Interview with Minister of Military Affairs-elect Roavin

[Office of the Chair of the Assembly] October 17

The Drama Llama Herald recently sat down with Minister of Military Affairs-elect, Roavin, at Office of the Chair of the Assembly for an interview on his upcoming term. The following are excerpts of that conversation, transcribed by the Herald. They have been lightly edited for readability.

DLH: Congratulations on your election, Minister-elect.

ROAVIN: Thank you!

DLH: Following his concession speech for Prime Minister, outgoing-Minister of Regional Affairs Islands of Unity said he would consider a Motion of No Confidence in you on the basis of your treatment of him during the election. What is your response to this threat?

ROAVIN: Well, first, it shows a lack of understanding of our laws. A Motion of No Confidence applies to the Cabinet as a whole, not to a single minister. Second, I predict that my work will speak for itself.

DLH: What are your immediate priorities as Minister?

ROAVIN: The first priority is to get SPSF shaking and moving again. Recent events in our region, coupled with a general lull in the R/D meta-game, have led to some stagnation in our military. We need to recruit a few fresh faces and keep them interested and motivated with more operations, both alone and with others.

DLH: In the past, how has recruitment for the South Pacific Special Forces been organised and how successful were these initiatives?

ROAVIN: Many different methods have been used. Participation in the military is part of our welcoming dispatch system. We have also utilised regional telegrams, RMB posts, advertisement on the forum and Discord, and even personalised telegrams to nations that seem like they would be interested. I don't think any one of these methods worked better or worse than any other, but rather that the combination of these efforts will be necessary if we're going for maximum growth.

DLH: What is the ideal relationship between the Minister of Military Affairs and the General Corps?

ROAVIN: In theory: The Minister is the civilian head of the military and deals with recruitment, public relations, FA cooperation, and such matters; meanwhile, the General Corps plans and executes the missions and keeps the soldiers trained and in check. In practice, these separate areas of responsibilities bleed into each other somewhat. This is not a bad thing, though — it doesn't matter to me who does something, so long as it's being done, and ideally, things are done such that the best person for a job is the one doing it. So, ideally, the relationship is just one of cooperation. Work together, make it awesome.

DLH: Your own relationship with Minister Islands has been heated at times. Is this something Islanders can expect to further escalate?

ROAVIN: Given that the election season has just ended, I suspect that things will calm down. Nonetheless, I will still make myself heard when I believe IoU, or anyone else, is not acting with the region but rather with a personal interest in mind.

DLH: What is your take on the events surrounding the proscription cases during the last Cabinet term?

ROAVIN: There are many unfortunate things about it; I'm not sure if it's worth rehashing them all. That they were issued as they were is, in part, a result of the turbulence our region experienced in the past few months, and have unfortunately negatively affected our standing in the NationStates multiverse. The court case did not help either, and despite my considerable satisfaction with the court under Chief Justice Kringalia, I'm not very happy with that ruling as it was issued. That being said, this is all fixable, and whether it's done by the outgoing Cabinet or by the new incoming Cabinet, I'm certain it will be satisfactorily addressed soon enough.

DLH: While foreign affairs is not within your purview this upcoming Cabinet term, may I ask what your worldview is?

ROAVIN: Well, first, I love foreign affairs, it's probably my favourite area of Cabinet business! I have a somewhat complex worldview that is hard to put to words in a cogent and concise fashion whilst still adequately portraying the nuances. I'll give it a try, though.

In general terms: I value regional sovereignty, in the sense that I strongly believe that the nations that consider a region their home should be the nations that decide on its governance, unimpeded by the whims of outside influence. In the context of GCRs, that certainly makes me a Francoist of sorts; in the context of UCRs, it makes me a defender of sorts. That's pretty consistent with my history as well - I was the most high-profile Defender for quite some time, and yet still always considered the South Pacific my home. I've retired from being a nominal Defender, concentrating instead on my home here, but I've kept my ideals as they are. Of course, that all being said: If you mess with my home region, or are generally espousing hate, I very much stop caring about your regional sovereignty.

DLH: Thank you very much Minister-elect Roavin for taking the time to talk with us.

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Image credit: “Paul Ryan's interview with "CBS This Morning" – full transcript,” CBS News, last modified April 12, 2018, click here for the article.