[Karrde] On Military Matters...
Day 1,566, 09:55
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Published in United Kingdom 
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by
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by Talon Karrde
This will be the third part of my electoral manifesto. If you haven’t yet had chance to read my announcement article (with added policy,) please click this link. Likewise if you’d like to read my domestics manifesto, click this link.
Foreign Affairs
Of late we have seen much in our media about our foreign affairs- about our allies in ONE and EPIC, and about our place in global politics. There are many divergent opinions on the matter, and here I will attempt to explain my own position.
It is abundantly clear to me that we have two options for now; to stay a part of ONE or to leave. Joining Terra or EDEN should by no means be considered as options, we are more or less universally hated as a country in these alliances, and would not be accepted even if we wished to be. With that in mind, I have assessed our situation in terms of the benefits of remaining in ONE or leaving.
First, remaining in ONE. If we remain a part of our alliance, we get a (small) voice, a vote on who leads the alliance, and the possibility of receiving some amount of damage to help us in battles. On the other hand, this help has proven to be unreliable over the past months, with most countries being rather reluctant to fight on our behalf in the face of problems at home; some haven’t really fought for us at all. In addition to this, our voice is indeed a minor one, inexorably giving way to the voice of more powerful countries that wield a great deal more influence with those in charge of the alliance. A decidedly mixed bag, then.
Secondly, then, leaving ONE. If we leave the alliance, we can immediately say goodbye to any kind of access to ONE HQ, to any official damage priority and we probably risk losing some MPPs too. We would therefore lose any hope of getting out of the mess we are in via martial strength. On the other hand, leaving ONE would make negotiating with Canada, Ireland and France easier, and may facilitate an agreement to give us some regions back and allow us to elect a congress and maintain some production bonuses. This is not guaranteed by us leaving ONE, however.
Another aspect to consider here is our reputation as a country. From our conduct in the past, we have a reputation as backstabbers; a country that leaves alliances and friends behind when it is expedient to do so, switching sides too often. Ironically part of the reason much of TEDEN dislike us is due to this very conduct. As a reputation it is well deserved; we do indeed have a history of making self-serving decisions. In reality we are no different to any other country in this, and I would argue that in some cases we have taken advantage of options placed in front of us, though I must concede that this is now to our detriment.
After assessing these two options, then, I have decided that our best course for the immediate future is to stick with ONE. We need to stick by our friends in these difficult times, though of course we do need to look after our own interests- and will do so this month. Under no circumstances should a country that is off the map most of the time be expected to continuously fight only for allies, we need to look to our own defence more in the coming month. We’ll follow ONE orders when we can, and certainly when it’s in our interests to do so, but I think most of you would agree with me when I say that we need to put our own interests first now.
To facilitate our foreign affairs I will be appointing a Minister of FA, that will in turn be appointing a couple of deputies that can be used to talk to other countries and improve our relationships globally. The MoFA department will also be producing articles through the term, informing our population about global geopolitics and the current state of play.
Military
The military needs a lot of work. One of my major gripes with the way It is run at present is in exclusion; almost all citizens of the UK cannot be a part of it. This means they don’t share a national identity, they don’t socialize outside of party or MU cliques, and we are more divided than ever. It also doesn’t promote activity; an afternoon spent in the UKSF chat room yields very little talk and the unit doesn’t encourage any progression in its players- it only provides supplies and asks for damage in return.
We need a military that is active, interesting and enjoyable. To that end, if elected I will create the Official UK Military , a working title, that will be open to any UK active. The standard practice with national militaries and military units alike is to have their players work in weapons companies, and in return to receive some supplies. All incarnations of the military have used this practice, and this time will be no different. Where the differences lay, however, is in the supply amount and how it is decided. For the official military I have decided that the simplest solution is the best- all soldiers will be supplied the exact amount of weapons they created by working, and the government will pay for the raw materials used to produce them. We have companies lined up abroad where the bonuses are better, so soldiers can expect a minimum of 16 Q5 weapons per day for being in the unit. We are currently prepared to have up to 100 soldiers in the unit, partly due to the companies we can call on, and partly due to the finances we can bring to bear. Anyone can have access to the forum and IRC, but only 100 can have jobs due to these limits.
The supplies are only one small part of my intention for the unit, as it is designed to promote activity, help newer players, give a sense of community, promote talk and banter, and to direct damage where we need it. As such everyone in the unit will be required to join its MU (we’ll be using the current UKSF MU for this,) and will also be required to join the military forum and #euk.military IRC channel. They’ll get bonus supplies for joining in here, and find a vibrant and welcoming community once we get that up and running well.
Another reason for soldiers to be active on IRC and the forums is linked to the supply amounts- different companies will, due to country bonuses, allow workers to produce more weapons. The most active soldiers will be given the best company placements and thus the most supplies. Activity will be decided upon by the MoD team, and will comprise mostly of IRC and forum activity, helping out, and attendance at strikes.
