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The Northern Lights - Issue XI, March 1st
Foreign Ministry Introduces Diplomatic Teams
The expectations and workloads of diplomats and ambassadors is always variable. If a region has many embassies, but few ambassadors, those few will be stretched thin to do too many regions each, and the expectations will, assuming a fair Foreign Minister, be comparatively low (post the update, check in once a week for inquiries, usually small things like that). When you have a lot of ambassadors, and few embassies, you can run the risk of what is essentially 'unemployment' (that is, more demand for jobs than jobs available). And while opening more embassies can solve than, opening embassies is somewhat more important than just 'job creation'. Still, an option.
And sometimes you end up with something of an embarrassment of riches - lots of ambassadors, and lots of embassies. And then too many ambassadors still. Ideally, an ambassador should be establishing a rapport with their assigned region, socializing, flying the flag of your region, and keeping up on all publicly available current events. Sometimes, a region is too active to keep up on everything and stay social and handle whatever else an ambassador has to do.
TNP, proving how robust our regional community is, has reached that 'embarrassment of riches' stage. We have more ambassadors than embassies to assign them. And thus, to that end, Foreign Minister Bootsie has launched the creation of diplomatic teams, wherein multiple ambassadors are assigned to one region, for the full purpose of bearing the flag, representing the region and all other duties. The trial regions were The West Pacific and The East Pacific.
So far, the results seem to lean positive in the long run, with one saying they felt that, over time, the program would "steadily produce competent diplomats and would further TNP's good reputation in NationStates," while another commented that they appreciated the fact that the program made it so that they didn't have to be "the only one faced with the responsibilities of a region, especially one as large as The East Pacific."
While so far, it's too early to tell just what the impact of this program will be, or if it will be extended to other regions, but the only way to find out is to keep our eyes on newly appointed Minister Guy and the rest of the Foreign Ministry.
The Spotlight #2: An Interview with the MoWAA Sil Dorsett
Kasch: Hello and welcome to the second interview as part of the Spotlight segment for The Northern Lights, Issue XI. Today, I am joined by our current Minister of World Assembly Affairs, Sil Dorsett.
Sil Dorsett: Thanks for having me, Kasch! It's a pleasure to be here.
Kasch: It's great to have you on the Spotlight! So, first question - how has your term as Minister of World Assembly Affairs been going so far?
Sil Dorsett: It's been a busy first month! The Security Council has been really active with resolutions of all kinds; liberations, condemnations, and even a commendation for our own r3naissanc3r! It's been keeping us active, and I'm glad to see it. We're in a bit of a slow period with nothing at vote right now, and I don't mind the break, but I'm looking forward to things picking up again.
Kasch: At the beginning of the term, what vision did you see for the Ministry of World Assembly Affairs and how did you, or do you still plan to achieve it?
Sil Dorsett: One of the visions I had for the ministry was for us to be able to generate deeper discussions on resolutions. A lot of times, when I opened a voting and discussion thread, the responses mostly just had the vote, without any explanation as to why. Providing reasoning for a vote was what I always tried to do even before joining the staff, as it generates discussion, so I've been encouraging that in the opening post of the threads. I've also been closely monitoring the proposals and seeing which proposals are likely to reach quorum and starting the discussion threads early, which gives us time to have a solid discussion, rather than rushing through, tallying votes, and just coming up with something to send out to the rest of the WA nations in the region.
Kasch: It certainly seems like you have a defined vision for the ministry! Next question, is there anything in particular you like most about being the MoWAA?
Sil Dorsett: I think the thing I like most about being the Minister is the closer interaction that I have with the rest of the Executive Council. It provides me with the ability to gain insight into the inner workings of TNP's government. When I was Deputy Minister, Pallaith trained me well on the inner workings of the WA Ministry, but now there's so much more open to me, and much more to learn, and I really enjoy that.
Kasch: Going away from the WA for a minute, what were your first impressions of TNP and how its government works?
