Join the new world

It's kind of like the last day at school, although if John Killah wins today then it's like the last day of regular school before you have to go to summer school. I have agreed to work with his State department and continue the work I've been doing there for the last couple of months. I'm glad for it (although a break would also be appreciated). Working with other countries has been a lot of fun and I can already see how it has influenced the way I play this game. I also know continuity is extremely important in foreign affairs. We've seen what happens in other countries with pendulum politics. It's really hard to build anything that can last and be of benefit to anyone.

Anyway, I just wanted to shoot out a quick 'goodbye,' but, like, I'm not really going anywhere. Sorry if this gets bloggy.

I know there are still factions here and there that are not fond of the eUS joining CoT. Some of those factions are our own citizens with rose-tinted memories of times spent with EDEN nations, and some of that anti-CoT influence comes from other nations- in EDEN, in TWO, and even unaffiliated. A lot of people have a lot of opinions about the direction of eUS foreign affairs. While we do have our internal troubles, we are still a powerful nation. We are being watched with great interest. What we do actually matters to people. Not every country can say that.

I am pleased to say that the majority of people in the eUS seem fine with joining CoT, which really further supports the notion that representative Democracy actually works. Either they don't really care one way or another and just want to fight across the globe, or they have been swayed by the rationale and reasoning of the last couple of Administrations. For those who were swayed by promises of cooperation and stability, I feel like CoT is making good on those promises and will continue to do so even as we are trial members. Everyone is adjusting, but I am optimistic about this relationship going forward.

A trial membership is 3 months long, so we will not become full members in February or even in March. There is still time to feel out this growing alliance, to better know the nations in its membership and to see how we can best work together.



Which brings me to Operation: Gangnam Style- the liberation of South Korea and Japan from Taiwanese invaders. SK and Japan are both smaller CoT nations who lack the power to free themselves. While they are part of an alliance, to liberate these nations would take an organized operation and trouble elsewhere was making it difficult to focus attention on our Asian friends. We came up with this idea to help them out, partially for them, partially for CoT and partially for us. We need war and of the options available, this was the least controversial. Many thought it would be a cakewalk, but what remains of EDEN shouldn't be completely underestimated. For the one or two countries they care about, they'll still go to bat.

There have been some minor setbacks in this Operation. Taiwan was doing a good job of cutting us off to stop us from really getting things rolling in the first place. Perhaps I shouldn't have announced my plans so publicly like some kind of super villain? Things have been taking a bit longer than some thought it might. Going back and reading the comments on the announcement, a number of people seemed to believe this would be over so quickly, it wasn't really worth our time. They thought wrong.

CoT support was sporadic at first, although we definitely had their blessing. Of course, if they could've done operation previously, I'm sure they would have. The eUS volunteering to take the lead on a mission they hadn't been focusing on didn't suddenly free them up, although we certainly did help tie up some loose ends in other areas. With us drawing so much EDEN attention, CoT was able to push through other important battles across the globe, which did then free them up to help with our objective. Mexico recently called a meeting with us, Bulgaria, Macedonia and a couple other nations to work out how to help the eUS getting a better foothold in South Korea. Their cooperation is appreciated and it has been fun watching them work.

The completion of this Operation falls to the next Administration, and I do hope it is completed. While other very appealing opportunities may arise for the eUS to do battle and bust some heads open, I would like to see us finish what we started and free South Korea and Japan. May it never be said that we were defeated by Taiwan, of all nations. TAIWAN.



It is tricky though. While we have some of the best fighters in the world, changes to the economic module have put pretty much everyone in the world into the poor house. The eUS is no different here. Budgets have been slashed and while we've been trying to ease our military into smaller budgets over the last 5 months through some serious deficit spending and cutting corners elsewhere, the belt can only get so tight before people start choking. To be clear, this has basically nothing to do with bonuses. Recovering full bonuses will not fix the economy and perhaps it's just a coincidence of timing with the econ changes and this PTO threat that have made people associate the two things. Regardless, I strongly suspect we will be forced to do more public fundraising to help keep our best fighters equipped, in addition to the big changes happening within the MUs themselves. It's not ideal, but since when has this game ever been ideal? lol

While we made some massive transitional strides this month, the work is far from over. We are not yet full members of an alliance and we are not yet fully stable on the domestic front, although a lot of solid groundwork has been laid and wheels are in motion. We have made a lot of progress against the PTO threat within our borders and we have made a lot of progress with new friends internationally, but we still have work to do redefining the nature of our relationship with many other nations- past friends and past enemies alike. We need to continue working on our internal problems, mostly surrounding communication and the overall sense of community. My Fed background leads me to believe the answers are out there if we really want them... that we can heal ourselves through smarter use of existing systems like the party structures and Congress and balancing mechanical realities with the meta world of the sandbox. Supporting each other will get us much further than cutting each other off at the knees. As jaded and bitter as the PoTUS job forces you to be just to get stuff done, I haven't completely lost my faith in the people of the eUS. I don't think that light at the end of the tunnel is an oncoming train.

Thanks again for voting for me and giving me the opportunity to serve in this capacity. I learned a lot and met a lot of people outside of my Fed bubble that have really enhanced my game-playing experience. I hope I made this game better for some people, in turn.

Thanks for reading,


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