."
"Ye-es, the MESS, there's an interesting paradox. Easily the most powerful alliance in the world, and yet they seem so hell-bent on isolation it's hard to get much of anything out of them. For a nation like us, that exists by the grace of international trade, it's hard to imagine why a whole block of such powerful nations would be so insular. They are practically our neighbors, but apart from the unfortunate Tian Xia involvement in the southern regions, we barely hear anything of them. Don't get me wrong, I would prefer things to stay that way but I have to wonder what their plans are... If indeed they have any plans, and if not, why that is so. For so many nations to be so apathetic... Even Cascadia, a neutral nation, is more involved in international affairs than the MESS.
Anyway, speaking of scientific technology... My people at DEPICOR have arranged for me to visit Shroomania in a month or so. Since I'll be in the area anyway I dearly would like to stop by Jerusalem to see our investment at work... That is to say, I really would like to see how FASTA conducts its space launches there. Would that be at all possible?"
