The Republic of New Alethela is a huge, socially progressive nation, ruled by Dalinar Kholin with an even hand, and remarkable for its public floggings, ubiquitous missile silos, and irreverence towards religion. The compassionate, hard-working, democratic population of 952 million New Alethelans have some civil rights, but not too many, enjoy the freedom to spend their money however they like, to a point, and take part in free and open elections, although not too often.

The medium-sized government juggles the competing demands of Welfare, Administration, and Education. It meets to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Luthadel. The average income tax rate is 44.8%, but much higher for the wealthy.

The frighteningly efficient New Alethelan economy, worth 114 trillion Alethi Dollars a year, is fairly diversified and led by the Tourism industry, with major contributions from Information Technology, Book Publishing, and Trout Farming. Average income is an impressive 119,799 Alethi Dollars, and evenly distributed, with the richest citizens earning only 2.0 times as much as the poorest.

The number of eyes rolled per maths lesson is increasing exponentially, fighter pilots crash out of the air after failing to understand their foreign instruction manuals, the new foreign policy is "why bother invading neighbours when they can be bought wholesale?", and the only movement outdoors is of ramen-delivery drones. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to a capable police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. New Alethela's national animal is the Cat, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

New Alethela is ranked 62,771^st in the world and 1,204^th in The North Pacific for Largest Furniture Restoration Industry, scoring 4,208.27 on the Spitz-Pollish Productivity Index.