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Non-Live Delegate Debate.
Topic Started: Jun 3 2013, 09:56:28 PM (997 Views)
Juris Lancaster
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Timex Sinclair
EDIT: It had been pointed out to me that debates are normally agreed to upon by the candidates, for this I apologise. So, this debate is voluntary, and if you do not wish poke holes in each other's responses, please post your opt out below. Again, I am sorry.

So far, I would like to give everyone a round of applause for their valiant efforts.

I would love to be able to host an IRC debate between all of these contenders for the Office of Delegate. However, I may or may not be able to do so.. If everyone happens to be on #theeastpacific Tues June 4, then we are free to hold debate there.

So, instead (and in case we cannot do an IRC Debate), I would like to hold a debate here (also).


  • Each Candidate will get one post on a topic before moving onto the next one.
  • After each Candidate has posted, each will then be allowed five (5) to seven (7) sentences to rebut any other candidate.
  • ------ this means each candidate will get two posts per topic
  • When all the topics are concluded, the Candidates may continue to debate and rebut as they see fit.


I wish everyone good luck.

First Topic: Foreign Affairs
What are your plans? How would you execute these plans?
Edited by Juris Lancaster, Jun 3 2013, 10:21:47 PM.
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A mean old man
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Can we have a topic?
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Juris Lancaster
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Timex Sinclair
A mean old man
Jun 4 2013, 01:28:47 PM
Can we have a topic?
Please pick an aspect of Foreign Affairs that you would like to address, this is also the time to address any concerns you have about other proposed FA plans.
Edited by Juris Lancaster, Jun 4 2013, 07:07:32 PM.
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Old Federalia
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Professor F
I'll name names of regions, but first, my plan. I've said what I'll do in the campaign thread, but I'll put it all together so people can clearly see what I'll do in this one area.

My executive would be a meritocracy, but not a democracy, and would respect those who have worked hard in the past. With respect, I differ with Babiana's and AMOM's plans for foreign affairs (FA).

I think TEP should keep those embassies with regions who have active relations with us. That is TEP's FA foundation, so I will build on it, not destroy it. There are many people, both from our region and other regions, who have worked hard to establish, maintain and enhance those relations.

I also think TEP should keep its ambassadors. I've run 44 embassies simultaneously by myself, and have had ambassadors work under me at other times, so I know the benefits of both systems of embassy management. It's efficient to post all the updates by yourself, an example would be Unibot posting in all the UDL's embassies. However, that accomplishes nothing except advertise your region, which GCRs don't need to do. It would be easier just to post the updates via an embassy on the NS Gameplay forum for all to see.

Instead, our ambassadors provide a valuable service to TEP. If we are going to build TEP's foreign affairs, we need to know which regions are true friends, and which regions are a waste of time. Only an ambassador can do that because it's their job to establish friendship with other regions' leaders. Genuine friendship can't be built on monthly updates alone. I think true friendship is stronger than any treaty written on paper. Wouldn't the result be comrades willing to overthrow a rogue delegate?

Concerning FA, I want the ambassadors to give their opinions, because it is their job to give the WAD advice concerning the regions they visit. We will consider my plan below and a policy of disallowing new foreign ambassadors (not current ones) to be dual citizens in TEP, to prevent cosmopolitan politics. I will then present the plan to the Magisterium to get their opinions, to give them something to discuss. Hopefully, they will pass a resolution that demonstrates its hopes for the future of our FA. I want to encourage relations with those regions who are actively pursuing us, and will make it a goal to offer treaties to longtime friends who could benefit us.

PLAN SUMMARY: To organize the FA department and focus its attention on those regions who have active relations with us, but involve our ambassadors and Magisterium in the process. Please note, I have no problem keeping embassies for historical purposes.

First, I will call a meeting of the ambassadors, current and those from recent history. Each will be able to talk to me privately if they desire. Those nations are:

Heronlord, EM, Todd, Bach, Kangarawa, Devont (inactive), Babiana (resigned), Rightport (resigned), CarlTheKillerLlama (inactive), Tano (unsure if ever an ambassador), Lebeija (unsure if ever an ambassador), AMOM (former WAD and thus former ambassador-at-large).

