Users browsing this thread:

**Belschaft** · 07-17-2014, 03:44 PM

Glen has now been Minister of Foreign Affairs for roughly seven months. He will be seeking reelection on the basis of his record as an incumbent. But what, exactly, does that record look like?

In March Glen announced his decision to unilaterally abolish TSP's embassies to foreign regions. This was meant to be part of a broader reform of TSP's Foreign Office, designed to make it more effective.

No such broad reform has occurred. Instead, the Foreign Office has been effectively abolished. Glen pledged to continue creating and releasing monthly regional updates. This has not occurred; since abolishing the Embassies he has released just one foreign update, his only such update in the entire seven month period.

Similarly, over the last seven months just two proposed treaties have been brought to the Assembly. The first of those collapsed due to a blocking minority in TEP - this blocking minority no loner exists, and yet no revised or improved version of the treaty has been brought forward. There has been seemingly no follow up to this matter - like his reforms of the Foreign Office and the monthly updates, Glen has simply abandoned it.

If elected Minister of Foreign Affairs, my first priority would be rebuilding the Foreign Office that Glen has allowed to decay.

I would reactivate our foreign embassies, and reestablish the policy of producing Foreign Updates. As part of this, I would recreate the diplomatic corps. I would hope to take on two Deputy Ministers, who would assist with collaborative drafting, negotiations, and dissemination of updates. I would not neglect the fundamental basics of foreign affairs.

I would also increase transparency in the Ministry, returning to the habit of publicly drafting Foreign Updates and seeking the input of all citizens. All Executive Policy in Foreign Affairs would be formally codified and published, for examination by the Assembly. I would also introduce legislation requiring annual re-adoption of all treaties, declarations of war and diplomatic documents in general. Motions to repeal such are unlikely, and certain to be contentious - instead, we should move to a model where review of foreign policy by the Assembly is the norm, and if the Assembly no longer deems a relationship to be in our interest then it may choose to not re-affirm it, and instead let it expire. Declarations of War and Treaties should not be maintained indefinitely, nor held to be sacrosanct.

Beyond this, I would aim to re-open negotiations with TEP about the proposed treaty, or some modified form of it. I think that a TEP-TSP alliance is a logical pairing worth pursuing.

I would also seek treaties with the remaining GCR's we are not allied to - TP, Osiris and TWP. Osiris was for a long time a key ally of ours under the Kemetic Republic, and I would seek to establish an equally strong relationship with the Osiran Sovereign Order, it's successor government.

TP is a historic ally of ours, and I would like to rebuild the relationship we once had with them. Serious damage to it was done by Gasponia and Milograd, but more than a year has passed and it is time to move. We have common interests and history that we should build on.

TWP is a running sore, and the only GCR with a government we do not recognize. I'm not confident that we will be able to resolve the underlying problems in the relationship - their attitude towards the primacy of the in game delegate - but I think it is worth a serious attempt. They have signed treaties with other GCR's, so it is possible to resolve those issues if we both have the will.

Whilst the GCR's will be my priority, I'm also open to improved relations with select UCR regions - people like Spiritus and Equilsim come to mind - who are non-ideological and pragmatic, regardless of their military alignment.

Finally, and as a long term objective, I would like to work with the Minister of the Army to establish greater military cooperation with an allied region, so as to increase our capabilities in that area. The SPSF are in a poor shape, and realistically we need to partner with a more effective and experienced military to improve that. The FRA, UIAF and ISRA have all shown how such partnerships can benefit all parties. I would ideally look towards TNP in regards to this, as I view them as closest to us in terms of military alignment, foreign and security policy, and political structure.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been dangerously neglected. A change in direction, greater focus on the pedestrian aspects of it, and new leadership are needed to get it working again. I believe I am ideally suited to offer that.

_{Minister of Media, Subversion and Sandwich Making}
^{Associate Justice of the High Court and Senior Moderator}

PREVIOUS ROLES

***Tsunamy*** · 07-17-2014, 04:17 PM

Bels, I think your leadership in the courts has been both exemplary and a great asset to the region. As such, which position -- Chief Justice or MoFA -- do you think is best suited to your skill set?

