Greetings fellow South Pacificans,

I'll keep this campaign to the point and minimize the verbosity.

I'm running for Minister of Foreign Affairs. In the past, you've entrusted me to be Minister of Defense and Prime Minister (twice). I currently serve as a member of the General Corps and of the Legislator Committee as well. Since being elected Minister of Defense, I've been actively involved in our foreign affairs decision-making and external presence for the past year. I'm running for Minister of Foreign Affairs because I think things are getting interesting--Aegis ratification, changes in the broader landscape abroad, and the Great Council at home--and that I'd be effective in representing us abroad.

I'll address four things here: (1) philosophy, (2) policy goals, (3) administration, and (4) the Great Council.

(1) Foreign Affairs Philosophy

I'm a believer in principled pragmatism. The South Pacific's foreign affairs should serve its values, which are defined by three things: the sovereignty of the Coalition, the promotion of democracy, and the defense of innocent communities.

Effective foreign affairs must move past the wrote repetition of our values with a vain hope others see the light. It's about building institutions to advocate for those values--something we've done well with the PfS and the forthcoming Aegis Accords. It's also about recognizing areas where our values cause our goals to align with other regions, and cooperating with them accordingly. We shouldn't compromise on our values. But we can be pragmatic and work with others to accomplish shared goals.

(2) Policy Goals

The following are my policy goals for the term:

• Finalize and Kick Start Aegis. Thanks entirely to Glen's hard work, Aegis is now nearly at the finish line. With all due luck, we'll get it done in the first month of the term. From there, we have three months to solidify it, look into options for expanding its membership, and give it a good kick off. Unlike my recent predecessors, I won't try to pretend things that are self-evidently related to foreign affairs are somehow other people's problem, and I'll put in some of the work to make meaningful social and cultural interactions happen.
  
• Maintain and Develop Partnership for Sovereignty. This already exists, we should continue to work on it. PfS can serve as a facilitator of defender thought in the SC. I'll contribute to projects designed to accomplish that, while also keeping up with the day-to-day SC proposal queue.
  
• Reach out to new partners. Fundamental shifts in the landscape have caused many Independent regions to conduct mostly (almost exclusively) Defender operations over the short-to-medium term future. We should meet them with cultural and political engagement, including being willing to put in writing that these shifts mean that we no longer have an interest in active antagonism towards one another. We shouldn't give up our values, nor should we make full alliances with regions where our longer term interests aren't a guarantee, but shows of honest engagement go a long way to capitalizing on the opportunities of the political moment and building connections that will possibly fluorish into longer-term partnerships and allies in the Defender cause.

(3) Administration

I will actually administer the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and not hire a Deputy for it. I'm not going to overcomplicate this.

If you want to be involved in Foreign Affairs, that's great, you can be an ambassador. You'll provide updates on your region and in the #mofa-ambassadors-lounge can discuss ongoing events. I agree with Roavin's long wall of words on the modern South Pacifican Ambassador, but I'll endeavor to actualize it by bringing up more discussions in the Ambassador's Lounge, with the hope of cultivating long-term foreign affairs thinkers and talent.

If we don't have enough ambassadors for regions, that's fine. I can post updates to other regions myself. It's not rocket science and would not much add to the MoFA's workload.

(4) Great Council

Given we're likely headed to a Great Council, I think it's important to think about how that shapes each Ministry's agenda for the term. That said, I think it matters the least for Foreign Affairs. Post-Great Council, our goals abroad will likely remain the same, as will our treaty commitments. It is important to project strength abroad during the Great Council, and to make it clear to our partners that the results will not affect our relationships with them and that they can still rely on us as they always have.

Conclusion

Ask questions if you have them. I think I'd be a good MoFA. Cheers.

Conflict of Interest
Legislator, Legislator Committee, General Corps of the South Pacific. Former Minister of Defense and Prime Minister
Legislator of Spiritus. I'll resign this if elected.
Former Delegate, Minister, and Senator of 10000 Islands.
Former Delegate and Chief Executive of the Renegade Islands Alliance.

Minister of Foreign Affairs
General of the South Pacific Special Forces
Ambassador to Balder
Former Prime Minister and Minister of Defense

Reply

Are you content with the interregional defender institutions we have now, or do you think there is something we can do to further our cooperation with other defenders and expand the defender world at the same time?

4× Cabinet minister /// 1× OWL director /// CRS member /// SPSF

My History

Reply

Very nice campaign, and one I look forward to supporting and voting for. I might have some more questions later, but for now I just want to raise one issue. To provide some context (mainly for the general populace) for my question(s),

In 2020, we posted a detente with the Osiris Fraternal Order. It was pretty mild and made sense at the time, but I want to raise the issue of our relationship with the region/regime in the context of the recent months. 

