A Proposal of the Network of Republics

[The Young Pope]

The Bretonnian presidential couple were taking down notes as well, with Lavaud offering comments. "We Bretonnians agree with the re-wording of articles 5 and 7, however as for article 9 to be removed completely, well partially; The 70% majority able to block a petition perhaps isn't needed but the first part of the article could be considered to be essential, after all it would enable nations such as the Ecclesiastical State and Lodja to join depending on the interpretation of the word 'Republic', since the elective heads of states undergo coronation ceremonies as well as they hold their offices til' their last breath. I've highlighted the edited articles:

Recognising the independence of Republics.

Understanding the need for international co-operation amongst citizens is vital for international harmony

Committed to celebrating the uniqueness of nations.

Hopeful that Republics can co-operate in a range of areas

The nations signing this document hereby agree to the following conditions.

1. That Republics will act towards each other with friendship and kindness. That any disputes shall be settled by peaceful means whenever possible using various international organisations to bring about mutually acceptable solutions.

2. That Republics will host Ambassadors of other member nations within their capital. These Ambassadors are to present themselves to the Head of State/Government within 24 hours of being summoned in writing.

3. That every two years a Festival of Nations shall take place[3]. This shall be a Cultural Festival to be hosted in a member nation choosen by a panel made up of one representative per nation. Each representative may nominate one city as host and may cast one vote, this however may not be for their nation. A nation may not host two consecutive Festivals.

4. That every two years[4], to be staggered with the Festival of Republics, a Tournament of Nations shall take place. This shall be a sporting event similar to the Mundus Games but on a smaller scale with each member nation choosing two Sports. The host shall be choosen by a panel made up of one representative per nation. Each representative may nominate one city as host and may cast one vote, this however may not be for their nation. A nation may not host two consecutive Tournaments.

5. The Network of Republics shall share information on criminal and acts considered terrorist by any member nation.

6. Members of the Network of Republics agree that they shall ensure any Tariffs in existence are no higher for members than for the lowest tariffed non-republic nation which does not hold a Trade Agreement.[5]

7. Member nations agree that should a natural disaster or national emergency befall a fellow member they shall take whatever action is within their power to offer support.

8. Member nations agree to an annual Council of Ministers. This shall take place in a rotation basis determined on the order by which this Treaty is signed. This Council shall be attended by either the Head of Government or their appointed person and shall discuss matters of international importance as well as co-operation between members.

9. This Treaty shall be open to any nation that has the governmental form of a republic, which shall be defined as one with an elected non hereditary leader, with a time limited term of office whom is not coronated so far as they ratify this Treaty.

10. A nation may leave this Treaty at any time by giving 30 days written notice.

11. This Treaty shall come into force from the ____________________________

Signed________________At Empire Bay D.C, Empire Bay, Bretonnian Republic

[Miteravia]

Selier nodded along as Vadik and Lavaud spoke, 'I am in agreement with the necessity to modify articles 5 and 7 as suggested. However with article 9 we definitely need to be able to agree on the definition of a republic. Article 5 should also define what constitutes a terrorist organisation that can then be recognised as such by the NoR since you all know the old adage "One man's terrorist is another's freedom fighter".'

[DeaEstMachina]

"My... colleague, I guess, Vice President Vadik, has raised some valid questions", interjected Nováková, "and I'd like to also offer a possible solution to the issue of our varying perception regarding 'terrorist' and 'criminal' groups. Now, I fear we wouldn't come to a common understanding any time soon if we drew up a list of organizations that we all agree on being vile and worthy of punishment, but at the same time the whole point would become void if we changed Article 5 in a way that would only require member nations to comply with it if they individually share the view of another nation that would demand such information or help."

She took another sip from her bottle, which again turned up from who-knows-where, and continued: "I propose to amend Article 5 in a way that allows member nations to deny requests for information or other help against criminal or terrorist organizations, but with the limitation that requests can only be denied concerning a single organization per country. That way it will be possible to protect certain interest groups from unjust oppression and at the same time what would possibly be a multitude of different criminal or extremist factions and groups will be forced to either be wiped out or join a single organization with views that are moderate enough to justify protection by their 'patron country' (the country that chose to deny help against them).
Of course, this will not bar any member nation from hunting down these organizations on their own if they so please."
The Commissar falls silent again, looking at the other conference attendants with an anxious expression on her face.