I will then ask them what they think of my plan concerning all of our embassies. Presently, TEP's foreign affairs is confusing. I've taken roll of other regions' offsite and in-game embassies with TEP. I've also taken roll of our offsite embassies with other regions. I want to archive inactive offsite embassies, lock offsite consulates, and close their in-game embassies. Before archiving and closing any embassies, I will TG the region's WAD and give them a week to reply.

I also want to ensure those regions with active embassies on our forum are offered in-game embassies, again. I will then operate on a policy of only accepting in-game embassy requests from regions with offsite embassies with us. After regions have proven they will maintain an active embassy on our forum, I will open an embassy on their forum.

Concerning our embassies without ambassadors, it will be my goal to find some. In the meantime, I will post the updates myself, so at least we are showing the same curtesy they are showing us.

Concerning updates, I want to combine the manpower of Media and Foreign Affairs so both updates include information from abroad and at home (through interviews and such). I also want to use the in-game embassies with Warzones as a trophy system, if one is being closed, the EPSA will try to stop its closure.

This is probably confusing. Here are concrete lists:

Embassies on our forum:
Active Embassies to keep:
NPO, TNP, TWP, TSP, Lazarus, Balder, Osiris, The Rejected Realms, The Allied Republics, 10000 Islands, Canada, Caprecia, Equilism, Europeia, FRA, Gatesville, The Great Britain and Eire, The Land of Kings and Emperors, The New Inquisition, UDL, United Kingdom, Unknown, The Commonwealth of Crowns, Spiritus, Albion, Kennan
Inactive embassies to close:
Atrigeas, Empires of Earth, Equinox, GRA, The Kodiak Republic, The South, Ulthar, Isles of Liberty, Hogarahoiprash, Lumana
Inactive embassies I hope will become active after TGing their WAD:
Asgard (It's Asgard again!), Kantrias, NationStates, Skyrim, Taijitu, British Isles
Consulates to Lock:
Warrior Nation, Skyleague, Coalition of Catholic States, Aluvean Seas

Our Embassies on other forums:
Keep because we have/had ambassadors sent to them:
TNP, TWP, Canada, TSP, The Land of Kings and Emperors, The New Inquisition, The Allied Republics, Europeia, 10000 Islands, Lazarus, NPO, Balder, UDL, TSP, Asgard (if its embassy becomes active)
Keep because their embassy with us is active:
Caprecia, Equilism, FRA, Osiris, TRR, United Kingdom, Unknown
Close because their embassy with us is inactive/nonexistent:
Atrigeas, Empires of Earth, Equinox, GRA, The Kodiak Republic, The South
Hopefully, these wont be closed:
Asgard, NationStates, Skyrim,
Status of our embassy is unknown, so make sure they are closed/nonexistent:
The Ascendancy, Ulthar, Warrior Nation, Aluvean Seas, Taijitu, Europe

In-game Embassies:
Keep:
NPO, TNP, TWP, TSP, Lazarus, Balder, Osiris, TRR, Equilism, Caprecia, The Allied Republics, 10000 Islands, Canada, Warzone Africa, Warzone Europe, The Commonwealth of Crowns, Kennan
Close if embassy remains inactive:
Taijitu, NationStates
Close:
GRA, Equinox, The Kodiak Republic, Ulthar, Atrigeas, Coalition of Catholic States, Aluvean Seas, The Isles of Liberty, New Britannia
Offer to open because their embassy is active:
Gtesville, The Great Britannia and Eire, United Kingdom, Unknown, Spiritus, Albion, Europeia
Offer to open if their embassy becomes active again/existent:
Kantrias, Asgard, Europe, Skyrim (again)
Offer to open again:
The Land of Kings and Emperors, The New Inquisition, Europeia
Edited by Old Federalia, Jun 4 2013, 09:42:55 PM.
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And OF is the number one debater of everything.
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Old Federalia
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We're trying to arrange a live debate over IRC. AMOM is busy with RL, so probably the earliest it will take place is the day after tomorrow, Saturday the 8th. Goodluck with your test, AMOM!
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And OF is the number one debater of everything.
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[The East Pacific] is a region on laws rather than directed by the whims of the delegate/founder
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A mean old man
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Quote:
 
I'll name names of regions, but first, my plan. I've said what I'll do in the campaign thread, but I'll put it all together so people can clearly see what I'll do in this one area.

My executive would be a meritocracy, but not a democracy, and would respect those who have worked hard in the past. With respect, I differ with Babiana's and AMOM's plans for foreign affairs (FA).

