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**The Economist**

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13th June Edition


Leaders ~ Editorial

Good afternoon and welcome to another edition of The Economist, Britain's most subscribed weekly newspaper. This week we're bringing you a sackful of news from across the world. From the diplomatic madness in a post-cold war world (where the West didn't win) to the cosy chambers of the UK House of Lords, this week has been as busy as ever.

Internationally, Germany has disappeared from the map, Hungary is at war with Sweden, Latvia is being fought over by two countries and Italy and France are waking from their slumber. Of course, that is just an overview- nothing is as it first seems, as our readers will know from experience. The UK herself has been involved in a couple of these conflicts, but the message from our leader, Kumnaa, is the same as ever. “Wait and see...”

In parliament things look positive for the new gifting scheme. Shadowukcs, an outspoken critic of any form of national health service, has raised his objections about the cost of the program. Essentially the program represents a single NHS clinic intended to raise citizen wellness above 40 so they may feel the benefits of the training wars (by using a hospital). For those of you unaware of the simple hospital trick, all you have to do is fight once in a battle, then return to battlefield, click 'visit hospital' (under 'Fight') and then use the 'heal' button beside the hospital icon to instantly recover 30-50 health depending on your region.

Anyway, a busy week! So without further ado- the rest of the paper.



Leaders ~ Germany falls...and rises again!

If there has ever been a country in erep with as rocky a history as Germany's then we haven't heard of it. Partly through an accident of geography, partly through the people involved, the central European state has been at the crossroads of war since its birth. Over the last few weeks it has suffered many attacks from neighbours and former allies Sweden and Poland, resulting in its total destruction earlier this week. The final blow came when the German President revealed himself to be a long term Swedish spy. By retreating two battles and starting a resistance war in Voralberg (originally part of Austria), Germany was destroyed completely. We spoke to four-time German congressman MortenLond about the conflict, and it's outcome.

How did you feel when you saw the resistance war open in Voralberg?

“Well I was horrified. I didn't know that the game mechanics would be so buggy to believe Voralberg as a German regions and not make it original territory. So I dropped myself in and made the wall go up by 500 points. It was however great seeing the support we got from around the world.”

When the resistance war was lost, did you think that this was the end for Germany?

“Of course I did, so did everybody else. We would have to regroup into an exile government and work out how the government would work with no country. Many Germans moved to countries of PEACE, UK and Canada to gather funds for the rebellion we would then plan in the future. We were sad that we lost our country. While Saarland was a nice gesture, it would not satisfy the ordinary German and it was a desperate attempt to avoid us making Schweswig-Holstein our only original territory.”

Do you think that Hungary will succeed in defeating Sweden, and driving them out of Germany?

“Yes they will. The Swedes have used too much gold in their tanking to take Germany. They even placed more than 500 gold of buildings in Schleswig-Holstein with both the Q5 Hospital and Q5 defence system. The Swedes and poles are merely trying to slow them down by making resistance wars which would return those regions to Germany again. KalleHolm [the Swedish President] himself has said that Sweden cannot defeat the Hungarians in a clean fight”

Do you think that Hungary will return the regions it takes to Germany?

“We will have to see. It could be they would keep regions so they will be able to attack Sweden head on in the future, but I can't say anything for sure on what will happen to our regions. Ideally we will have them returned, but that is something they will be deciding. I have however heard the Hungarian MoFA [Minister of Foreign Affairs] say they will not keep Bavaria. That is all I know of it.”

Considering the events of the last month, do you think Germany should seek to join PEACE?

“Yes I do. PEACE has sent many soldiers to help when Sweden invaded (so did the UK and Canada) and they tanked a great deal in Voralberg. PEACE countries have shown a renewed faith in Germany after the election of Gobba. I also support PEACE membership so that Sweden won't be a problem for Germany in the future.”

–

So here we see the outcome of this conflict. Germany has been driven to join PEACE, the very alliance that the former Atlantis-block had fought to get them out of. Now the small European state has been driven back to them. We can't pin the blame for the collapse of Atlantis on any individual. However, KalleHolm may well be regretting his actions. After this latest war, Hungary will have conquered all of Sweden's recently acquired territories, Sweden will have no gold and the only result of the whole conflict will be a decisive PEACE gain in Europe. Remember as well that with Hungary in Schleswig-Holstein we will be entirely bordered by enemy nations in Europe. Sweden, Norway, Hungary, the Netherlands and France. Much as France herself was around the new year. We could find ourselves the victims of our very own French Toast.




Britain ~ Glorious Isolation

Since early in Sara Droz's term in office the Atlantis alliance had been struggling with some serious internal divisions. The UK's government held a position of neutrality. Although in some cases it signed MPPs that could be taken to be provocative, in general it maintained a position of strict neutrality. During the German-Sweden conflict the British remained strictly neutral- allowing their population to fight using the MPP activation, but still standing to one side.

In the latest conflict- the PEACE invasion of occupied Germany we have seen a similar lack of position from the eUK government. Although it seems to be led by a mostly PEACE leaning leadership, the government has decided to make an apology to the Polish government and indeed fought against PEACE to further the occupation. What triggered this u-turn? Since the MoFA has declined to comment at this time, we can only speculate. However, we believe that the intention of the UK government is to mend relations with the Atlantis 'Eastern Block' by defending Poland in a war they will no doubt lose anyway. Therefore Poland becomes friendly and Germany becomes free.

This all sums up our policy of the moment. Britain has once again chosen to pursue a policy of 'glorious isolation' internationally. We have no affiliation to any alliance, we have little international connections at all. In fact we are counting on our large population to protect us from being taken over politically or conquered.