[Libby]

"Woah, woah, woah" Vadik exclaimed, "What I've just heard is that we should consider actually protecting terrorists. I can imagine it now. Forgive me if I give a history lesson[1]. Your own neighbours" he addressed the Bretonnian leadership, "They are plagued by the Borlanders, an alternative bloodline to their own inflated monarchy. These Borlanders have murdered thousands, I well remember the scandal when they launched a missile into the middle of Freestone killing hundreds in the process. Now imagine East Moreland was a republic and a member of this network, and imagine that one of us knew something about the Borlanders acquiring these missiles. We have however someone who has mandated the Borlanders as their protected organisation, we then as a group condone the murder of innocents. If someone is a terrorist they are a terrorist. The first article of this organisation's proposed charter is " That Republics will act towards each other with friendship and kindness. " How is protecting someone wishing to do another harm achieving that aim. If we call the Bene Gesserit terrorists they should be treated as terrorists."

1.	more to help newer members understand what happened in the past.

[Miteravia]

'I certainly agree with Mister Vadik, that system is totally open to abuse.' Seiler posited, 'I would say that article 5 not actually be limited to terrorists, but any armed military or paramilitary organisation that is not recognised by the national government as a friendly or allied legal entity.' He swirled his drink for a moment. 'As us Miteravians know even freedom fighting reduces stability and prosperity of a nation. I feel we should all be mandated to share any information of any risky behaviour, however minor or major, for the sake of democracy and our republican tradition.'

[Lakhzovia]

Lakhzov Minister of Foreign Affairs Tesan Cikniye who had sat unobtrusively listening until this point finally decided to weigh in on the discussion.

"Lakhzovia is broadly inclined to view the proposal favourably, however we are in agreement with the Kaitane representative regarding the inappropriateness of article 9, we feel that this definition is far too prescriptive. rather we suggest that it simply define a republic as any government form in which the head of state is not a hereditary monarch. I believe this definition is broad enough to capture all self-declared republics while excluding monarchies.

In regards to the issue of intel sharing about terrorist activities I feel that it is vital that this be included in the agreement and I do not think it is helpful to propose some bizarre mechanism that allow states to protect a stipulated number of terrorist organisations.

The test should be to determine whether providing a piece of intel is balanced by the potential harm to the nation holding the information. For example say there is a request from nation A for information that nation B holds on the activities of a terrorist organisation. If the damage to nation A from non-disclosure outweighs the risk to nation B resulting from disclosure then nation B must disclose this information. However if there is no immediate threat to nation A and revealing this information would lead to damage for nation B then nation B should not have to provide this."

[Libby]

"Expanding Article 5 out in that manner creates issues." Vadik looked squarely at his hosts, "For example in the past it is well known that Rokkenjima does not like Kaitaine, they even threatened us with sanctions relatively recently because of our responses to our developments of new technology, our struggles with the Bene Gesserit and some.....embassy misunderstandings. Now our hosts here are members of an organisation I believe is called LISA, part of that makes them allies and as such Bretonnia will be in a predicament. Their LISA obligations give them access to information we would find very useful such as naval deployments, radio frequencies and the like, should they be compelled to hand that information over to us? After all they could easily be perceived as a threat against us. In fact before they climbed down they deployed naval vessels to our region. Had this Network existed and Bretonnia a member of LISA, what information should they have passed to us? This article must be confined to terrorist organisations or we run the risk of placing members in a situation they can not win."

[Miteravia]

'You are correct, Mr Vadik, so may I revise my statement to internal non-friendly organisation so in a situation like you just mentioned Bretonnia would not be forced to hand over any information.' President Seiler corrected. Turning to Minister Cikniye he continued 'I also do like your mechanism of risk-weighting, make the actuaries we employ earn their pay.'

[The Young Pope]

"We agree with Vadik and Seiler, it's paramount that article 5 isn't going to be interpreted in a difficult, varied manner or we risk spilling each other's own national security that has nothing to do with terrorist organisations." Lavaud said, giving a look to everyone sat around the conference table, taking a coffee sip. "As for going back to article 9, are you then willing to allow nations such as the Ecclesiastical State and Lodja, considering they are as you say non hereditary heads of states?" Lavaud asked sternly, "The risk is that then both could be in this Republican-based organisation and our Monarchist-based one, drawing benefits as they see fit."