I think TEP should keep those embassies with regions who have active relations with us. That is TEP's FA foundation, so I will build on it, not destroy it. There are many people, both from our region and other regions, who have worked hard to establish, maintain and enhance those relations.

I also think TEP should keep its ambassadors. I've run 44 embassies simultaneously by myself, and have had ambassadors work under me at other times, so I know the benefits of both systems of embassy management. It's efficient to post all the updates by yourself, an example would be Unibot posting in all the UDL's embassies. However, that accomplishes nothing except advertise your region, which GCRs don't need to do. It would be easier just to post the updates via an embassy on the NS Gameplay forum for all to see.

Instead, our ambassadors provide a valuable service to TEP. If we are going to build TEP's foreign affairs, we need to know which regions are true friends, and which regions are a waste of time. Only an ambassador can do that because it's their job to establish friendship with other regions' leaders. Genuine friendship can't be built on monthly updates alone. I think true friendship is stronger than any treaty written on paper. Wouldn't the result be comrades willing to overthrow a rogue delegate?

Concerning FA, I want the ambassadors to give their opinions, because it is their job to give the WAD advice concerning the regions they visit. We will consider my plan below and a policy of disallowing new foreign ambassadors (not current ones) to be dual citizens in TEP, to prevent cosmopolitan politics. I will then present the plan to the Magisterium to get their opinions, to give them something to discuss. Hopefully, they will pass a resolution that demonstrates its hopes for the future of our FA. I want to encourage relations with those regions who are actively pursuing us, and will make it a goal to offer treaties to longtime friends who could benefit us.

PLAN SUMMARY: To organize the FA department and focus its attention on those regions who have active relations with us, but involve our ambassadors and Magisterium in the process. Please note, I have no problem keeping embassies for historical purposes.


As a general statement on your complete approach to all of this: plans are always worth making, though in my experience as a feeder delegate things rarely go exactly according to plan. Occasionally the people you incorporate within your plan will not be willing to and/or capable of advancing it. In my experience it is best to have a general idea as to how one would like to move forward and to address ideas and issues as they come up while avoiding elaborate designs that require the precise cooperation of a number of people. A large group cannot be expected to comply with the intricate designs of an individual.

Rather, my idea is to assign people (based on their idiosyncratic capabilities and activity levels) to specific areas of FA interaction as I described in my campaign thread and manage the often tedious ambassador work myself. Most ambassadors, while some have been very outgoing and willing to befriend others abroad in the name of our region, will simply post the updates we ask them to post and leave it at that. Who can blame them? Ambassador work is generally dull, which is why I plan to plan to assign people positions that challenge them to think and stay on their toes while interacting with others and bother myself with keeping track of updates and times when they need to be posted. The whole system was fairly annoying as delegate as well because I tended to keep tabs on everything and babysit the program anyway, so I might as well have been doing all the posting. It's ultimately less pointless busywork for everyone involved if the delegate simply assumes control of posting updates and managing embassies.

Besides, foreign regions prefer to hear from a delegate. While an official ambassador is just as much a legitimate representation of TEP, the members of regions abroad prefer to see that the delegate himself is willing to spend his valuable time getting to know them and joining them in conversation. As I've said, I'll be willing to expend the extra effort necessary to not only be a representative but a friend to our connections abroad.

Quote:
 
First, I will call a meeting of the ambassadors, current and those from recent history. Each will be able to talk to me privately if they desire. Those nations are:

Heronlord, EM, Todd, Bach, Kangarawa, Devont (inactive), Babiana (resigned), Rightport (resigned), CarlTheKillerLlama (inactive), Tano (unsure if ever an ambassador), Lebeija (unsure if ever an ambassador), AMOM (former WAD and thus former ambassador-at-large).

I will then ask them what they think of my plan concerning all of our embassies. Presently, TEP's foreign affairs is confusing. I've taken roll of other regions' offsite and in-game embassies with TEP. I've also taken roll of our offsite embassies with other regions. I want to archive inactive offsite embassies, lock offsite consulates, and close their in-game embassies. Before archiving and closing any embassies, I will TG the region's WAD and give them a week to reply.

I also want to ensure those regions with active embassies on our forum are offered in-game embassies, again. I will then operate on a policy of only accepting in-game embassy requests from regions with offsite embassies with us. After regions have proven they will maintain an active embassy on our forum, I will open an embassy on their forum.