Sil Dorsett: Hmm, there's an interesting question. To be honest, when I first joined the game I was founded in TNP and never really thought to look outside the region. TNP was the largest region and it was very active, so I was satisfied with staying. It wasn't until after being introduced to the World Assembly Develoent Program and endotarting that I joined the forums and was welcomed. I think there was one comment that said "Finally, the elusive Sil reveals himself." It was a good introductory experience. As far as the how the government works, my first impression was that it just worked, and that nothing seemed radical and out there.
Kasch: From all the people you've met so far in this community, who has had the largest effect on your NS Career and why?
Sil Dorsett: Absolutely would be Pallaith. No question there. Pallaith took notice of my efforts in a WALL thread where there was a proposal on its way to being submitted that I thought was amending other resolutions, which isn't allowed. Although I was completely wrong, it wasn't really amending, he appreciated the effort and research that went into my analysis and offered me the Deputy Minister spot. He strapped the rocket on my back.
Kasch: Pallaith was a very good WA Minister during his term, so I can fully understand that. Okay, from the time you've spent here and on NationStates, what has been the most important thing you've learned?
Sil Dorsett: The most important thing I've learned is that there's more to the game than answering issues and voting on resolutions. There's communities out there, on-site and off, that make the whole experience much more fulfilling. You just have to be willing to dive in and take a chance on it.
Kasch: I couldn't agree more. And since you are a relatively new nation, who do you look up to most in either TNP or the whole of NationStates?
Sil Dorsett: That's a tough one, because there are plenty of people who are such a positive influence. Honestly, I can't mention just one. Just can't do that. From a gameside perspective, I appreciate the commitment and dedication of both Lord Ravenclaw and r3naissanc3r, and everything they've done inspires me to work harder for the region. From a cultural and roleplay perspective, I have to give it to Goyanes for his creativity and artistic skill. Every time he posts more details about his nation or a new map it makes me think of how I can flesh out my national identity more.
Kasch: Some very well-respected names there, now, for other regions - which region, apart from TNP, is your favourite in NS?
Sil Dorsett: Oooh, an even harder question! But it actually goes the opposite way than the last question. As I said earlier, I haven't really looked at other regions. Perhaps I'm due for a stint in Foreign Affairs to make up for it! I will say that we have a solid ally in Europeia, through collaboration on the World Assembly Legislative League and CAIN, so I think I'll give them the nod.
Kasch: Okay, enough time away from the WA, back to it! What are your views on the WADP and its effects on not just our endorsement levels, but the region as a whole?
Sil Dorsett: I think the WADP is one of the strongest retention and activity generation mechanisms we have. We don't place arbitrary low limits on endorsements and threaten to ban for crossing it. Well, let me correct that, there are still limits and we can kick for getting too close to the Vice Delegate, but the number to hit is ridiculously high that it shouldn't be a problem for anyone. It also makes us the safest region to be in, because all those endorsements means more influence, which protects you. The combination of those things I think makes others want to stay here.
The awards system that the WADP has encouraged me to get started with endotarting. When I first saw the awards system, I wanted to be Click-to-Endorse champion, and within the first month of my nation's existence I did that. I spent one night doing over 1500 endorsements to get there. And then once I had the championship, I figured it was time to introduce myself to the forums. So, I also think WADP drives overall regional activity, probably in part through retention of nations. But that's based on my personal experience.
Kasch: It really sounds like you dedicated your time to the WA! But now, if you could give one piece of advice to any nation considering getting involved with endotarting and the WA, what would you say?
Sil Dorsett: "Join. Endorse. Vote." Join the World Assembly to expand your gameplay experience. Endorse everyone, especially the Delegate and Vice Delegate. We have tools available that can help, including a page on our forum that'll tell you everyone you haven't endorsed. Finally, vote on resolutions, because every vote counts. I sent a telegram to the entire region about this not too long ago.
Kasch: Going forward, what does a potential MoWAA need to know if they want your position?
Sil Dorsett: Potential ministers should know that they're responsible for the content and distribution of our recommendations, and there are tools available to the minister and deputy ministers that make it simple. They'll also need to be prepared to answer a lot of questions from the community. Also, keep a close eye on proposals, and also read what's being posted on the on-site forum, though really I encourage everyone in the staff to do that. Awareness of everything that's happening around the World Assembly subforum is crucial.