-tsunamy
[forum admin]

**Belschaft** · 07-17-2014, 04:49 PM

I have fairly extensive experience in both areas; I'm in my second term as Chief Justice here, and have previously served as a Court Justice in TNP, as well as both Defense Counsel and Assistant Attorney General. My foreign Affairs experience is huge, and it's an area I traditionally held considerable influence over even when not serving as MoFA or Delegate. Whilst CoA I was principally responsible for the creation of the "Triple Alliance" between us, TNP and Osiris. I've negotiated with both our allies and our enemies numerous times, have a history of pragmatism in the area, but have never been willing to seriously compromise our interests. In 2013 myself and SB were able to extract some serious concessions from TP in regards to the actions of Milograd and Gasponia, which is a very rare thing - they don't like giving stuff up. There are few people in NS, and no one we are allied with, who I haven't been able to work with in the past. Both roles require similar skills; a certain amount of pragmatism, an ability to deal with people, and - in my opinion at least - a habit of rigorously following the rules and procedures. Treaties are binding commitments with legal weight, and once established by the Assembly must be enacted by the Executive regardless of their personal opinions. I voted against the alliance with TRR - I have serious concerns about contradictions between our treaties with TRR and TNI - but it is now in force, and I will enact every single part of it.

The Court, however, is fully functioning. We have a team of competent Justices at present, and we have a bundle of legislation ready for the Assembly - Criminal Case Procedures, and some tweaks to the Charter and Legal Code to improve the functionality of the Court and shore up the powers of Judicial Review, in particular in regards to Executive oversight. I think we have a judicial system that works, and we have the back-end stuff sorted. Administratively, there is nothing left to do; all that needs to happen now is that the CCP and ammendments needs to be brought to the Assembly, and the Court FAQ updated once they go through. The way I see it, the job I ran for and was elected to do is over.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs however is in need of serious reform, and I think I'm well placed to provide it.

_{Minister of Media, Subversion and Sandwich Making}
^{Associate Justice of the High Court and Senior Moderator}

PREVIOUS ROLES

(This post was last modified: 07-17-2014, 04:51 PM by Gordon Freeman.)

***sandaoguo*** · 07-17-2014, 05:12 PM

Obviously, I'm going to have some questions about your criticisms of my job running the Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

What would you do to increase readership of and interest in foreign updates?
You are Editor in Chief of SPINN, which could cover much of the same news and information a foreign update typically covers. Do you not see SPINN having that kind of role?
What would you do to increase interest in writing foreign updates? Community-driven foreign updates were tried before and failed to produce any actual results. In the end, either a deputy or the MoFA had to write everything anyways. This last term, I also recruited people to write updates, and the one person who showed interest went inactive just as fast.
What are the "fundamental basics of foreign affairs"?

Your idea of building in a sunset clause to our treaties is interesting, but I think it has a few fatal flaws. First, you say that proposed repeals are unlikely because they are controversial. Why would a sunset clause-generated repeal be any less controversial?

Second, I have a concern about what kind of message this would send to our allies. To have our relationships put to the vote every year is very risky. That means our allies would have to worry every year that the political conditions in our region aren't favorable to the alliance at some arbitrary point when the sunset clause activates. Would this not discourage future alliances and shake the foundations of existing ones?

Lastly, regarding your suggestions for treaties with other GCRs: what are the goals you seek with them? How do you propose we re-start relations with The Pacific?

With The West Pacific? If I'm not mistaken, you have consistently been skeptical of relations with TWP because of their refusal to recognize off-site governments (and thus recognizing the legitimacy of coups). Do you believe you can get them to change their mind? Or is this no longer a significant barrier?

Also, regarding your role as Chief Justice... Do you plan on resigning in order to run?

(This post was last modified: 07-17-2014, 05:15 PM by Tsunamy.)

**Belschaft** · 07-17-2014, 05:49 PM

(07-17-2014, 05:12 PM)Sandaoguo Wrote: What would you do to increase readership of and interest in foreign updates?

The objective of a foreign update is twofold; 1. To inform our diplomatic partners and the larger NS world of what we have been up to, in terms of changes in government, activities conducted, laws passed, etc & 2. To advertise the region in the hopes of attracting new members. Both are best served by providing a combination of serious and non-serious content that makes the region seem attractive. This is relatively simple, and many other regions - TNP strikes me as a great example - have shown ways to do it. Their Northern Lights 'Newspaper' is a re-branded regional update.

(07-17-2014, 05:12 PM)Sandaoguo Wrote: You are Editor in Chief of SPINN, which could cover much of the same news and information a foreign update typically covers. Do you not see SPINN having that kind of role?

SPINN is an Independent Media Group. It is not it's job to communicate the actions of the Government, promote it's achievements, or put across it's point of view - to the contrary, as EiC I oppose this kind of pseudo-journalism. This is the job of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and one which has been much neglected.

(07-17-2014, 05:12 PM)Sandaoguo Wrote: What would you do to increase interest in writing foreign updates? Community-driven foreign updates were tried before and failed to produce any actual results. In the end, either a deputy or the MoFA had to write everything anyways. This last term, I also recruited people to write updates, and the one person who showed interest went inactive just as fast.