Concerning our embassies without ambassadors, it will be my goal to find some. In the meantime, I will post the updates myself, so at least we are showing the same curtesy they are showing us.

Concerning updates, I want to combine the manpower of Media and Foreign Affairs so both updates include information from abroad and at home (through interviews and such). I also want to use the in-game embassies with Warzones as a trophy system, if one is being closed, the EPSA will try to stop its closure.


Your policy sounds similar to mine. I would only grant in-game embassies to those who took the time to establish ones on the forum. I would regularly check for inactive embassies and terminate them. I managed everything through this thread. Unfortunately the FA system appears to have stagnated again since I left office, which would mean a lot of maintenance needs to be done after one of us is elected.

I'm not going to draw up any lists yet because each embassy should be reviewed individually once I've assumed the position; I feel that determining how to deal with every embassy at once would be premature.
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Old Federalia
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You've overlooked what I've said elsewhere. I too am familiar with plans going wrong--they always do.

That's why I said in my campaign's OP: "This is my plan, in as much detail as possible. However, experience has taught me to always have a plan B, and that improvisation is the root of innovation. So the plan is made to be flexible."

Being delegate is about being a leader. I've done what you said you will do--be ambassador to all of a region's embassies--and experience has taught me it benefits no one. It is much better to work with ambassadors--if only to train the next generation of leaders.

Also, you have overlooked the fact that my plan is supposed to change. I'm not going to meet with TEP's ambassadors and ignore their advice, nor am I going to consider the Magisterium's opinions without implementing some of them. The above plan is simply a rough draft.

Being Delegate of TEP is more than representing TEP, it's about being a leader to the executive and to the region in general. I fail to see how you or the other candidates will do that.
Edited by Old Federalia, Jun 7 2013, 08:02:45 PM.
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And OF is the number one debater of everything.
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Quote:
 
You've overlooked what I've said elsewhere. I too am familiar with plans going wrong--they always do.

That's why I said in my campaign's OP: "This is my plan, in as much detail as possible. However, experience has taught me to always have a plan B, and that improvisation is the root of innovation. So the plan is made to be flexible."

Being delegate is about being a leader. I've done what you said you will do--be ambassador to all of a region's embassies--and experience has taught me it benefits no one. It is much better to work with ambassadors--if only to train the next generation of leaders.


"The next generation of leaders" arises generally from citizens who know how to lead. Busywork is a part of being delegate, but more important is one's ability to be reasonable with others and dynamic in situations that put one under pressure and force one to make weighty decisions. This is the goal of my proposed FA program, which would establish a ministry to evaluate those who align themselves with The Greater German Reich, a ministry to negotiate treaties with foreign entities, a ministry to investigate conflict within communities (such as The Allied Republics) that TEP is connected to and advise the delegate on how to act based on the events transpiring within them. I am considering a ministry that works on WA proposal writing and will continue to create or eliminate ministries as needs arise or diminish. TEP's ministers will not be bothered with hopping from forum to forum posting updates but will rather focus on specific and challenging areas of FA that should keep them active and interested.

In a sense, the ambassador program does not die under my system. It evolves.

Quote:
 
Also, you have overlooked the fact that my plan is supposed to change. I'm not going to meet with TEP's ambassadors and ignore their advice, nor am I going to consider the Magisterium's opinions without implementing some of them. The above plan is simply a rough draft.

Being Delegate of TEP is more than representing TEP, it's about being a leader to the executive and to the region in general. I fail to see how you or the other candidates will do that.


I wouldn't expect you to, seeing as you've been focusing your attention on Atrigeas until about a week ago. During my term as delegate, through which I had to lead TEP out of what might have been the worst period of stagnation and inactivity it had ever seen (and I succeeded, though it took four miserable months since I won the election to do this), my situation called for me to be flamboyant and somewhat dogmatic, particularly when an unknown foreigner attempted to run an unendorsement campaign against me. Ironically, this seemed to be the turning point at which TEP began to reawaken from its slumber. I crushed the attempt and ended up with a growing endorsement count rather than a shrinking one.