Since the return of The Brotherhood of Malice and the popularization of the concept/ideology of "Raider Unity", Osiris has placed itself squarely in alignment with that objective. Among other things, they signed a treaty with BoM and have been a part of every substantial occupation since this resurgence, several of which have resulted in substantial region destruction. Notably, Osiris maintains very close relations with The Black Hawks (a proscribed organization) and their allies in BoM are led by two TBH Generals, one of which (Ever-Wandering Souls) has exhibited a particular antipathy to the Coalition in the past. In my opinion, Osiris has chosen a clear side in this growing divide, and it's the one completely incompatible with our region.

Furthermore, the newly appointed Moshir (military commander, basically their equivalent to our Minister of Defense), Wascoitan, has a history of... interesting comments in public/semi-public spaces regarding our region. These include but are not necessarily limited to expressing a desire to support a coup of TSP, saying laziness is the only thing stopping them from actively infiltrating TSP, and brazen encouragement/defense of TBH's previous interference in our World Assembly vote (and encouraging similar behavior to reemerge). While these comments were made prior to their appointment, I don't think anyone familiar with this individual believes they are any less sincere about those beliefs today. 

I understand that Osiris' status as a game-created region makes a relationship with it... more likely than it would be for us to have a relationship with any other raider organization or region, but I think this is important to evaluate as divides widen and we prioritize our identity as defender.

So this leads me to one question broken up into a few.

1. How do you see our relationship (or lack thereof) with the Osiris Fraternal Order in the future, both during and beyond your term?
   
2. What benefits do you believe we confer from that detente/relationship, if any?
   
3. Do you believe the governments of the Osiris Fratneral Order and the Coalition of the South Pacific are compatible enough to maintain a coherent and pleasant foreign affairs relationship?
   

Thank you in advance for your answers! Once again, great campaign.

New Quebecshire,
Full Player Résumé
Discord: Cubic#1608

Reply

I can't overstate just how fantastic HS has been to work with on FA matters. I'm very excited to see this.

Reply

Are you content with the interregional defender institutions we have now, or do you think there is something we can do to further our cooperation with other defenders and expand the defender world at the same time?

I'm content with the institutions we have now but not how they have developed. PfS is a good political force for the World Assembly. Aegis will be a strong security agreement and a powerful incentive to bring other regions into the fold of defending. The institutions are there, we just need to use them appropriately. In the case of PfS, that means correctly using its brand and platform as a place to promote the ideology and thought of defending. In the case of Aegis, that means utilizing a strong set of mutual defense commitments as an incentive for Frontiers and founderless regions to join the cause of Defending. Outreach to regions which are new to defending/gameplay or relatively disconnected from the broader gameplay environment will be essential to the growth of both institutions.

At the same time, not all functions for the growth of Defending or defender institutions should be internationalized. Our ultimate priority must be the internal growth of the South Pacific Special Forces. I remain adamantly opposed to any proposal which would surrender ultimate South Pacifican sovereignty over the deployment of our military. The SPSF should make steps forward in terms of interregional promotion and outreach, but must remain a sovereign and autonomous military force. As Minister of Foreign Affairs, I will never negotiate any agreement which would forego our ultimate sovereign military prerogative.

Regarding our detente with Osiris--

but I want to raise the issue of our relationship with the region/regime in the context of the recent months.

I do not agree with your characterization that the fundamentals of the relationship have actually changed in the last several months. While raiderdom, including Osiris, has strengthened militarily in recent times, this does not represent a variation from what we expected when we settled on our detente with Osiris. Many of the specific examples you use were also priced-in at the time of our detente (for example, a knowledge of TBH, and by extension Souls', relationship with Osiris; Osiris' support for destructive military practices; etc.) or are simply natural extensions of the divergences we already knew existed (e.g. a treaty with the Brotherhood of Malice). While the "Raider Unity" ideology's resurgence, along with the return of several influential raiders under the banner of the Brotherhood of Malice, has meaningfully changed the balance of the South Pacific's relationships with several regions, it has not actually altered the fundamentals of our relationship with Osiris.

To quote the announcement:

It is likely we will end up in conflict with one another yet again, after all, we are both leaders in opposing factions. In spite of that, we want to ensure when conflict does arise communication channels are open for both of us.

