EPILOGUE
FOUR YEARS AFTER

Today marks the fourth anniversary of my election as Delegate of the South Pacific. I had been in NationStates and the South Pacific for a mere fourteen months, and despite my reasonably good experience in that time, I was still a newcomer compared to others. I have now been in NationStates for more than five years, and my delegacy is more distant from now, than its start was from my join date. For all intents and purposes, my delegacy is one of the more distant events in my NationStates career, but still one of the proudest.

I mean it with complete sincerity when I say that it was a privilege and an honour not only to serve as Delegate of the South Pacific, but to be entrusted with that amazing responsibility for a second consecutive time. I took that job as seriously as I could, and tried to make it my own, leading and implementing the policies that I felt were best for the region, and defending its interests, citizens and residents to the best of my ability. I tried my best to leave behind a more active and culturally developed region, and I worked hard to leave a foreign policy wherein we were the focus, and our allies treated us with the respect that we deserved, rather than as junior partners in an unequal relationship.

I said many things in my Farewell Address, but there are two that I feel stand out. I said that “soon enough we will all agree that these policies were necessary to make the South Pacific a more open, flexible and dynamic region”, in reference to my foreign policy. I can’t say for sure that we all agree on that, but I strongly believe that, without the policies we implemented –and I say “we” because every policy was ultimately a team effort, and Glen deserves major credit for this– we wouldn’t be the region that we are today, with the incredibly foreign and military policy advantages that we have. Obviously much credit is due to leaders like Roavin, who took up the mantle and revolutionised our government, but there are always pillars that enable future growth, and I believe that our work in 2014 is the pillar that allowed our region to develop as it has.

I also said that “our government is not for the veterans or the experienced ones, it is for everyone who calls this region a home”. I still stand by that statement: our government has long worked, and still does work, not just for those who are active and participate on the forum, but also for everyone who has a stake in the region, from the most experienced official to the completely inexperienced nation that likes to reside in this region. They all deserve a government that works for them, and with developments such as devolved gameside governance, I think we continue to fulfil that promise. I cannot take credit for that –I was originally opposed to devolution–, but I do feel bold enough to credit Tsunamy for being a stubborn and forceful leader, who would not rest until the goal was achieved. I also credit so many leaders, many who have since served in the Local Council, for showing us that leadership need not be based on the forum, nor must cultural development originate on the forum. They all play a key role in making this region proud, and this memoir would not be complete without a few lines to honour them.

I am proud of the work I did as Delegate, before that, and after that. I am particularly pleased of my current role as Chief Justice, since it is a position that I very much enjoy, and that I think makes an important difference for the better in the region. In other words, I feel that I can serve the region well by being its Chief Justice. But it would be a disservice to attribute the relative success of all that work to myself. I worked with a Cabinet, skilled people who knew much more than I did about their respective fields. I worked with staff members in each ministry, diplomats, fellows and soldiers, who actually implemented the broad guidelines that we set. I interacted with citizens and foreign leaders, and friends who taught me a lot about serving as Delegate. I am so thankful for them, and for the chance to be in a position to write this memoir. I wish them all the very best, and I wish the very best to this home that is the Coalition of the South Pacific.