I've already stated that I plan to make one-on-one interaction with TEPers a priority, since I have found that it is this that works best to interest people in the workings of the government. I will use the mass-telegram feature to keep TEPers updated on current events within our region and within NS in general. I will vehemently defend TEP's interests abroad both verbally and, if necessary, via the EPSA. I shouldn't have to toot my horn about my personality here; anyone who has been active in TEP and who has read my writings knows how I present myself. An important part of being delegate is presenting oneself, and like to believe that I'm capable of being a leader and a friend to the members of our region and that I have a fairly firm grasp on the subtleties of diplomacy.
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AMOM
 
"The next generation of leaders" arises generally from citizens who know how to lead. Busywork is a part of being delegate, but more important is one's ability to be reasonable with others and dynamic in situations that put one under pressure and force one to make weighty decisions. This is the goal of my proposed FA program, which would establish a ministry to evaluate those who align themselves with The Greater German Reich, a ministry to negotiate treaties with foreign entities, a ministry to investigate conflict within communities (such as The Allied Republics) that TEP is connected to and advise the delegate on how to act based on the events transpiring within them. I am considering a ministry that works on WA proposal writing and will continue to create or eliminate ministries as needs arise or diminish. TEP's ministers will not be bothered with hopping from forum to forum posting updates but will rather focus on specific and challenging areas of FA that should keep them active and interested.

In a sense, the ambassador program does not die under my system. It evolves.

AMOM, I respect the work you have done in TEP, but you are trying to dismiss me as if I have no experience.

The fact remains, I have done what you say you want to do, post all updates myself in 44 embassies. Also, I have evolved foreign affairs beyond simple embassies. I created the Commonwealth of Regions confederation, and I created the NationStates Republic alliance's news outposts. I understand how to create treaties, charters and alliances.

I know what I'm talking about because I have had successes and I have had failures.

An example is The Allied Republics region you mentioned. I recruited TAR into the NationStates Republic. I did not do so by formally asking them to join, nor by contacting the appropriate ministers. I first befriended the WAD, Aractia. In TAR, the WAD does not handle foreign affairs, just WA affairs. I became his friend by discussing something we had in common--what it was like to be a delegate. Then I earned his region's trust by making myself available in the embassy to discuss both the NSR and my region at the time, Atrigeas.

If I hadn't been Atrigeas' ambassador to that region, Aractia wouldn't have been my friend and they probably wouldn't have joined the NSR. Further, because of their military, the NSR was able to invade Warzone Africa and hold it for 60 days. That was a success.

It seems as though we have different understandings of what an ambassador is. You seem to believe an ambassador's job centers around posting monthly updates. I believe ambassadors are supposed to identify one of the most influential members of a government and befriend them, genuinely. Then when both regions can benefit each other, that friendship is the gateway to information and influence in that region and government.

An ambassador will only be trusted as a friend of a region when they visit that region's forum to post the updates and participate in their community. So your plan is going to limit the ability of your FA ministers to gain a region's trust and create those treaties you so proudly set as a goal.

Further, you dismissed "the next generation of leaders" as if people are born leaders. Some people are, others are forced to become leaders, while still others are trained. I was trained in an US army JROTC academy. I applied that knowledge to train Atrigeas' next generation, and now they are its leaders.

AMOM
 
I wouldn't expect you to, seeing as you've been focusing your attention on Atrigeas until about a week ago.

I turned Atrigeas from 24 nations to over 224 nations with an active forum in less than two months. You were WAD of a feeder and still struggled to get its forum active until months later.

I faithfully served Atrigeas for over a year, and I came to TEP to semi-retire. I am morally obligated to run for WAD of TEP because I respectfully disagree with you, Babs, and Sam.

AMOM
 
I've already stated that I plan to make one-on-one interaction with TEPers a priority, since I have found that it is this that works best to interest people in the workings of the government.

And I have said that as well, but I've also stated how I will sort through TEP's 4,800 nations to find those who will contribute to the region: the RMB. How would you sort through all of TEP's nations?
Edited by Old Federalia, Jun 8 2013, 02:07:25 PM.
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And OF is the number one debater of everything.
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Babiana
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If I am elected delegate I will systematically dismantle existing foreign relations as quickly as possible.

This will include dismissing all our ambassadors, ensuring our offisite embassies are closed, in-game embassies withdrawn, and other region's embassies on our forum suspended, locked and archived.

I am opposed to maintaining an embassy on the gameplay forum, even if it's more efficient to manage, I don't like the concept of a gamewide embassy... that function would be better served by an NS thread for each TEP newspaper, run independently.