Kasch: Great advice, and leading onto the next question - if you could change one thing about this community, what would it be and why?
Sil Dorsett: I'll be honest, I can't really think of anything I would change. TNP is such an open and welcoming community with its own unique culture, and I'm not one to think about changing it while I'm still learning and adapting. So, I apologize for the non-answer there, but I think it should still speak to how great the community is.
Kasch: Totally valid answer there, it was a hard question! So, we've spoken about the WA and TNP in general, now for another topic. Other than the MoWAA, what other ministries could you see yourself managing, and why?
Sil Dorsett: Well, the first thing I need to do is be more active with Home Affairs. I've already been encouraging others to join the forums when I'm answering WA related questions, but it's about time I start ramping up activity in HA and encourage even more to come aboard. Once I have some experience there, perhaps I'll apply for a Deputy Minister spot there to gain the managerial experience.
Kasch: If everyone else was to CTE, and you could only save five nations from dying, who would you save?
Sil Dorsett: Haha, only five? Wow! I don't even think I could save myself under those conditions. Let's see. Guslantis, because who doesn't love guinea pigs? HMS Unicorn (r3naissanc3r) deserves it. I'll save BouncyAbbeyKitty too. You (Kasch) because you've had a hand in everything and can do everything if it comes down to it. And I have to let Pallaith live too. There that's five, and that's with me CTEing too.
Kasch: I feel very honoured to be on that list, but I am sure there are a lot more nations we could have mentioned. Now, if you could go back in time and tell the first few hundred nations anything, what would you say to them?
Sil Dorsett: Absolutely, that's why five was incredibly hard. Now, to the first hundred nations, I'd go back and tell them ahead of time of how much NationStates will grow, to give them some inspiration. There's been over five million nations created. That's an impressive feat, and it all started with them.
Kasch: After all, not even this interview would be happening without some of those first nations. While we're on the topic of history, what has been your favourite moment since joining NS?
Sil Dorsett: When the General Assembly stopped talking about nukes. Haha, just kidding, That'll never happen. My favorite moment in NS, in the 6 months I've been around, was when the WA nations came together and were able to flip the result of a liberation repeal when Eternal Scholars was invaded a second time in the middle of the vote. We got the job done, the region stayed liberated until the new invaders were out, and now just recently we were able to hand that region back over to its rightful owners.
Kasch: That must have been pretty memorable, and in terms of the MoWAA and its work in writing recommendations, how do you think the ministry could be improved and changed so that writing these becomes easier and more efficient?
Sil Dorsett: That will come with more input in the discussion threads and with the staff reading through the on-site forums to gather up feedback from others across all of NationStates. With more input, we'll be able to write an informative recommendation faster. We should also continue to collaborate with our World Assembly Legislative League allies, letting them know when we start a discussion thread, letting them know what our vote is, and working together on the recommendations, and try to have everything ready to send within a day of a resolution coming to vote.
Kasch: Okay, and in terms of communication with our allies over GA and SC Proposals, are there any regions which stand out in terms of legislative capability, other than TNP?
Sil Dorsett: I'd say Europeia and Balder have very solid WA programs and are heavy hitters with high endorsement counts. Together we make up a large chunk of the available vote. They are two of our WALL allies, and we have our own Discord server with them and International Democratic Union, so communication and collaboration with them is easy. IDU also has an advantage as their delegate is a member of the GA secretariat.
Kasch: Since we're nearing the end of the interview, just a few more questions. Firstly, what were your thoughts on NS before you joined? How did you see the community beforehand and what did you expect from it?
Sil Dorsett: To be honest, I went in with no thoughts or expectations at all. I started out as one of those players that was just curious about answering issues and how a nation would change as a result. It was a legitimate leap of faith that I took in joining the TNP community, and I'm glad I did.
Kasch: Penultimately, if you could move to any other region in the game, and leave TNP behind, what region would that be?
