Re-Elect Sandaoguo!

For my next term, I would like to build upon the major changes I announced March. My grand vision for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is to move away from the idea of region-based diplomacy. By that, I mean I would like to see less people assigned to specific regions. With their number one job no longer necessary, our diplomatic corps should be utilized in smarter ways.

A smarter diplomatic corps is slimmer and specialized. By transforming the position of Deputy Minister from an administrative assistant and into a specialized diplomatic office, I believe we can engage in a more effectual foreign policy. We should one deputy that specializes in military affairs, one for our core allies, one for GCRs, and one that is in charge of developing our "smart power" -- cultural ties, roleplaying ties, etc. With the Minister at the helm and coordinating these positions, but with the deputies experienced and specialized, less work will fall on one person who might be okay at a great many things, but not great at one particular thing. That means a Ministry that is more targeted and better prepared.

That is my vision. I know some people don't like the changes I made -- I was called lazy and accused of insulting lesser regions. But I believe this model will be better for our region, and ultimately better for the game.

Please ask any questions of me, and not only about this one vision. I have plenty of opinion on NS foreign affairs! I'm sure you guys want to know them!

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Well, that's useful. 4 Deputies, that's good. Each one does a thing in specific, and even more positions in the government are open! This is a brilliant idea. Vote for Sandaoguo! He's great!

Deputy Regional Minister of the Planning and Development Agency(March 8-May 19, 2014)

Local Council Member(April 24-August 11)

Court Justice of TSP(August 15-December 7)

Quotes

"The 1% is like a 1% battery charge. It will die out if it is not charged(the charge is the 99%). But if you don't charge it, it will die for sure, sooner or later"
- Me (2001- Present)

"Change is the world's blood"
- Me (2001-Present)

[Image: 9ehfkQV.png]

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With their number one job no longer necessary, our diplomatic corps should be utilized in smarter ways.

What exactly would they be doing?

A smarter diplomatic corps is slimmer and specialized. By transforming the position of Deputy Minister from an administrative assistant and into a specialized diplomatic office, I believe we can engage in a more effectual foreign policy. We should one deputy that specializes in military affairs, one for our core allies, one for GCRs, and one that is in charge of developing our "smart power" -- cultural ties, roleplaying ties, etc.

You start this phrase by saying we need a "slimmer" and more "specialized" Ministry, and then talk about how you are going to appoint four deputies that will have no real day-to-day tasks.

With the Minister at the helm and coordinating these positions, but with the deputies experienced and specialized, less work will fall on one person who might be okay at a great many things, but not great at one particular thing. That means a Ministry that is more targeted and better prepared.

Coordinating these positions? You mean the four positions that will literally have nothing to do? Also, how are citizens going to get experience in foreign affairs without a lower level diplomatic corp? Where are all these experienced statesmen going to come from to fill these new Deputy Minister roles?

That is my vision. I know some people don't like the changes I made -- I was called lazy and accused of insulting lesser regions. But I believe this model will be better for our region, and ultimately better for the game.

Saying that it is impossible to get something to work after doing essentially nothing to fix it is laziness. What's worse that scrapping something and replacing it with nothing is scraping something and replacing it with something worse -- which is what this platform is.

Either you have no real plan, or you didn't feel like putting the time in to explain any of these -- frankly huge -- changes in your platform. Either way, you don't have my vote.

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* God-Emperor waves at H.E.M.

What are your opinions on Francoism, Sandy?

(This post was last modified: 04-02-2014, 02:22 AM by Punchwood.)

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What exactly would they be doing?

What exactly they would be doing is dependent on the needs of the region. At times, military issues are more prevalent than GCR relations, and at times of peace cultural relations can take precedence. The general idea of what a slimmer and smarter diplomatic corps would doing is that they're duties would be area-based, rather than region-based. We wouldn't have an a bunch of useless ambassadors to specific regions. That's a dumb and outdated model. Rather, we would have diplomats who have experience with GCR politics, military affairs, etc., managing those issue areas as we need it.

You start this phrase by saying we need a "slimmer" and more "specialized" Ministry, and then talk about how you are going to appoint four deputies that will have no real day-to-day tasks.

If four are appointed at the same time, that would still be much smaller than the Ministry would have to be under the old ambassadorship model. However, no job has "real day-to-day tasks" in this region, so I find this criticism to be a stretch. Ambassadors under the old model certainly didn't. They had one job, once a month, and half the time couldn't be assed to even do it.

Coordinating these positions? You mean the four positions that will literally have nothing to do? Also, how are citizens going to get experience in foreign affairs without a lower level diplomatic corp? Where are all these experienced statesmen going to come from to fill these new Deputy Minister roles?

Posting updates once a month in a random region isn't foreign affairs experience. The pattern with your criticism of me is that you have this idea of NS foreign affairs that doesn't actually exist. Ambassadors are largely useless. They've never handled actual foreign policy. They're job for years has been to post one update a month, and normally they didn't even contribute to writing the update.