[Lakhzovia]

"Ah, See the problem." said Cikniye pondering the matter for a moment "Perhaps then the following definition: 'A Republic is recognised as any government form in which the head of state is not a hereditary monarch and which was established to be an expression of the popular mandate of a nations citizens.' Such a definition would exclude such governments as those of the Ecclesiastic States and Lodja."

[Libby]

"Keeping the monarchs out is simple, the current Article 9 states clearly, that the nation must have an elected non hereditary leader, with a time limited term of office whom is not coronated. That rules out Lodja on several grounds, first they believe in their bizarre world that their Goddess, this Sussifeet woman, is within their Queen, therefore Sussifeet is Queen, that's hereditary and Lodja won't dare challenge it as of course that would mean denouncing their faith. The second reason Lodja is ruled out is their Queen has no time limited office. The same issue applies to this Pope character, they are not re-elected every say five years, their in the job till they die. I therefore believe the current Article 9 is sufficient if we remove the ability of anyone here to block new members."

[The Young Pope]

"Indeed we say to the both of you in terms of the thinking, especially Vadik here...Do we have additional inputs in regards to articles 5, 7 and 9 respectively?" Lavaud asked.

[Muneski]

HE agreed.

[Glitchy]

It seems that the weather hadn't been kind to Sutherland's plans. The land was already cursed by an ever present heatwave, but today there just had to be storms rolling into Malboura. Jacob Gathum, the relatively young, light skinned, brown haired, blue eyed and averagely built Sutherian diplomat had to watch the initial moments of the meeting intently on a tablet on his private flight into Bretonnia. He couldn't wait for the pizza, it was absolutely mouth-watering. Once the flight touched down in the Bretonnian runway, Jacob wasted no time in rushing to his destination, though not before he tidied his black pinstripe suit, gelled up his head of hair and ensured his bags were packed. The distinguished man quickly made his way through the airport, gliding through security measures and ID checks to the outside of the airport, where he met his official escort waiting for him.

As the drive lagged on he kept his eyes away from the eye-candy of the city around him, and instead had them glued to his tablet screen. He had watched as the meeting went from small-talk, to the plage outbreak, to the reason they were all there and now a tiny yet important definition of the term 'republic' in the draft. Bloody rubbish, Jacob thought to himself, this should've been sorted earlier, but I suppose that's partially what the meeting's about.

The thought receeded from Jacob's mind, and as it did the escort vehicle came to ia stop as the driver simply looked back to Jacob and nodded,, signaling that they were at their destination. Jacob exited with all his luggaage, tablet still in hand, and made his way through the building. Eventually, after some help from friendly workers in the building, Jacob found his way to the meeting room. He stood outside the large door, taking a couple of breaths before he would essentially march on in there. He breathed, in, and out.

"G'day mates!" Jacob declared as he pushed open the door for the meeting room, entering as he did. "I am the diplomatic, and unfortunately late, representative of Sutherland at this meeting" He continued as he made his way to the leftover pizza. He took a slice and continued speaking, or suitably mumbling as he munched on some pizza, "Mmmm, this is good pizza. Anyways, Sutherland agrees with the definiton put forth by Cikniye"

He got the impression from President Lauvard that this was a friendly occassion, but Jacob hoped he hadn't just gone too casual.

[Miteravia]

'Good day to you to too Mister...er...' Seiler looked down at the guest list to figure out the diplomats name, 'Gathum, yes yes, good day Mister Gathum. I must agree with you, we too accept the definition laid out by the Lakhzovian delegation. Does any party not agree and wish to object?'

[The Young Pope]

"To repeat this once more, We consider The Kaitaine stance on the definition regarding republics, meaning it shall remain unchanged whilst removing the part of 70% majority rejecting an applicant member" Pomeroy said.

"Welcome Matey mate, oh I wouldn't call that late as we only touched the tip of the ice berg and do east as much dogs and pizza as you want!" Lavaud greeted his Sutherlandian colleague.