Sil Dorsett: Haha, if it really came to that, I'd at least go to one of our allies, and definitely to a large, safe region. Which one in particular? I couldn't really say. I'd want to do more research and see which regions share our values, something I haven't worked on yet. If I feel up for it, maybe I'll move a puppet around and see what's out there, but I'm personally in no rush to do so.
Kasch: Personally, I would very easily choose Europeia, that's just me, though. Now, final question - you have one day left to do anything on NS before it shuts down forever, what do you do and why?
Sil Dorsett: Last day, I'd go through all of my nation's information pages and print them. All the charts, print those too. Regional information pages, do them too. That way, I have a final report card of my nation to look back upon. I don't trust the internet's Wayback Machine site to do it right!
Kasch: Well, it's been absolutely great having you on the Spotlight with me today, and I wish you the best of the luck with the rest of the term! Folks, that does it for this month's Spotlight!
Sil Dorsett: Thanks for having me, Kasch. It's been a pleasure.
NBS Radio becomes TNPs first radio show
The Northern Broadcasting service was developed under the supervision of myself, and FrozenTopHat. We both noticed the activity and the use of the Discord voice chat channels. We soon realized that not only could there be a potential advantage to the voice chats, but there could even be an entire project that can contribute to it. Inspired by a similar program run by Europeia, we knew that it was not quite an original idea. We suspected that many regions might have tried and failed at it before. Yet we were strong-willed, as leaders of the Communications Ministry, to assure the voices of the North were heard at all costs.
If you have never heard of the Northern Broadcasting Service before, it is the group of members responsible for the development, hosting, and participation of weekly broadcasts and events for the pleasure and entertainment of the community and others who wish to follow up on current events. A program contained within the Northern Broadcasting Service, NBS Radio, was founded by FrozenTopHat and myself about five weeks ago. It has continued to work well alongside the Northern Lights and other ministries within the region.
Our motivation to progress this project was the lack of goals and objectives. I had rebuff the belief that The Northern Lights would be my only working point as Minister of Communications. We understood that focusing on numerous projects at once can reduce the quality of our work, but I truly saw something within the NBS. How it could be managed by the ministry, the potential in the people and the ministry itself, and FrozenTopHat vehemently agreed. It is one thing to perusal text on a screen, but it is on an utterly new level when the voices behind that text are presented to the community.
How did the first broadcast go? Well, when planning the very first broadcast, I must say, I was incredibly anxious about it. We did not quite know what topics that should be discussed in our broadcast, neither how it should be presented, but with some poking and querying, I managed to obtain a list of several topics for the show. Everything went splendiferous that day, we have almost consistently maintained our reliable starting times, and efficiency in producing great content for all of our listeners. The number of people taking interest and listening to our broadcast is steadily on the increase, so hopefully to come at the end of the term, we attain a regular, dedicated group of listeners.
We have a variety of ideas for the Northern Broadcasting Service and hope to establish some of them in the coming months of the term. One of those conceptions being an interview show, which is already in action through The Spotlight, a monthly segment in the Northern Lights. The first session went successfully, with Tomb as our very first guest. I am thrilled to announce the next person on the show will be Sil Dorsett, current Minister of WA Affairs! As you can presume, there are almost endless possibilities when it comes to the Spotlight, with new topics, questions, and people to interview every month! Not just through text, voice interviews are very much on the table.
Another idea some of the broadcasters and I were going over, was an opportunity for broadcasters of NBS and the EBC to collaborate on some projects. To produce excellent content for both shows would be an incredible chance for us to work with them on a broadcast. If you are part of the EBC, and do regular broadcasts through Mixlr, contact me so something can be arranged! I think it would do both communities a massive favor in terms of increasing popularity, listeners, and regular air time. It would also give our broadcasters a chance to meet others from Europeia.
All of the broadcasts from then on have followed the same patterns, and have all been produced and executed excellently by all of those involved. It is a great pleasure to work with everyone on this project and watch it grow from its infancy. I would to thank numerous people for their help on this project, and I believe some credit may be overdue for all of its expansion and growth. Essentially, to FrozenTopHat, for lighting the sparks of inspiration within me. Thanks to everyone who had contributed to the broadcast so far. NBS Radio could not have been what it is today without you and I know that this is only just the beginning.