Actual foreign affairs experience comes from being involving in Gameplay, knowing the actors, knowing the issues. I would look for deputies who can show a competence in these areas. It's not impossible. I did it, and my experience certainly didn't come from being a low-level update-poster. If your idea of the diplomatic corps is that it's a stepping stone for climbing up the ladder, I would suggest you actually look at the history of who has been Minister of Foreign Affairs. There are other, more rewarding, activities for new players to do than post an update once a month.

Saying that it is impossible to get something to work after doing essentially nothing to fix it is laziness.

Frankly, HEM, I'm fixing a problem that not even you knew how to fix. When I took over from you, I initiated a simple activity check that required ambassadors to post a small application. You sent me an angry or annoyed TG (I'm not sure which one you were) saying that it was pointless, because you had just finished building the corps. Well, look at how well you did that. Look at how well you fixed the issues of the Ministry. Two to three people of the diplomatic corps you had just finished building -- and castigated me for messing with -- actually replied. The fact is, you think you know the best way to run things, but obviously you're just as much a failure at fixing the problems as anybody else. You think sticking with tradition will make everything alright -- it just takes elbow grease and not being lazy. Well, if we should be using your tenure as a model, why should we be optimistic about how well the traditional model works?

(This post was last modified: 04-02-2014, 07:38 AM by Tsunamy.)

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I have a question. Will ambassidors still exist? If they will, what would they be doing other than posting an update once a month? If they won't then the deputies will act as ambassidors?

Deputy Regional Minister of the Planning and Development Agency(March 8-May 19, 2014)

Local Council Member(April 24-August 11)

Court Justice of TSP(August 15-December 7)

Quotes

"The 1% is like a 1% battery charge. It will die out if it is not charged(the charge is the 99%). But if you don't charge it, it will die for sure, sooner or later"
- Me (2001- Present)

"Change is the world's blood"
- Me (2001-Present)

[Image: 9ehfkQV.png]

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Ambassador was one of the best ways to get involved in TSP with little experience, as the diplomatic corps shifts away from that, how do you think it will impact the region?

In the Pacific embassy on our old forum, they posted an essay that you critiqued, and I think the following conversation was mostly bad for our regions relations. Are there any lessons you will use going forward from that event?

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The 16th Delegate of The South Pacific

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I have a question. Will ambassidors still exist? If they will, what would they be doing other than posting an update once a month? If they won't then the deputies will act as ambassidors?

The region-to-region update model was ended in March, so regardless of if ambassadors exist in the future, they wouldn't be posting updates once a month under my tenure. Ambassadors who aren't part of the deputy system will be recruited on an as-needed basis. For instance, if there's somebody well-suited to conduct negotiations with a region, more than the deputies, then we will work through that person. If a treaty requires a dedicated ambassador, we would have one. That's going to be the future role for ambassadors, if they aren't one of the area deputies.

Ambassador was one of the best ways to get involved in TSP with little experience, as the diplomatic corps shifts away from that, how do you think it will impact the region?

I don't think we should be conflating easiest with best. Becoming an ambassador was easy, but there's little experienced gained from it. New players are better served by participating in the Assembly than by being called upon once a month to post an update in a random region. As for how I think the March changes will impact the region as a whole, I don't think there will be much of an impact. The diplomatic corps didn't exist in any real sense when I announced those changes, so continuing to not exist wouldn't have any impact on opportunities for new players. Those opportunities weren't being seized, or when they were, new players didn't find them fulfilling and stopped doing the job.

In the Pacific embassy on our old forum, they posted an essay that you critiqued, and I think the following conversation was mostly bad for our regions relations. Are there any lessons you will use going forward from that event?

I don't think the critique of that essay did anything to TSP-TP relations. If somebody is going to post a pseudo-intellectual essay, they should expect it to be critiqued.

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I mean it certainly didn't improve any relations, do you think restraint from critique would have been more effective?

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The 16th Delegate of The South Pacific

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I mean it certainly didn't improve any relations, do you think restraint from critique would have been more effective?

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I think it's a mistake to muzzle the Minister of Foreign Affairs, just because we're afraid somebody is so thin-skinned that they'll let any criticism ruin relations between TSP and their region. It's my opinion that, ultimately, TSP is better served by a Minister who is actively involved in Gameplay politics. There is a difference between somebody who is scandal-prone, and somebody who is politically active.

Pierconium wrote a post that was intended to generate a debate. It did that. I don't really understand how the thread is even relevant to foreign affairs, if I'm being honest. Pierconium sought an academic debate, and being one of more academically inclined people in this game, I participated in the debate for a short time. I doubt Pierconium believes TSP-TP relations were affected. And if he does, then nothing short of absolute praise would have prevented him from feeling insulted anyways.

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