The Free Nations RegionBoard

The Free Nations Region’s Foreign Affairs is working, but it is not thriving. I am running for election as the Minister of Foreign Affairs in a bid to change that. For the past two and a half years, I have served as your Chief Justice, and for over three years, I have served on the Supreme Court. For this reason, I have been unable to effectively pursue election or executive office since my brief stint in 2020 as Minister of Culture. Now, however, I have resigned from the Court and I am willing to pursue the Executive Branch once more as your Minister of Foreign Affairs. I will be organizing this campaign by posing questions to myself (I am the greatest at questioning candidates, as many of you know), and then answering them myself.

I have a rich background in Foreign Affairs. It was my first leadership position in NationStates, from March to May of 2020, as Chief Minister of Foreign Affairs in The East Pacific, a post I returned to in mid-late 2021. More than that, I have consistently served for about three years, non-stop, as an advisor in Foreign Affairs matters. As Deputy Minister or Senior Diplomat in TEP, I held lower offices taking care of FA duties, but whenever I was not holding those posts, I remained an advisor in the FA Ministry and the Cabinet in TEP.

For various intermediate periods, I have served as a Presidential Advisor here in the Free Nations Region. More than that, I have served as a diplomat to nine different regions from four different regions. I have gone through numerous FA crises, including drafting two separate statements on behalf of FNR and too many to count on behalf of TEP. I have responded to everything from Operation Ragnarok to TBH’s attempted attack on our region here at home.

It is true that I hold citizenship in The East Pacific, The South Pacific, Thaecia, and the Alstroemerian Commonwealths. In TEP, I am a Magister (legislator) and Vizier (security officer), but I remain an advisor in the Cabinet and FA Council. In TSP, I am only a citizen (sometimes a concerned citizen). In Thaecia, I am much the same, having not even voted in the past few elections. In AC, I am a Polls RO for, specifically, The Glorious Nations of Iwaku, and a member of the Government, which is to say part of the advising council that oversees the Commonwealths’ internal affairs.

I am fully prepared to employ unbiased advisors on issues dealing with regions which I have a prior entanglement with. I am also prepared to put aside my bias in issues of great regional importance. I have already dealt with TEP-FNR relations as a citizen on both sides. I believe it has been instrumental in developing personal ties between the two regions, but it has also granted me an expansive perspective. I believe my ties with other regions are strengths, the roots of potentially closer relationships with our allies. Not weaknesses. I have, in the matter of TBH’s raid, fought for FNR sovereignty, and I will continue to do so. The regions I am in have no control over this region, and I will not be afraid to make decisions in the best interests of our region over others.

No. I am publicly unaligned. I have, at times, criticized the Brotherhood of Malice, the Black Hawks, the Communist Bloc, and Lone Wolves United, which form the primary core of the current raider coalition, but I have not hesitated to criticize the actions of the defender ideology’s staunchest proponents, including some of the most powerful regions in the defender coalition - the South Pacific, the Order of the Grey Wardens, the League and Concord, and 10000 Islands.

I am not a defender, personally, but I have deep respect for the defender ideology, as I do the raider ideology, and I am fully prepared to put the region’s interests over my own personal beliefs. The FNR is a defender region. That will not change. It will be reflected in its approach to foreign affairs. I do not have to believe in the defender ideology to understand that it is the guiding military and FA philosophy, and to work to advance that philosophy.

My policy platform has three prongs. The first is detailed record keeping of our diplomats and relations. The second is developing our alliances with key regions. The third prong is involving FNR in the wider world of GP.

We’ve had records before, of course, but my approach would be a dispatch on my nation listing Heads of State, Ministers of Foreign Affairs, and Diplomats to and from FNR. This dispatch idea is one that TEP implemented with great success in the past, which was one of my achievements in TEP’s Chief Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I believe having this up-to-date information is important to ensuring that we have the right contacts and we’re getting the most from our relationships. More than that, it ensures a cohesive and organized Ministry which can deliver an effective response.

There will be vacancies. I’m aware that our manpower is severely lacking. In many regions, we may have no diplomats to send. In those cases, I will be our diplomat. The job is a minimal requirement, and all it needs is a semi-active person in a discord server. The real FA work is embassies, treaties, statements, and the like. I will use those avenues as ways to engage our staff. They can help draft announcements, or provide thoughts on GP developments, and such. It’s much more interesting and gives real hands-on FA experience.