I’ll be encouraging the MoD to promote the most active players into command roles, in which they can have a say in deciding orders, in supplying, in communicating and in the more light hearted side of the military. These players are our future MoDs, we need to really make a go at building these players up, to give ourselves a prosperous future in safe hands.
Finally the MoD will be communicating with people much more this month than in the months previous. The minister will direct their team to produce daily orders articles explaining why we’re asking them to fight in particular battles, and will message all MU leaders daily. They’ll also keep on top of the members of the Official UK military to encourage them to be active and participate, and to direct them to the orders articles. If nothing else, everyone will be able to access information on where to fight and why we’re fighting there.
My two main military aims for the month, then, will be in securing a congress and some regions for us, and creating an active, vibrant and fun military for anyone in our country that would like to join it.
This is my penultimate article of the campaign- tomorrow night I’ll be releasing my intended cabinet members.
Thanks for reading, please vote, subscribe and shout!
PS- If you like what you see and would like to get involved in the team, send me a PM!
Talon Karrde
Foreign Affairs
Of late we have seen much in our media about our foreign affairs- about our allies in ONE and EPIC, and about our place in global politics. There are many divergent opinions on the matter, and here I will attempt to explain my own position.
It is abundantly clear to me that we have two options for now; to stay a part of ONE or to leave. Joining Terra or EDEN should by no means be considered as options, we are more or less universally hated as a country in these alliances, and would not be accepted even if we wished to be. With that in mind, I have assessed our situation in terms of the benefits of remaining in ONE or leaving.
First, remaining in ONE. If we remain a part of our alliance, we get a (small) voice, a vote on who leads the alliance, and the possibility of receiving some amount of damage to help us in battles. On the other hand, this help has proven to be unreliable over the past months, with most countries being rather reluctant to fight on our behalf in the face of problems at home; some haven’t really fought for us at all. In addition to this, our voice is indeed a minor one, inexorably giving way to the voice of more powerful countries that wield a great deal more influence with those in charge of the alliance. A decidedly mixed bag, then.
Secondly, then, leaving ONE. If we leave the alliance, we can immediately say goodbye to any kind of access to ONE HQ, to any official damage priority and we probably risk losing some MPPs too. We would therefore lose any hope of getting out of the mess we are in via martial strength. On the other hand, leaving ONE would make negotiating with Canada, Ireland and France easier, and may facilitate an agreement to give us some regions back and allow us to elect a congress and maintain some production bonuses. This is not guaranteed by us leaving ONE, however.
Another aspect to consider here is our reputation as a country. From our conduct in the past, we have a reputation as backstabbers; a country that leaves alliances and friends behind when it is expedient to do so, switching sides too often. Ironically part of the reason much of TEDEN dislike us is due to this very conduct. As a reputation it is well deserved; we do indeed have a history of making self-serving decisions. In reality we are no different to any other country in this, and I would argue that in some cases we have taken advantage of options placed in front of us, though I must concede that this is now to our detriment.
After assessing these two options, then, I have decided that our best course for the immediate future is to stick with ONE. We need to stick by our friends in these difficult times, though of course we do need to look after our own interests- and will do so this month. Under no circumstances should a country that is off the map most of the time be expected to continuously fight only for allies, we need to look to our own defence more in the coming month. We’ll follow ONE orders when we can, and certainly when it’s in our interests to do so, but I think most of you would agree with me when I say that we need to put our own interests first now.
To facilitate our foreign affairs I will be appointing a Minister of FA, that will in turn be appointing a couple of deputies that can be used to talk to other countries and improve our relationships globally. The MoFA department will also be producing articles through the term, informing our population about global geopolitics and the current state of play.
Military
The military needs a lot of work. One of my major gripes with the way It is run at present is in exclusion; almost all citizens of the UK cannot be a part of it. This means they don’t share a national identity, they don’t socialize outside of party or MU cliques, and we are more divided than ever. It also doesn’t promote activity; an afternoon spent in the UKSF chat room yields very little talk and the unit doesn’t encourage any progression in its players- it only provides supplies and asks for damage in return.
We need a military that is active, interesting and enjoyable. To that end, if elected I will create the Official UK Military , a working title, that will be open to any UK active. The standard practice with national militaries and military units alike is to have their players work in weapons companies, and in return to receive some supplies. All incarnations of the military have used this practice, and this time will be no different. Where the differences lay, however, is in the supply amount and how it is decided. For the official military I have decided that the simplest solution is the best- all soldiers will be supplied the exact amount of weapons they created by working, and the government will pay for the raw materials used to produce them. We have companies lined up abroad where the bonuses are better, so soldiers can expect a minimum of 16 Q5 weapons per day for being in the unit. We are currently prepared to have up to 100 soldiers in the unit, partly due to the companies we can call on, and partly due to the finances we can bring to bear. Anyone can have access to the forum and IRC, but only 100 can have jobs due to these limits.