That is why the Coalition and Fraternal Order are committing to two things:

• We will maintain embassies with one another in peacetime
  
• We will maintain ambassadors with one another in peacetime
  

To a large extent, what we are witnessing in recent months is exactly what is assumed by our detente: that "we will end up in conflict with one another yet again". It does not diminish the importance of maintaining open communication channels so that Osiris and the South Pacific can cooperate in addressing any potential crisis where we have mutual interests, as unlikely as one might be. It is also worth noting this detente is not as broad or sweeping as the ones we settled on with The West Pacific or Balder (prior to our treaty). The only thing guaranteed by our detente is embassy and ambassador exchange, something which carries no cost for the South Pacific.

Furthermore, the newly appointed Moshir (military commander, basically their equivalent to our Minister of Defense), Wascoitan, has a history of... interesting comments in public/semi-public spaces regarding our region. These include but are not necessarily limited to expressing a desire to support a coup of TSP, saying laziness is the only thing stopping them from actively infiltrating TSP, and brazen encouragement/defense of TBH's previous interference in our World Assembly vote (and encouraging similar behavior to reemerge). While these comments were made prior to their appointment, I don't think anyone familiar with this individual believes they are any less sincere about those beliefs today.

While Wascoitan's comments are concerning, they are frankly not to be taken with great seriousness. Public shitposting about a potential coup is not equivalent to an actual effort to overthrow the Coalition, in fact it is often the opposite of that. If Wasc were engaged in a well-planned and well-executed effort to destroy the Coalition, they would keep it under wraps, rather than spouting it off in various entirely public servers and summoning heightened suspicion and attention.

In actuality, Wasc's organizations have long been opposed to TSP (which is already known) and Wasc is venting to let off some steam. It's not nothing, but it's also not something to burn any bridges over. Not to mention, Wasc made these comments while out of office, and there is no credible evidence that Wasc's leadership of the Sekhmet Legion would meaningfully advance a military effort against the Coalition. The decision by the new Pharoh to appoint Wasc as Moshir should instead be understood in context of the lack of other available personnel, rather than an effort to change the interests of Osiris in opposition to the Coalition. Lastly, if such comments continued post-appointment, the correct course of action would be a private dialogue with Osiris, per the channel of communication set up by our detente agreement, rather than a unilateral decision to revoke our detente, which would itself be interpreted as an act of hostility beyond normal opposition in raiding/defending.

How do you see our relationship (or lack thereof) with the Osiris Fraternal Order in the future, both during and beyond your term?

Exactly as it is. We exchange ambassadors and an embassy, we chat sometimes. We will not invest more into it (politically, culturally, or militarily), but we also will not destroy for little cause.

What benefits do you believe we confer from that detente/relationship, if any?

An open line of communication, mutual respect between game-created regions, and a baseline understanding that our hostilities are not intended to reach into serious attempts to undermine the sovereignty of each other's home regions. Not to mention, identifying that Osiris is lower on our priority list of enemies than many other regions.

Do you believe the governments of the Osiris Fratneral Order and the Coalition of the South Pacific are compatible enough to maintain a coherent and pleasant foreign affairs relationship?

I believe OFO and the Coalition are compatible enough to maintain the status quo.

While these questions may be true for defending's position more broadly, I don't think they make sense for TSP's particular interests as a region, which support a line of communication with Osiris.

I can't overstate just how fantastic HS has been to work with on FA matters. I'm very excited to see this.

No u.

Minister of Foreign Affairs
General of the South Pacific Special Forces
Ambassador to Balder
Former Prime Minister and Minister of Defense

(This post was last modified: 06-05-2022, 06:08 PM by HumanSanity.)

Reply

I think it’s a rather unnecessary addition to your answer to question my motivation and suggest an ulterior motive given that my position on Osiris as a defender in general has well preceded any stance my main region has had on it. Your answer(s) sufficed just fine without that bizarre snipe you felt the need to toss in for whatever reason.

Otherwise, thanks for answering.

New Quebecshire,
Full Player Résumé
Discord: Cubic#1608

Reply

I think it’s a rather unnecessary addition to your answer to question my motivation and suggest an ulterior motive given that my position on Osiris as a defender in general has well preceded any stance my main region has had on it. Your answer(s) sufficed just fine without that bizarre snipe you felt the need to toss in for whatever reason.

This was discussed in DMs and I've modified my comments accordingly

Minister of Foreign Affairs
General of the South Pacific Special Forces
Ambassador to Balder
Former Prime Minister and Minister of Defense

Reply

I can't overstate just how fantastic HS has been to work with on FA matters. I'm very excited to see this.

No u.

No, you're pretty.

Reply