I do not believe this is the case. Historically the community has always had a great amount of input on foreign updates, and relatively few people are needed. The prevalence of journalistic and pseudo-journalistic enterprises proves that there are people willing to write out there, many in these regions. People will not be interested in just being told to write updates however, and you need to genuinely integrate them into the full diplomatic process, give them responsibility. It also helps if you actually have foreign updates; you cannot write for something that does not exist.

Quote:What are the "fundamental basics of foreign affairs"?

To provide a non-exhaustive list, I would consider updates, embassy programs and reports, general communication and confidence building with existing partners, consulting on common interests with said partners, and general advertisements of the region and promotion of it's foreign policy to be the basics.

(07-17-2014, 05:12 PM)Sandaoguo Wrote: Your idea of building in a sunset clause to our treaties is interesting, but I think it has a few fatal flaws. First, you say that proposed repeals are unlikely because they are controversial. Why would a sunset clause-generated repeal be any less controversial?

1; It provides a starting point that treaties are neither final or unquestionable, and promotes a general mind-set that relationships should be evaluated, reviewed and refreshed over time. At present we sign a treaty and it is set it stone, or declare a war and have the same effect. Treaties and other diplomatic documents should be constantly reconsidered on regional-interest basis', but that doesn't happen.

Proposing a repeal is fundamentally controversial and viewed as a negative step. Arguing that a treaty should be either renegotiated or allowed to expire at a scheduled point of review is not, as a general debate of it is expected and encouraged.

(07-17-2014, 05:12 PM)Sandaoguo Wrote: Second, I have a concern about what kind of message this would send to our allies. To have our relationships put to the vote every year is very risky. That means our allies would have to worry every year that the political conditions in our region aren't favorable to the alliance at some arbitrary point when the sunset clause activates. Would this not discourage future alliances and shake the foundations of existing ones?

I don't think so. It would allow us to evaluate and possibly improve the existing treaties, potentially building closer relationships as we strengthen aspects. Further, real relationships that exist on more than paper, with genuine commitment, collaboration and communication are very likely to be reaffirmed. Those which may not be are principally paper treaties, with no actual meaningful contact, or actively defunct.

I view annual review as a sensible step which allows us to review our foreign policy in a grown up, non-controversial manner, and provides a simple mechanism for defunct treaties and other documents to expire. The region should not be bound indefinitely by decisions made years ago, and relations should be reviewed regularly.

(07-17-2014, 05:12 PM)Sandaoguo Wrote: Lastly, regarding your suggestions for treaties with other GCRs: what are the goals you seek with them?

We all have broadly similar security concerns, and general commitments to the principle of GCR sovereignty. These are the fundamental building blocs of any GCR-GCR relationship. I would generally look for standard mutual security, military co-operation and cultural exchange clauses.

(07-17-2014, 05:12 PM)Sandaoguo Wrote: How do you propose we re-start relations with The Pacific?

By talking to them. What you do is identify common ground, and build from there. Every relationship starts with a conversation.

(07-17-2014, 05:12 PM)Sandaoguo Wrote: With The West Pacific? If I'm not mistaken, you have consistently been skeptical of relations with TWP because of their refusal to recognize off-site governments (and thus recognizing the legitimacy of coups). Do you believe you can get them to change their mind? Or is this no longer a significant barrier?

It remains a significant barrier, and one that would have to be overcome. TWP however has recently signed a number of treaties, which indicates flexibility in regards to this issue. Some form of mutual recognition would be a logical first step, and should be easily obtainable - if we can build from there, then that is a good thing. If we can't, we lose nothing by trying.

(07-17-2014, 05:12 PM)Sandaoguo Wrote: Also, regarding your role as Chief Justice... Do you plan on resigning in order to run?

That is not legally required. Were I elected Minister of Foreign Affairs I would obviously resign as Chief Justice, but the prohibition is on running for multiple offices, or holding multiple offices. The law clearly allows for an individual holding one office to seek another, and has done so for a Decade.

_{Minister of Media, Subversion and Sandwich Making}
^{Associate Justice of the High Court and Senior Moderator}

PREVIOUS ROLES

***Tsunamy*** · 07-17-2014, 06:15 PM

Disclaimer: I'm not sure this is the best place to post this, but I'm legitimately confused regarding the SPINN debate.

When GR put that policy into place, it was after discussions with the EiC at the time, no? And, was that EiC you Bels or was that on the previous forums ... and ... I'm assuming Hile?

-tsunamy
[forum admin]

**Belschaft** · 07-17-2014, 06:18 PM

It would have been Hileville.

_{Minister of Media, Subversion and Sandwich Making}
^{Associate Justice of the High Court and Senior Moderator}

PREVIOUS ROLES

***Tsunamy*** · 07-17-2014, 06:23 PM

(07-17-2014, 06:18 PM)Belschaft Wrote: It would have been Hileville.

Thanks for the clarification.