In my short NS experience, the only regions I can think of that have given our region significant help are Balder, the NPO, the Sovereign Confederation, and the UDL. In my view, some of those will be the most likely to be willing to re-establish some kind of relationship and I will send a new envoy to each to explore that. I know from my experience as an ambassador it's rewarding to have some FA responsibility but it's difficult to do anything more than post an update, so I will try to encourage them to do more.

Once we have re-opened our first embassy successfully, I will aim to open one new embassy every week, and review the progress of our ambassadors, keeping an eye out for warning signs and opportunities for being a better friend to our allies.

Many of our natives will already have contacts and I'd like to use them in foreign affairs as well as the newbies. To curb conflicts of interest, FA volunteers who have citizenship in the target region will be asked to officially renounce that before taking on the ambassador role.

One final note is I am generally not a fan of meritocracy, so I don't think regions deserve an embassy with us simply for being a great and active region. On the other hand, if regions become inactive we will only keep relations with them if they are meeting mutual expectations.
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packilvania
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Short and sweet.

If Pax is elected, Pax will dismantle any and all alliances and treaties with other regions and groups. Pax will then resign the post of delegate.
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Quote:
 
AMOM, I respect the work you have done in TEP, but you are trying to dismiss me as if I have no experience.

The fact remains, I have done what you say you want to do, post all updates myself in 44 embassies. Also, I have evolved foreign affairs beyond simple embassies. I created the Commonwealth of Regions confederation, and I created the NationStates Republic alliance's news outposts. I understand how to create treaties, charters and alliances.

I know what I'm talking about because I have had successes and I have had failures.

An example is The Allied Republics region you mentioned. I recruited TAR into the NationStates Republic. I did not do so by formally asking them to join, nor by contacting the appropriate ministers. I first befriended the WAD, Aractia. In TAR, the WAD does not handle foreign affairs, just WA affairs. I became his friend by discussing something we had in common--what it was like to be a delegate. Then I earned his region's trust by making myself available in the embassy to discuss both the NSR and my region at the time, Atrigeas.

If I hadn't been Atrigeas' ambassador to that region, Aractia wouldn't have been my friend and they probably wouldn't have joined the NSR. Further, because of their military, the NSR was able to invade Warzone Africa and hold it for 60 days. That was a success.


Haven't we all had successes and failures? I managed the Society of Independent Regions (which included approximately fifteen to twenty UCRs) four to five years ago after building a moderately-sized region of my own. I've written and co-authored a number of WA resolutions. I managed a large number of The Pacific's internal affairs for two years. I helped establish the Modern Pacific Alliance which (at the time) drew TP, TSP, and TEP very close together. I chased the UDL around, ruined Frak, founded the EPSA, did this, did that. I've worked with countless colleagues and contested more than a few adversaries in more than a few contexts. I have friends in TSP, TP, TNP, 10kI, and various other places here and there that I stay in touch with and with whom I collaborate politically from time to time. It's all very redundant at this point. Everyone knows that we can make friends and get things done. I'm not about to go into detail here and turn this debate into a "who has more friends and how did these friends benefit their regions" contest. That would be petty.

The way in which we plan to get things done in TEP based on its current situation and based on its past successes and failures that will determine the way in which TEP will move forward or if it will move forward at all. Much of our past experience elsewhere may, in fact, be irrelevant. Both of us are basing our opinions here off of prior experience. I watched the ambassador system in TEP stagnate in its current condition; you saw a perceived success elsewhere during your time as delegate there. How is TEP supposed to relate to that, though? What worked for you in Atrigeas may not work at all in TEP. GCRs and the UCRs can be very different places and every region (ideally...) contains fairly different people.

My system is based on what I have experienced within TEP and is what I personally believe is best for this region if it wants to improve its FA presence and train its officials. My experience here is what inspired me to create such a design.

Quote:
 
It seems as though we have different understandings of what an ambassador is. You seem to believe an ambassador's job centers around posting monthly updates. I believe ambassadors are supposed to identify one of the most influential members of a government and befriend them, genuinely. Then when both regions can benefit each other, that friendship is the gateway to information and influence in that region and government.

An ambassador will only be trusted as a friend of a region when they visit that region's forum to post the updates and participate in their community. So your plan is going to limit the ability of your FA ministers to gain a region's trust and create those treaties you so proudly set as a goal.


