A Brief Guide to eRepublik's Power Players

Day 880, 11:32 • Published in USA USA • by Judean Princess
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Great Power Politics in eRepublik: a short guide

In the real world we have a whole branch of political theory devoted to studying the relations between states and how they develop. International Relations is a complex field, and one which often provokes debate between the varying schools of thought. IRL I prescribe to a number of different fields. I see pluses and negatives in all of them. In some ways I accept the realist arguments, in other ways the constructivist ones. But at heart I am an English School theorist and it will be upon the principles of that school of thought that I will base this article.

One of the principles of the English School (not particularly English btw, it’s just a name) is that it considers states to be part of an international society. In this society the relative power of states (economic, military, cultural and so on) has some bearing, as do certain conventions such as international law and regulation. In eRepublik it’s interesting to observe both these factors at play in the international society of states- the individual power struggles based on geography and culture as well as the struggles within alliances and internationally binding organisations.

To bring this article round to something you can relate to, I am going to begin by talking about different classes of power in eRepublik, which nations fit into those classes, and why. Afterwards, I will discuss how geopolitics defines the future choices of those countries, and which countries are natural allies and which aren’t. Obviously this is all opinion, and some of you will disagree. But argument is the basis of all academic discussion, so please feel free to PM me if you have any thoughts you’d like to share.



Great Power

A great power is a power which fulfils the following qualifications: Stands in the first rank militarily; exerts great diplomatic cultural power; can simultaneously fight on several fronts in several different theatres of war.

In my opinion the number of countries which fulfil all of these qualifications is very low. Lack of air force and navy modules and the necessity for a land barrier limits many countries to a single theatre of war. In eRepublik there are three theatres of conflict: The Americas, Europe and Asia. To be a great power a country has to have the ability (proven hopefully) to exert power of the first rank in all three theatres.

USA - The USA is a first rank military power. It can exert influence on all three theatres if necessary, and has done so in the past. It’s geographic position guarantees that, even without any non-original regions.

Hungary - Hungary isn’t the behemoth it once was, but it still has the potential to act in all three theatres, guaranteed by its bases in Asia. It has an incredible number of top soldiers (over 1000 field marshals) and its diplomatic power is probably ranked in the top 5 globally.

Serbia - Serbia is a very strong military/economic power based in Eastern Europe. Surrounded by strong enemies, it isn’t a natural great power. However the breakout through Asia has given it the global reach it needs to get here.

Russia - The smallest power on this great power list, Russia nevertheless makes it due to the geographic placement straddling Asia and Europe. It’s ability to assault Europe, Asia and the Americas has been proven- extensively.

Aspiring Great Powers - EDEN’s two imperialist powers of the moment (Spain and Poland) deserve a mention here. Both have the military and economic ability to rank as great powers. However they are Euro-centric and thus for now count as regional powers.



Medium Powers

A medium power is (in my mind) one which has a great deal of power but lacks the capacity to project it long distances. They mainly influence world events through mobile troops, and provide the bulk of alliance muscle-power. There are a lot of these in eRepublik, so I’m not going to list them all. But a few major ones are well known to you all.

Romania- the first great power, Romania is now a Medium Power. It has a lot of military strength, medium economic strength, but is penned in by a powerful Russian-Hungarian-Serbian triumvirate. Attempts to reach Asia failed when other allies failed to help.

Indonesia- Romania’s ancient nemesis, Indonesia was sliding into oblivion until recently. A baby boom has brought back fire to the old Indonesians and it is re-emerging as a serious power.

Croatia- Croatia was (for a long time) a serious power. Overshadowed by its neighbours however it has been reduced to a role as a supplier of mobile troops. Saying that, Croatia is as likely to boom as any other SE European country, and is only a hop and a jump from Asia and the associated great-power status.

Brazil- Another powerful country with probably the largest income of any middle power. It is limited only by its position, which realistically only allows for meaningful expansion in South Africa. It’s possession of two high iron regions makes external expansion almost unnecessary though, which reflects in an almost introverted foreign policy.