-tsunamy
[forum admin]

***sandaoguo*** · 07-17-2014, 06:26 PM

(07-17-2014, 05:49 PM)Belschaft Wrote: The objective of a foreign update is twofold; 1. To inform our diplomatic partners and the larger NS world of what we have been up to, in terms of changes in government, activities conducted, laws passed, etc

I think there's a big element missing here, and that's the importance of what we're reporting. Not everything is newsworthy. Some things that are newsworthy aren't the best to put in what are basically propaganda letters, like feuds and fights in the Assembly. It's not always that case that every month produces things that are actually worth writing on. My philosophy on foreign updates is that, at best, they serve to update other regions on things that are important to them. Not just things that happen in our own region, most of which are completely irrelevant to anybody else.

(07-17-2014, 05:49 PM)Belschaft Wrote: 2. To advertise the region in the hopes of attracting new members. Both are best served by providing a combination of serious and non-serious content that makes the region seem attractive. This is relatively simple, and many other regions - TNP strikes me as a great example - have shown ways to do it. Their Northern Lights 'Newspaper' is a re-branded regional update.

Foreign updates as a recruitment tool is a new one that I haven't heard before. Given how low readership is, I'm not certain that foreign updates have ever actually been a useful recruitment tool. Especially when they're read mostly by people who are already involved in the region they're in.

Regarding The Northern Lights, it's not just a re-branded foreign update. It's controlled by the Ministry of Communication in TNP, rather than the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It also covers topics that aren't necessarily about TNP. It's very much the same thing The Rejected Times is doing, just with a bit more focus on things that are happening in TNP.

I would love to have the same set up for TSP. But it's not really something I think the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should be doing, because it would face the same things you mention in your manifesto for SPINN -- namely, accusations of being a propaganda machine. I imagine that's why TNP has a completely different ministry writing The Northern Lights.

(07-17-2014, 05:49 PM)Belschaft Wrote: I do not believe this is the case. Historically the community has always had a great amount of input on foreign updates, and relatively few people are needed.

You my not believe that to be the case, but that is very much the case. Hileville tried to do it. Kris tried to do it. In both cases, the MoFA or a deputy ended up having to write everything themselves. Nobody has been able to entice the community into writing updates. I think the last person who actually liked doing it was Horse, who hasn't been a member of TSP since last year.

(07-17-2014, 05:49 PM)Belschaft Wrote: The prevalence of journalistic and pseudo-journalistic enterprises proves that there are people willing to write out there, many in these regions.

These people are writing about things they're interested in. They're not writing about what is often boring happenings in their regional government.

(07-17-2014, 05:49 PM)Belschaft Wrote: Proposing a repeal is fundamentally controversial and viewed as a negative step. Arguing that a treaty should be either renegotiated or allowed to expire at a scheduled point of review is not, as a general debate of it is expected and encouraged. ... I view annual review as a sensible step which allows us to review our foreign policy in a grown up, non-controversial manner, and provides a simple mechanism for defunct treaties and other documents to expire.

I'm very skeptical that it wouldn't just be a ton of fighting based on gameplay ideologies every time a treaty like TSP-TNI comes up for renewal. It's not controversial to propose repealing a treaty just because the act of repealing is itself taboo. It's controversial because TSPers have different political views on these treaties. Those political views are unlikely to change just because we're forced to talk about them every year.

(07-17-2014, 05:49 PM)Belschaft Wrote:
(07-17-2014, 05:12 PM)Sandaoguo Wrote: Also, regarding your role as Chief Justice... Do you plan on resigning in order to run?
That is not legally required. Were I elected Minister of Foreign Affairs I would obviously resign as Chief Justice, but the prohibition is on running for multiple offices, or holding multiple offices. The law clearly allows for an individual holding one office to seek another, and has done so for a Decade.

I personally read the intent differently. But I think it's something the court should discuss among itself for now.

(This post was last modified: 07-17-2014, 06:26 PM by Tsunamy.)

**Belschaft** · 07-17-2014, 06:36 PM

Quote:Regarding The Northern Lights, it's not just a re-branded foreign update. It's controlled by the Ministry of Communication in TNP, rather than the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It also covers topics that aren't necessarily about TNP. It's very much the same thing The Rejected Times is doing, just with a bit more focus on things that are happening in TNP.

I would love to have the same set up for TSP. But it's not really something I think the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should be doing, because it would face the same things you mention in your manifesto for SPINN -- namely, accusations of being a propaganda machine. I imagine that's why TNP has a completely different ministry writing The Northern Lights.

TNP's MiniComs has always handled their regional update.

_{Minister of Media, Subversion and Sandwich Making}
^{Associate Justice of the High Court and Senior Moderator}

PREVIOUS ROLES

(This post was last modified: 07-17-2014, 06:38 PM by Gordon Freeman.)