| February 2021 Cabinet Election #4 - Minister of Foreign Affairs Interview |
![[Image: wwRwWo8.png]](https://i.imgur.com/wwRwWo8.png) Year 18 | 08 February 2021 FEBRUARY 2021 CABINET ELECTION
MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS INTERVIEW Moderator: James D. Halpert | Participant: Roavin Welcome to the February 2021 Minister of Foreign Affairs Interview! I am James Halpert and I will be the moderator of this interview with Roavin, candidate for Minister of Foreign Affairs. This interview is sponsored by the South Pacific Independent News Network. The format of this interview will consist of a single section: • The only section will feature questions on the candidate’s qualifications, intended policies and their vision for the coming term. The candidate is asked to clearly mark the end of their answers so that I may know when to move on to the next question and to answer no later than 3 minutes after a question has been asked. Opening Statement [Roavin] Hi everyone! I'm Roavin, former 5 time Prime Minister and a bunch of other things within our region, and I'm offering myself to you, the citizens of this great region, to serve as your Minister of Foreign Affairs for the next term. I don't have much of an opening statement, except that I encourage you to ask questions of me or anybody else even if they seem harsh, no matter if it's for a debate, or an interview like this, or of officials during their term. This is a great and important way to keep officials and those seeking to be one accountable. You currently sit on the General Corps and the Legislator Committee, and have been nominated as an Associate Justice. Why are you now running for Minister of Foreign Affairs? [Roavin] I've done plenty of work in Cabinet, so I see no need to run unless there is a good reason. This time, I have a good reason — I have a bold vision for how ambassadorship within the South Pacific functions, and I gauge that in the current situation, I'm the best individual to put that vision into practice. I only intend to do this for one term and then hand this office to a newer individual that can hit the ground running and become the next great Minister of Foreign Affairs. What would happen if you are elected and by the end of the term, for some reason, you have not met the goals of your campaign? [Roavin] That depends. If I have partial success and there is at least one great alternative candidate, I will pass on the reigns and will offer to help the incoming Minister in whichever way I can. In other cases, that's hard to say; if I can't reach any of the goals within a reasonable time frame, it would probably be wise for me to resign or recall before it gets to that point. You have said that you are satisfied with the status quo of our foreign policy. How would you describe the status quo and why are you satisfied with it? [Roavin] We are democratic, defender, and defenders of democracy, with a good selection of allies that are democratic and/or defender to work with on our mutual interests and help each other out when needed. It's a far cry from the more precarious situation we found ourselves in 4 years ago when I first became Prime Minister, at a time when our regional identity was more unaligned, we had less good allies, and we were getting raked over the coals over the Lazarus situation interregionally. What do you think is the main foreign policy issue facing the region today? [Roavin] In the short term, it's the current kerfuffle with TNP that's still hanging in the air. More forward looking, I think it's making sure that we honor our commitment to PfS and making sure it works - large interregional treaties like that have huge potential for benefit but are also much easier to break down than bilateral relations. And just in general, we should always strive to be good allies. On the topic of the North Pacific, recently we had a certain degree of tension with them. How do you think we should approach our relationship with them moving forward, and what lessons should we take from this incident in terms of how to handle disagreements with allies? [Roavin] As I stated in the campaign thread, I don't want to say too much right now for several reasons, one of which is that there are another 2 weeks before I would take over and things may change in the meanwhile. We were and are being very reasonable to insist on a public clarification from them about our stance on fascism, and the other specific issues surrounding quorum raids and the canceled festival are things that we can easily talk about and come to a consensus on once that issue is cleared up. The issue with the North Pacific involved their use of quorum raiding as an anti-fascist measure. What do you think should be our policy towards quorum raiding, and more broadly towards anti-fascism? [Roavin] With PfS, we took a strong stance against the practice of quorum raiding as an extension of our belief in the sanctity of regional sovereignty. I support that policy. Regarding anti-fascism, I've had a long career of opposing hateful ideologies, particularly through military means, dating back to the ill-fated CAIN in late 2016. In my view, our Charter and our way of living here in the South Pacific give a mandate to opposing hateful ideologies, sometimes even through force (though not at the cost of innocent and uninvolved regions). The Partnership for Sovereignty has been discussed a lot lately. What steps would you follow, beyond appointing a delegation, to ensure that the Partnership remains a stable and productive alliance? [Roavin] I can't speak about details because so far I have not been involved in discussions surronding PfS and don't know what the diplomatic climate within the meetings are. The first step, therefore, would be to familiarize myself and then go from there. In general, though, it suits our interests that it remains civil and transparent, and I intend to work towards that. With the region focusing its efforts on the Partnership for Sovereignty, where does that leave allies such as Conch Kingdom, Free Nations Region and Spiritus? What place do you see for them in the region's foreign policy? [Roavin] These aren't mutually exclusive! FNR is currently seeking to join PfS itself. We've worked with CK recently on various military objectives. Spiritus is not as NSGP-forward right now as it had been in some previous years but that doesn't mean they aren't valuable, worth talking to, and reaching out to, particularly as one of our elder alliances with non-negligible population overlap. Unlike proponents of the Independent Manifesto, the South Pacific generally does not see gameplay regions as having supremacy over non-gameplay regions. You have devoted much of your campaign to explaining how you view the "modern South Pacifican ambassador". What would happen if ambassadors simply aren't that interested in the degree of involvement that you propose? How would you adjust your goals or strategy? [Roavin] I can see a case being made for individuals that are interested in representing TSP but not interested in the wider geopolitical sphere, and in that case I think we can find accommodations to make it work. I do think, however, that the old adage of "don't knock it 'til you try it" applies, and I'm betting that a majority prefer the more engaging deeper approach I propose rather than a simpler one. Desserts are a contentious issue in the region. Do you prefer cake or pie? [Roavin] I don't tasteshame generally but the Cakeists are wrong and the Independesserts just don't want to admit the truth. Rise up, Pieletariat! Closing Statement [Roavin] The South Pacific succeeds not through the old, or through the new, but through the symbiotic relationship between the old and the new. It's fair to say that at this point I belong in the "old" camp. That's okay, I'm old but not decrepit, and I have many things to teach and to show. I'm running to be the "old" part of the old-new symbiosis, and if you will let me, I will once again find and raise the newest generation of leaders (in this case, for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through our ambassadors) that are essential to keeping the eldest democracy in NationStates alive and well. And thank you, SPINN, for the great work! The South Pacific Independent News Network (SPINN) is an independent news organisation established in 2003 with the goal of providing good, insightful and timely commentary on regional events for the citizens of the South Pacific. Opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board. Content is published via pseudonyms. The SPINN is not associated with the Government of the South Pacific. |
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