Minor Powers

Minor powers are numerous in the game. They often contribute in the form of payments to alliances and small elite mobile strike forces. The step up to middle power status is usually accompanies by a boom, and the associated military expansion. Some are cursed by a lack of resources, others by geographic placement. However the majority of minor powers are simply the work-horses of the world. I would number amongst these powers most of the remaining alliance members as yet unmentioned (UK, Netherlands, Germany, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Iran, Turkey, Argentina, Australia, Canada, Finland and Sweden) as well as Italy, Ukraine and France.

A very interesting nation is South Africa. The only nation in Africa, it has been destroyed thrice and rebuilt each time. It's most interesting period was during the Third Republic when they were effectively a puppet of Brazil and Indonesia. South Africa is strategically located as the gateway from South America to Australia as well possessing three high diamond regions. eSouth slowly rebuilt outward to Limpopo until eventually declaring for EDEN. South Africa was then destroyed by channers, but has since been rebuilt and is at this moment reclaiming their last region.

It is probably one of the most important nations in the game now because they not only have the most high level players of any nation, but will also have the three high diamond regions converted into high Titanium regions in V2. South Africa has usually been a puppet of the major alliances. However, if South Africa ever experienced a large babyboom they would likely become the most powerful nation in eRepublik.

Other countries unmentioned are not ‘powers’. This doesn’t make them value-less, it just means that in real terms their power is not sufficient for them to effectively bargain or fight against any of the above countries directly. Most of these countries languish in anonymity, but a few manage to gain great power by negotiating with greater powers and gaining influence by exploiting their geography. Countries in Asia (Philippines, India and China) are particularly good at this, gaining MPPs and strong alliances in exchange for supporting one great power and opposing another. It can be a dangerous game however, and more than one small power has found itself on a hit list for taking sides.



The great game was a term coined to describe the political and military manoeuvring between the British Empire and Russia in the Middle East during the nineteenth century. The Middle-East and India was to those two powers what Asia is to eRep. I think it’s appropriate to refer to this new struggle for control in the same terms as the old newspaper editors in London would refer to the struggle between those elder powers.

In the game there are struggles between countries for many reasons: Pride, honour, fun, player retention and raw materials. The first group of reasons can be found anywhere, but raw materials are placed by the admins, and countries have to go to them. Some, like Russia, are blessed. Others, like Sweden, aren’t. The struggle for raw materials has defined not just national but alliance politics since the beginning of V1. The need for Romanian Iron to be defended held ATLANTIS together for a long time. The drive for Hungarian Iron pushed PEACE as a whole into an invasion of the USA. The concept of that is staggering. A whole alliance mobilised; a great power crushed. All for the purpose of sneaking Hungary into Asia.

When you think about it, many of the current alliance politics can be traced back to great power politics. Why isn’t the USA allied with EDEN any longer? Poland needs high resources which the USA has access to. None of their foreign policy goals coincide. The USA wants to liberate Europe and Asia from Phoenix control. Poland wants to control those regions itself. Romania and Croatia want to get back into Europe and Asia, but this wouldn’t help USA in any way. Once again we get to a situation where major alliances doubt a member. Similarly many in Indonesia asked why they were in Phoenix. For the non-European powers a European based alliance war seems a bit silly. The endless struggle between Hungary and Romania, and their friends, seems to be a bit distant and meaningless for many other powers.

Smaller powers are defined by their relation to the game. Tiny Slovenia was used to repeatedly bash Croatia to draw off damage. Eventually they were destroyed, then attacked again. Suddenly Slovenia had the power of half of Phoenix in its hands and no MPPs activated against it. Suddenly its bigger neighbours were forced to treat it as a great power. Similarly the UK was crushed by EDEN and the USA, but the huge cost of a final push combined with the MPPs that were active against EDEN forced a peace. In the end both situations were the results of manoeuvrings between greater powers.

The interesting this about all of this is the source of the power. In eRep it’s not history which is the driving force. It’s not about maintaining a lead (technology, economic growth etc) over smaller countries. It’s about gaining players, and keeping them. This proves, if anything, that the only job of any government should be player retention. It is the sole reason for organised government- to pursue a baby boom and retain those citizens. A country which can do that is on the road to the top- as Hungary, Serbia, USA and Poland have discovered.