CAIN conference keyword density analysis
Nationstates is a political game and ideologies do have a place in Nationstates politics-though it may not always be acknowledged as such. My hypothesis is that political ideologies can be measured by taking a tally of the buzzwords the political actor chooses to throw around. The words you choose to use matter, and that certain biases can show themselves in the particular kind of language you use. First off we need to set goal posts that do not move based on personal feelings or such. It is logical to identify the core ideal that an ideology espouses..The ones I shall use are taken from Daniel Berk's Ideology quiz, which I have found to adequately measure 99.6% of respondents who have taken the quiz (around 500 people have taken the quiz) and are Liberty, Equality, Stability.
Buzzwords for Liberty are: Discretion, liberty, liberate, free, freedom, one, choice, enterprise, Conscience, Deregulate, reason, each, option, own, optional, Individual, opportunity, open, any, voluntary, unlimited, unrestrained, person, private, consent, self, independent, freely, Volunteer, Domination (when spoken in negative), dependence (Negative).
Equality= Redistribution, fair, equitable, social, society, expand, equalize, equality, people, fairness, universal, every, community, together, justice, common, sense, sensitive, masses, group, balance activism, all, same, access, distribute, share, shared, Discrimination (negative), differences (negative).
Stability= Experience, the region, leader, leaders, peace, order, law, stability, member, citizen, tradition, heritage, authority, decision, decisive, certain, some, protect, safe, safety, secure, security, insure, establish, fundamental, trust, permit, reliable, Chaos (negative), Activity (negative).
Using these keywords all we have to do is read the document and start tallying for all synonyms or derived words of the above. References such as 'I hate equality' will logically be tallied as negative Equality stance. We then subtract negatives from the positives to get overall score. The Ideology of Liberty is Libertarianism or Anarcho-Capitalism when radical; Equality is Democratism and Communism when radical; Stability is Conservativism and Fascism if radical. 2/3 % score is radical threshold-if one prizes a principle over the others to this extent they qualify as an extremist.
The document we shall analyze today is the CAIN treaty and see what kind of bias is hinted at in the document: First the preamble:
"We, the undersigned governments; mindful of the impact Nazism has on the community we all share, devoted to combating scientific racism, appalled by the glorification of Nazi Germany, determined to overcome gameplay differences, and committed to making the NationStates community more accessible; do hereby establish and join the Coalition Against the Ideology of Nazism, herein referred to as "CAIN", and agree to recognize and adhere to this Treaty and the commitments set forth within."
So, by the buzzwords, I have counted there are 6 Equality Keywords and 1 conservative keyword. Let's sum them up and find proportions 6+1=7 6/7=85.7% Equality bias and 14.3% Stability. So the Preamble is showing a conservative communist signature - this is likely a response to the Nazi ideology in which hierarchy is seen as the Fundamental order of nature and Society is best organized as a hierarchy of fuhrers. It's also likely appealing to the Nazi's natural enemies - the communists. Now this doesn't mean this a communist document (in fact we will soon see that the author is NOT a communist). So let's continue to the next section which seems to be pro-stability as it's setting standards of law and order.
These are the numbers I counted:
+L=1 +E=2 +S=9
-L=0 -E0= -S=1.
.L=1 E=2 S=8 1+2+8=11 so 72.7% Stability
So it scores Fascist... If this score is valid-then we have to assume there was some pandering to a fascist group-Nazis are NOT fascists-the two groups in RL actually nearly went to war with each other over Austria-the main thing about Nazism is it's virulent anti-communism while Fascists were actually an offshoot of the socialists. In Nationstates the closest equivalent to Fascism is Francoism.
For the rest of the document I am going to do some cursory tallies.
The Membership admin section scores as follows: L=8 E=3 S=22 8+3+22=33, 22/33=66.7% Fascist
Functions section
L=5 E=1 S=13 68% Fascist
General Provisions
L=4 E=1 S=8 61.5% stability Hardline Conservative
Now I add up the totals of the above and I get:
Total= L=18, E=13, S=52, sum the results 18+13+52=83, find percentage 52/83=62.6%, Hardline Conservative.