[RobertAgira]

"I have an issue" Hugo Lascelles said standing, "Frankly I'm amazed no one has said anything sooner. Here we are, the Republics of the world and in our midst we have Kaitaine, a nation that was once the Tag-Team partner of the Union of Soviet Rodina, a global superpower and the instigator of more conflicts than I can count. Once there leader even took a WMD to a meeting such as this, yet here we have the King elect of that nation sat here. And yes I do mean King, we have the McPherson dynasty, all powerful, a democracy on paper and that is all, and the successor already in place. Perhaps Vadik here can inform us of how many votes he got....oh that's right ZERO" he held up a ring made between his thumb and fingers as to emphasis his point. If we permit Kaitaine to join this Network they will become stronger. They will be able to play the system to get information they require, access to our nations. Who here even has an embassy with Kaitaine? And lets remember that just six months ago we discovered that they had sleeper agents in almost EVERY nation in Mundus."

"Do we not see that already he is trying to impose the way of Kaitaine on this group. It may be a small thing but he seeks to stop the use of the phrase "act of God" because of their athiest belief. Had that been the sole reason I could understand but lets remember Kaitaine bans every religion, it locks up those expressing a faith and it murders the Bene Gesserit, a group he is trying to get you to call terrorists just because they have the strength to stand up for their belief. I for one will not permit my nation to be aligned with one that would glady deny our faith, my religious Order in the past carried out great slaughters for our faith, we today look back on that and see that despite the desire to great good there was great evil committed. We would have been stopped had someone have said no this is not permissable and stood against the evils committed. We have changed our ways, we now engage in dialouge with those of other faiths, we learn and teach faith and we show love to all. These are not traits Kaitaine is capable of.

This comes down to a decision, do we wish to open the gates of this network to every Republic, help it grow stronger, help its economy grow and help it spread its influence or do we wish to critically evaluate those joining to ensure the strength, prosperity and influence we give members is not given to a nation that stands contradictory to all many of us hold dear. I guess its decision time, then and only then is it worth discussing articles."

[Miteravia]

Seiler leaned forward over the table slightly, 'I see your point Knight Commander Lascelles and I understand why you hold such distaste for Mister Vadik and his nation. However in the interest of fairness should they not be allowed a seat at the table? A dialogue should be opened after all they will not abandon any of their more authoritarian traits on their own, I believe it to be possible of all nations to see the light in liberty but as of now they don't so they must be allowed to have a seat at the table, excluding them will change nothing and possibly even exacerbate the issue further if they see you, I and other members as foes not potential friends.' He tugged on his blazer to regain his train of thought.
'That said I do agree with Mister Vadik's suggestion of the omission of the 'acts of God' section, not out of state-enforced atheism but out of the liberty to choose whether or not to recognise a deity; the phrase 'act of God' states for certain there is some form of higher being, however I'm given to believe most god or gods are seen as 'natural' within their respective faiths thus meaning an 'act of God' would be considered a natural disaster meaning 'act of God' are not explicitly excluded from that clause.'

[RobertAgira]

"Would you offer a hungry lion a place at your table?" Hugo retorted, "While this particular nation is given a seat at the table they will be benefiting from the wads of intelligence they may gather on our nations, they will be able to use that information and freedom to persecute people back home in Kaitaine. They will be free to send their espionage agents to any of our nations with ease and have them operate under the blanket of diplomatic immunity. Allowing a nation that has stated its wish to ensure a Communist future for the whole of Mundus that kind of oppurtunity is insane. Miteravia may as well just hand over their governments hard drives to Pasternak here if they wish to share a seat at the table with them. As for the act of God issue this is a matter of freedom of expression and a freedom of faith. Let me remind you the reason Kaitaine wish to have this removed for is because they state there is no God. Well I state there is, the one perfect God in heaven, and by denying my right to state "Act of God" you are denying my freedom of faith and my freedom of religion. Is it this denial of a person's rights the Network of Republics wishes to be built upon."