Our relations are strongest with two groups - PfS and Lausanne. FNR is a member region of the Partnership for Sovereignty, and a firmly defender region, but has been an inactive one at that. As an aspiring WA author myself, I will advance FNR’s interests in the actual PfS, and I will prioritize our relationships with those regions participating. Alongside the Aegis Accords, PfS is the tangible manifestation of the defender bloc, but we are only in PfS. As such it is our path to the interregional stage, something I prioritize in the third prong. We are a defender region and that is our most important quality in Foreign Affairs. Particularly, regions like the Union of Democratic States and The League & Concord are strong candidates for closer ties, although they are not the only defender regions I would pursue closer ties with.

The second group, the Second Convention of Lausanne, is not a defender group, but it is a group of regions that have been closer to us than our defender allies ever have been. While I will seek to expand those defender relationships, I will not let FNR stray from the regions that formed and still form the foundation of our FA. The alliances of TEP, Thaecia, and the AC are the most important diplomatic relationships we have, and the Ministry under my leadership would not forget that.

Other regions will be considered in my FA policy. Smaller regions will be given a chance as we take a more active role in expanding our network of friendships across NS. Furthermore, my Ministry would approach the Modern Gameplay Compact and its member regions, with respect and admirations. The MGC are not defenders or Lausanne signatories, but their stance against the Brotherhood of Malice is commendable, and even if they do not pursue diplomatic ties with the FNR, we will still think highly of this opposition.

As Minister of Foreign Affairs, I will advance our regional interests and the interests of the defender ideology by stressing the importance of sovereignty. I will respect the sovereignty of our allies. The sovereignty of our independent and unaligned friends to raid and defend in equal part, within reason. The sovereignty of our defender friends to pursue hardline approaches that our moderate voice of reason may warn against but will not interfere with directly. The sovereignty of all our friends to vote as they wish in the World Assembly, even if it is against our requests. In return, we will ask solely that they respect our sovereignty in return.

I admit, I hope to get more embassies and more treaties under our region’s belt. I will not put a number to that, or names, because setting tangible quotas and goals is not how you conduct FA. If all you’re worried about is the number of embassies and treaties, your relationships will be hollow and unprosperous. The way to conduct FA is to choose your way of thinking, to set a mindset that will govern your actions when you come to a crossroads. My way of thinking will be open to new relationships and stronger relationships, which, in my opinion, is the only path to FNR taking a seat on the center stage.

Notable regions are those with GP presence. While the state of NSGP, or NationStates Gameplay, is often unstable and potentially volatile, it is the stage of the wider interregional community. If FNR is to have a voice on the interregional stage, to have influence in the world of FA, the way to accomplish that is through a GP presence. Publishing statements condemning attacks on our allies, or responding to interregional crises. Making our presence known by using our voices. The NSGP embassy thread of the FNR will be used not only for news, but for statements by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

We will draft official responses to notable GP events when deemed necessary, yes, but we will also take stances on global issues. The rise of what Roavin has called “Neo-Moralism” within the defender ideology pushes our defender allies and friends to potentially radical actions. FNR is a defender region through and through, but we pride ourselves on our open-mindedness and moderate stance. Compromise between defender regions and independent regions, compromise between “Neo-Moralists” and moderate defenders and compromise between regionalists and cosmopolitans is the path to a more stable, beneficial interregional community.

Part of having a strong GP presence, however, is having strong interdisciplinary, inter-ministry ties. I will work with the Minister of Internal Affairs on interregional festivals with our allies. I will work with the World Assembly Delegate on advancing FNR’s interests in the Security Council, primarily through the Partnership for Sovereignty. I will work with our Minister of Defense to ensure that military operations support our FA goals, and to ensure that our FA goals support our military operations. Most of all I will work with our President, who is our Head of State and Chief Diplomat above all. She will be my boss, and I will work closely alongside her to ensure that my Ministry does not run contrary to the goals of her presidency.

No. If/when that happens, I will edit this dispatch with the questions and my responses.