And at that a Liberal Conservative. the score of this document is similar to Imperialist and Independent Manifestoes when I scored them several years ago (to be exact Liberty =33% Equality=18% Stability=48% Moderate Liberal Conservative: Emperor Onder of LKE had a score of L=22% E=15% S=63% ), so I would have to conclude that the conservatives had a lot of power over the procedural aspects of this document. This alliance of Imperialists/Independents with Communists will probably have a lot of problems as they don't see eye to eye with each other (Radicals of one ideology will perceive even moderate members of another ideology as their radical counterparts e.g. a communist will perceive a conservative as a fascist and a Fascist will see a moderate Laborist as a communist). The KDA predicts the Communists would most like the preamble but dislike the definitions section -they would probably prefer to replace "region" with "communities" so it’s less overtly statist-and likely include a condemnation of Fascism. Communitarians might also be a little wary about this treaty as Equality is the lowest score in the document (communitarians like to balance Equality and Stability)... Brunhilde was the author so we have to ask: What was Brunhilde's score using a quiz I designed to measure ideology based on a similar system? Liberal Conservative or Right Libertarian Independent/Imperialist (54% Liberty, 46% Equality, 77% Stability).
From doing a survey of regions with 500 respondents- Lazarus, TCB, and TRR, and TSP tended to be communist or heavily left-leaning... TNP, TEP, TWP all were Communitarian or conservative. The Communist Bloc used to have communitarians but many of them have since left their region and formed regions such as Wintercrest, so TCB is largely dominated by communists at this time. Osiris and the Pacific have a lot of Francoists so Osiris was likely the CAIN member most opposed to adding Fascism to the list of target ideologies. Conservatives also likely were opposed to adding it as they themselves might get labeled as "Fascists" (even though they're not) by hardline leftists. LKE is likely satisfied with this treaty considering their scores are an almost exact match, Looking at the list of signatories only 3-4 regions are outright communist or had a communist past. Imperialist-Independent-National Sovereigntist-monarchist regions seem to make up the majority (62.5%) of signatories with at least 15 of the 24 signatories (Note I am separating Communist regions from Independent ones). "Democratic" regions made up at least 7.
If I were to predict what will happen and considering the bias of the dominant members of this coalition .some of the more left-leaning regions may de facto leave this coalition at some point in the future-especially as the Nazi's continue to lose power... many left-leaning and especially Libertarian Socialists will lobby in their home regions to leave this coalition, possibly viewing this as something that increases Imperialists' power in Nationstates or not "fair" to their own regions-however those regions will likely stay in the coalition as their own establishments will want to keep them in the coalition.
North Pacific Army Bulletin
February was a quiet month for the NPA, as most of the operations have been for training purposes. The NPA has deployed at least 6 troops on each operation, and considering the regular inactivity spurts that occur around this time of the year, this is an impressive level of consistency.
At the start of February, the NPA conducted three successful detagging operations, with nine participants. This was a good operation for setting up the level of activity and committment for the rest of the month.
After this, the NPA were deployed to Taijitu for the second time, as the founder had ceased to exist again. The operation secured the region until the natives could resolve the situation. The operation was successful, with the founder being restored. In total, 18 troops were deployed.
The third operation of the month came around the 10th of February, when a joint force of 8 troops performed some more training exercises in both Warzone Australia and Warzone Asia. This operation was successful, and rounded up the end of the month nicely. We can expect to see more of the same over March, and as usual, Gladio has executed his duties with great maturity, efficiency and strong leadership.
To summarize, the NPA conducted three detagging operations, helped Taijitu recover their founder for the second time and conducted two additional training exercises nearer the end of the month. That rounds it up for February, more to come next time.
Publisher: Plembobria :: Executive Editor: Kasch :: Managing Editor: Tomb :: Assistant Managing Editor: FrozenTopHat :: Graphic Artist: Imki + SillyString
The Northern Lights is produced by the Ministry of Communications on behalf of the Government of The North Pacific and distributed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Except where otherwise indicated, all content represents the views of the Government of The North Pacific.