[The Young Pope]

The Bretonnian Presidential couple listened with reason on Hugo's warning regarding the red Kaitaine, especially the alarming concerns raised, with Lavaud stating:

"Mr. Vadik here needs to give a response to all the valid points brought up and the obvious agenda that the Kaitaine representatives are trying to impose on all of us; we haven't for example had any problems arising from the BG community within Bretonnia however at the same time no quarrels to our knowledge with communists HOWEVER as our society is not only built on republicanism but also freedom of expression and beliefs, it would indeed seem odd for an organisation such as this one acting in a contradictory and hypocritical fashion by trying to accomodate two sets of opposing notions, as much as I also respect Mr. Seiler here for acceptance of other dissenting voices and opinions. I can see now clearly the strange reasoning for removing a majority 70% vote for deciding the rejection of an applying nation or not, for the exact same reason as the Knight Commander pointed out, to be able to conduct a screening making sure said 'republic' is adhering to the charter. Combine with the past and surely recent history placing sleeper agents in each and every nation of non-communist virtues, where some of us hold Democratic elections, as well as the ultimate goal of spreading a controversial and in some aspects toxic ideology to all corners of Mundus. So unless Mr. Vadik can convince us otherwise, I'm afraid the representatives of Kaitaine have no other choice than to leave this room peacefully and respectfully."

Lavaud ended, the SS agents having their hands ready to draw their service weapons if need be. Pomeroy nodded while drinking a water-filled glass.

[Miteravia]

Seiler explained to the Mountjoy delegation 'Oh I wasn't for a second going to deny you your right to say that a disaster afflicting your nation was indeed an act of god, I was merely saying we include all disasters under one non-denominational term of natural disaster but at the end of the day it is a discussion over semantics and therefore unimportant in the grand scheme of things. I am unable to insist the Kaitaine representatives stay however if nations feel Kaitaine will abuse its position with the NoR then excluded them from Article 5 bilaterally, it still allows them to be included and reduces the risk of abuse of power.' He sat back in his seat. 'I am also unable to override the process of democracy, if the majority wish for the expulsion of Kaitaine I will wash my hand of it but accept the verdict.'

Seiler lent over a whispered to his aide in their native language. He passed the aide a bottle of water as the man left the room; Seiler opened his own bottle and drank a significant proportion of it. Wiping his brow, he place the bottle back on the table and adjusted his collar.

[Libby]

Vadik chuckled as the three nations spoke. "Oh come on, lets get real" he stood, "Hands up those nations in this room that don't employ spies and agents? We simply got more creative than you all, yes we got busted but I suspect I could take out my phone and have spies from many of your nations sat in McPherson's office back home before I even finished digesting this pizza. As for our past, yes we've killed, yes we've at times been brutal, hell our virtous friend here from Mountjoy even admitted his own so called religious order has blood on its hands. Our Miterav friend here, their nation has the blood of the The War of Wheat in their past, yet I don't hear any of you commenting on that.

Now as for why we are the only nation with Bene Gesserit problems, something I'd actually say is a lie by the way, that is simple Kaitaine was before our people's revolution the homeland of that ridicuolous cult. Thanks to our people's sacrifice and determination we stopped it spreading its web of terror across Mundus. It is by our blood you remain unsullied from its stench. The world began opening up to them, buying into their ridicolous propaganda and the world gave them a chance, and what did they do what that chance? I'll tell you, they attempted to steal nuclear waste from East Moreland, any guesses what they'd do with that? You want to criticise us for standing toe to toe with the bully that wants nuclear weapons? Does that really sound like a reasonable move?

This organisation is named the Network of Republics, we are a Republic, we took up the invite and read the same charter as everyone else around here and we are willing to abide by it. All we ask is for a few slight changes to make the Network more effective. Now I even have a suggestion for a way forward, why not change the article to "Natural Disaster/Act of God" That way we can please Mountjoys religious craziness while at the same time showing these are in fact what they are, natural disasters. See everybody happy."

[DeaEstMachina]

The Atherojan Commissar had listened to the debate with increasing nervosity, but apparently mustered the courage to speak up once more:
"Kaitaine's representative is right. It may be disputable how democratic their Republic really is, but that is true for all nations gathered here. It's certainly not something to bicker about now, as we came together to forge our common principles into a Network that will serve as inspiration for democratic movements everywhere. We surely don't want to become the laughing stock of those who accuse democracy of being a failed system that primary causes endless disagreement, would we? So please, let's stop with the talk about expulsion. It most likely stems from underlying anti-communist sentiments anyway."

[The Young Pope]

President Lavaud simply sighed while VP Pomeroy felt as if he were to bang his head on the table repeatedly, to think they had to squabble about a potential member's eligibility, well it was decided that the way forward was through democracy alone. "Alright ladies and gentlemen considering we've reached a standstill regarding Kaitaine's eligibility to join NoR, I propose all of us gathered around this table except us Bretonnia and Kaitaine vote; Yes for letting Kaitaine join, No for Rejecting said country...You may begin now." Lavaud simply said.