The supplies are only one small part of my intention for the unit, as it is designed to promote activity, help newer players, give a sense of community, promote talk and banter, and to direct damage where we need it. As such everyone in the unit will be required to join its MU (we’ll be using the current UKSF MU for this,) and will also be required to join the military forum and #euk.military IRC channel. They’ll get bonus supplies for joining in here, and find a vibrant and welcoming community once we get that up and running well.
Another reason for soldiers to be active on IRC and the forums is linked to the supply amounts- different companies will, due to country bonuses, allow workers to produce more weapons. The most active soldiers will be given the best company placements and thus the most supplies. Activity will be decided upon by the MoD team, and will comprise mostly of IRC and forum activity, helping out, and attendance at strikes.
I’ll be encouraging the MoD to promote the most active players into command roles, in which they can have a say in deciding orders, in supplying, in communicating and in the more light hearted side of the military. These players are our future MoDs, we need to really make a go at building these players up, to give ourselves a prosperous future in safe hands.
Finally the MoD will be communicating with people much more this month than in the months previous. The minister will direct their team to produce daily orders articles explaining why we’re asking them to fight in particular battles, and will message all MU leaders daily. They’ll also keep on top of the members of the Official UK military to encourage them to be active and participate, and to direct them to the orders articles. If nothing else, everyone will be able to access information on where to fight and why we’re fighting there.
My two main military aims for the month, then, will be in securing a congress and some regions for us, and creating an active, vibrant and fun military for anyone in our country that would like to join it.
This is my penultimate article of the campaign- tomorrow night I’ll be releasing my intended cabinet members.
Thanks for reading, please vote, subscribe and shout!
PS- If you like what you see and would like to get involved in the team, send me a PM!
Talon Karrde
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Comments
\o/
Cookies!
IMPERIUM!
Good manifesto.
+V
COOKIES!
you can't vote first on your own post 😛
\o/
Nice analysis.
Cheescake as cookies have already gone.
\o/
Would it not be better to marshal resources and reward MU's that work well? There have been numerous iterations of military reform - all have failed. For it to work you need active leaders and an incentive for people to join. Many MU's offer more supply. I would argue that the lack of unified damage at least partially stems from the fact that MU captains/leaders have lost confidence in how the MoD is organized and how it has responded.
o/
Vote and good luck in future Talon Karrde \o/
IMPERIUM!
I have to agree with Elle I don't see how this new National Military will bring the UK together it sounds like it could turn into a bureaucracy. Incentivising co-operation between MU's seem's like a plan which is far more likely to succeed because it's working off already existing organisation which work (to an extent).MU's generally seem more interesting (so more recruit's) and MU leaders have a better understanding of their own members abilities and can have a more direct relationship with their troops.
We haven't had donations for so long that it is unlikely we can afford too many incentives. We used to have a lot more than this in the Bank of Englan😛 http://www.erepublik.com/en/economy/citizen-accounts/6636
The eUk certainly hasn't gotten any better off with the dissolving of national forces and splitting people up into PRIVATE Military Units. Private MU's act on the whim of individuals as opposed to an elected government. Whatever is done it is best if we all do the same thing rather than us all pulling in different directions.
"Many MU's offer more supply." - Yes well now they won't. There is no logical reason why a privately funded MU should be able to out supply a national army (unless they are supplied by a gold buyer). We'd be better off with a centralised active force which is better supplied rather than having independent (often politically motivated) military units which all do as they please.
Frankly you seem more concerned with your own personal power diminishing than what would be best for the country Elle Roslin.
"Private MU's act on the whim of individuals as opposed to an elected government" that makes them sound more democratic... which they probably are....DEMOCRACY!...also recommending centralisation and going against people having different political motives/views sounds far more power mongering.
Kane we know your views on democracy and unless you can persuade plato to change the system the country will remain as democratic!
Well were a representative democracy sure (but thats note kind of democracy I'm really supporting).I am just concerned about centralisation (for practical reasons) and while we need agreement now I think it would be more stable if we could try to get people to co-operate than trying to artificially create some new national identity.
we are doomed then, another military reform, and no more support for the well functioning MU's.
I think our chance would be if we could have very strong and numerous teams in Ministry of FA and in Ministry of Defense and putting utmost diplomatic effort in directing ONE's, ABC' and EPIC' damage to free eUK. That's our only chance I think, nothing else matters.
but good luck Talon, I like the fact that we all gonna be better informed and that there is a genuine will to make things better.
You have balls.
I like...balls.
Well functioning MU's..............Zero regions and 3 months without congress
Doesn't compute.
Only saw this article now and glad I caught it. Quality. Best CP candidate UK has had in a long time.
I genuinely wish you the best of luck because you both deserve and need it.
'Frankly you seem more concerned with your own personal power diminishing than what would be best for the country Elle Roslin. '
If you want to click my buttons for me to make sure 160 people have supplies every day, you are most welcome to. Disagreement with a chosen strategy does not make me self-centred or unpatriotic.
Thanks for providing a sterling example of my initial comment however - insulting people hardly engenders respect.