I can't promise you that TEP's ambassadors will be interested in that. It seems somewhat psychopathic to send someone to a foreign region with orders to befriend the higher-ups; add the word "genuine" to the friendship bit, but the goal is ultimately political, as you've made clear. In my experience, FA begins as a formal interaction with political goals and friends are made in normal ways as interactions progress. Doing things the other way around seems somewhat backwards and insincere, and I suspect others abroad would feel the same way I do and be put-off.

You also seem to be drawing premature conclusions. My FA ministers would be sent to forums abroad to work with the officials there. Hopefully trust would be built between the government of TEP and the governments of these regions through this and through my direct involvement in their forums as well. If friendships form, then the regions will become that much closer. If they don't, then that's unfortunate but there's little to be done about it. People cannot be forced to establish friendships. A "forced friendship" is an inherent paradox.

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Further, you dismissed "the next generation of leaders" as if people are born leaders. Some people are, others are forced to become leaders, while still others are trained. I was trained in an US army JROTC academy. I applied that knowledge to train Atrigeas' next generation, and now they are its leaders.


You twisted my words a bit there. My FA program is designed to train, not to raise up a perceived higher class. Also, and I don't intend any personal offense here, but I don't consider your high school commitments to be relevant to the world of NationStates. If you feel you are capable of training leaders, great; tell us what you know, but don't cite something that cannot be proven and which many NSers simply can't relate to.

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I turned Atrigeas from 24 nations to over 224 nations with an active forum in less than two months. You were WAD of a feeder and still struggled to get its forum active until months later.


Let it be noted that most of those nations are not in the WA and that the current WA membership in Atrigeas is 31 nations. Pretty good for a UCR but not as seemingly large as your post makes it out to be. My region was about half the size and I hardly recruited for it. Plus we have no stats for the period when Atrigeas was 224 nations large and "active" is a subjective term.

You can rail on my delegacy all you like, though I highly doubt you'd have done any better in the position. In fact, I doubt that anyone would have. I was not the only member of the government who put in hours and hours of work to get things restarted here while receiving practically no response from the members of the region. Only once new people began to show up did the summer lull die. As I've said before, anyone who was actually present in the community at that time knows how it was. And, to preemptively stop you from making this argument: appearing every month to remind me of your embassy is not a presence within the community.

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I faithfully served Atrigeas for over a year, and I came to TEP to semi-retire. I am morally obligated to run for WAD of TEP because I respectfully disagree with you, Babs, and Sam.


So being delegate of The East Pacific is your version of semi-retirement. I'll jot that down.

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And I have said that as well, but I've also stated how I will sort through TEP's 4,800 nations to find those who will contribute to the region: the RMB. How would you sort through all of TEP's nations?


Not that difficult with the mass-TG system, and I do already focus on talking to people who post on the RMB. I make note of everyone within TEP who responds to me when I contact them and am sure to maintain contact with them until they either vanish due to inactivity or decide to join the forum and see what's going on.

I will respond to Babiana's post tomorrow.
The Weed-Choked Lawn of A mean old man
Always fighting crime -- especially youth-related.

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Old Federalia
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Professor F
Dear citizens,

I have a plan to get TEP more active. This plan is an accumulation of what I've learned during the 16 months that I've played this game seriously.

I hope you will decide for yourself whether my experience is relevant.

In the meantime, please ask yourself what the difference is between me and the other candidates.

They have each outlined ideals to push TEP toward and have a general plan how to do it. The difference between them and me is DETAIL. I told you exactly what I am going to do, and you can hold me accountable WEEK BY WEEK. That is how confident I am in my plan.

Thank you for considering me for delegate of The Sovereign East Pacific!
Edited by Old Federalia, Jun 8 2013, 11:35:25 PM.
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A Slanted Black Stripe:
 
And OF is the number one debater of everything.
Anur-Sanur
 
[The East Pacific] is a region on laws rather than directed by the whims of the delegate/founder
Bachtendekuppen
 
Kill the children!

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Old Federalia
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Professor F
Attention please,

The long awaited live IRC debate is set for tomorrow. If you haven't made up your mind yet, tomorrow should make it plain as day who you should vote for.
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A Slanted Black Stripe:
 
And OF is the number one debater of everything.
Anur-Sanur
 
[The East Pacific] is a region on laws rather than directed by the whims of the delegate/founder
Bachtendekuppen
 
Kill the children!

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Babiana
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The Candy Man
Thank you for your time and attention.

I will be conceding shortly.
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