OOC: I'll probably give this around 48 hrs, so take the chance to say yes or no, PLS.

[Libby]

Vadik grinned, "I propose that we should first hold a vote on whether Bretonnia be permitted to join, or perhaps Mountjoy, Miteravia even? After all it would appear that we are being victimised for our political ideology. How can this organisation recognise the independence of Republics if it is saying one Republic may not join because we are Communist and stand by our ideals? How is banning Kaitaine from joining even before we have a charter agreed understanding the need for international co-operation? I'll tell you now this is not the way to go about celebrating the uniqueness of nations, if we are not permitted to become a member, should we choose, you are creating an echo-chamber full only of opinions and points of view that conform to your own. I was hopeful this charter could begin to see Republics co-operate in a way that to date only the monarchies of Mundus have, but instead I am forced to watch this blatant bias. I therefore propose if Kaitaine is to be voted on each nation be voted on." 

[Miteravia]

'In the interest of inclusion Miteravia would vote yes to the joining of any nation with a representative currently present at the table. The political ideology of a nation does not effect Miteravia's ability to co-operate with a nation, it may effect cohesion but not our willingness to try.' Seiler nodded profusely. 'So we vote yes to Kaitaine's memebership and urge you all to do the same however, Mr Vadik, I believe other votes would be excessive provided your nation is included.'

[RobertAgira]

"For all the reasons outlined Mountjoy opposes the admission of Kaitaine."

[The Young Pope]

After giving everyone a moment to vote either yes or no, President Lavaud felt a bit disappointed over the lack of commitment as everyone else remained silent throughout the entire ordeal, which was one aspect of so-called democracy he despised the most, namely when people are given the opportunity yet hesitate to act upon it. "Very well ladies and gentlemen, there weren't enough votes to disqualify Kaitaine from joining NoR as democracy at its finest has spoken ou in favor of said nation. Knight Commander I understand your concerns and hesitation to involve Kaitaine in this organisation which are well-grounded however as you noticed...Ths is why I don't have any quarrels if Mountjoy chooses to exit this room if it would come into conflict with personal values." Lavaud said, turning his attention to Mr. Vadik. "I hope Mr. Vadik and Co representing Kaitaine that only honesty, integrity and full transparency will henceforth emit from your republic upon being a member of NoR after listening to some of the concerns; mark our words that if there would be any infracture hereby after, membership will be withdrawn." Lavaud warned, he was willing to try but wouldn't be surprised if the Commies relapsed into dishonorable behaviour.

[Miteravia]

With the conclusion of Lavuad's announcement Seiler stood from his seat and did the button on his blazer. He cleared his throat
'I believe it in everyone's best interest I address this interest.' He said, placing his hands behind his back and puffing his chest out slightly. 'Thank you to those that participated in the vote,' nodding to the Mountjoy delegation, 'and thank you for those who maintained their silence if they did not strongly enough feel a conviction to cast their vote. Now Mister Vadik...'
Seiler's expression changed, it became slightly more stern. 'Miteravia has extended you an olive branch that many wished not be extended, I trust you will take this opportunity and not to make the Miterav government look a fool now. And for everyone else's sake play nice with the capitalists.'
Seiler retook his seat, he thought to himself what the consequences of being the sole vote allowing Kaitaine's membership to the NoR would be if his optimism was misplaced. Rubbing his palms together lightly he thought 'We'll cross that bridge when we get to it.'

[RobertAgira]

Hugo Lascelles stood, "You have just opened your national security to a rouge nation" he said as he buttoned up his jacket. "Mountjoy has no intention of being used as a pawn in an international game of witch hunting. We are a nation that will stand by our principles no matter what. Kaitaine seek to erode the ability of people to follow their faith, as a Christian I can not and will not condone that. I will not allow my Christian military to be used to persecute the Bene Gesserit, something which you now have via the back door committed to." With that he headed for the door turning to Lavuad "Thank you for the hospitality" he simply opened the door and disappeared leaving the room behind him. The meeting hadn't gone the way he'd wanted but at least he was pleased he'd maintained his nations principled stance.