This has created a lot of upset amongst the ordinary population of the eUK. Many expected Kumnaa (the Prime Minister) to take a firm stance for Germany when they voted for him. However, as he pointed out his manifesto left a lot of room for quick decisions made on the job. So far we've yet to see a pattern to the foreign policy decisions, resulting in heavy criticism in the media of him, his senior military Minister Hassan Pesaran and his Minister of Foreign Affairs, Glorious Failure. All three are very capable however, and the Economist advises readers to wait and see what the outcome of the talks are.




Europe ~ The Peace invasion of Germany

Since Germany was wiped from the map, we have seen PEACE forces advance into Germany. From the South, Hungary and Italy, from the West, France. Italy is currently occupying Baden-Wurttemberg and Bavaria, two large regions in the South of Germany. Bavaria is Germany's most valuable region, with high grain, medium wood and medium iron. Hungary currently occupy Saxony, Hesse and now Brandenburg. Hungary (probably nervous of the TO implications) tends to shed its regions to allies as its forces advance. Thus we can expect the regions to be released in resistance wars before the congress elections. France is occupying Rhineland-Palatinate and Germany has a single tiny region- Saarland.

When looking at the implications of this conflict, we must look at the participants and the outcomes. It is the opinion of this publication that the defeat of Sweden-Poland represents the final end of the bitter conflict that began as Atlantis was slowly beaten by Indonesia and Sweden gained aspirations in Germany. Hungary is far larger and stronger now than Romania, which means that the balance of power has tilted towards PEACE. With the battlegrounds now mainly in Europe, Indonesia can use the natural defence of distance to protect itself from attack (something Romania could never count on with Hungary next door).

Really, what we're looking at is the end of a chapter in world history. The balance of power has been interrupted, and Hungary is quickly becoming the world superpower. This means they have new powers (influence over smaller countries for a start) but also new responsibilities. They seek the approval of other, non-Peace nations such as the UK. But to gain that approval they need to behave in a responsible way. Hungary are famous for their political takeovers, but we suspect that will be reigned in. As for straight conquest, we predict that Hungary will take on the role of 'policeman' in Europe. Already it has liberated much of Romania's former empire, returning it to the original countries. Now in Germany we will see it likely withdraw from the conquered territories, eventually returning them to their original owners.

For the world, this shift in behaviour means a lot. With Hungary/Indonesia/Brazil on the same side, world domination is likely. However, we don't believe this will last. Although held together by a few old members, PEACE itself is too hegemonic to be fun any longer. Whilst Europe will never be united, we see a potential shift in global power towards PEACE as being a negative thing for them. In many ways they define themselves as being anti-Atlantis, and without a bi-polar system of international relations it is likely that the original 'alliance of the weak' will slowly disintegrate.




United States ~ It was all a dream?

Since the fall of Atlantis, the United States has had an identity crisis. Many Americans come to eRepublik thinking the USA is going to be a world superpower (just like a lot of Brits come thinking we'll have an empire), and then become upset with the reality: The USA is a second rate power. Since their country isn't doing any invading and conquering (quite the opposite) they decide to revert to other aspects of their real life existence. The role play vs. game play argument has been tossed around forever, but it's particularly pertinent to the USA. Over there they obsess over ideas which exist in real life. The thing is, working with eRepublik to make real life ideas work here is always going to be less efficient than working with the game mechanics to make your eNation a winner.

For example, whether the Royal Navy is called 'Royal Navy' or 'British Army' makes no difference. They are the non-elite mobile section of the UK military. When working out their operations things need to be based upon what is most efficient rather than trying to fit with some kind of real life model (this isn't a criticism of the RN, simply an example). Similarly the United States seems to be obsessed with protocol and not with exploiting the game to their ends. In addition they are ruled by a powerful and elderly elite who tend to do things for their benefit and use weaker citizens as a vast exploitable resource. The UK has the same problem.

What we need is a strong hand, strong morals and a strong voice. The time for change has come. What we need is someone who can be open about direction and intentions. Our current leader, Kumnaa, has the potential to do that. But to do it he needs to cast his caution to the wind, rally his supporters and lead the UK, not just the government. Apathy is not only a problem at the low levels of government, but also at the very top. Whilst lower level players aren't interested because they have nothing to gain (there are no opportunities) those at the top aren't interested either (they already have everything).

Both the USA and UK suffer from the lack of a national identity and the lack of strong direction. Putting that right will be a difficult task, and will only be achieved when the 'government' and 'opposition' agree to unite for the good of the whole state.




The Americas ~ The endless war

Iron is the most valuable resource in eRepublik. All of our world wars have been fought over control for Iron regions. Now the ex-Atlantis countries have but one high-iron region in Northern Spain. With Podolia in Ukrainian hands and West Siberian Region being Indonesian, many investors are looking hungrily at the new high iron region in Peru. Great Andes region has both high Iron and high Wood, so it will soon become a target. In addition, all of the new countries will come with the usual 1000 gold, making them ripe targets for political take over. We will have to see what is to come from these burgeoning new states.


The Americas ~ No place for God

After reading a short article arguing that Christianity should be allowed into eRepublik (as well as the other major real life religions), I had a think about the issue. To be honest, with the debates in the 'brain zone' of the eUK forums raging around religion as they do, I never considered them to be that separate.

However, the issue is certainly a pertinent one, and for a number of reasons. Firstly, because in many cases national identities and religious ones are inseparable. The clearest example of this is the Greek-Turkish conflict. Greeks in real life are Orthodox Christian. In fact, after the 1921 peace treaty Greeks were defined as Christian, and Turks as Muslim. When fighting for its freedom eGreece posted messages in Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary asking for Orthodox Christians to come and fight for their fellows in Greece. Christianity is part of that eCountries culture, and is ingrained deeper than any political party or ideology could be. Similar cases can be found in South America and in Iran.

So what is the solution? There isn't one. Nationalism in the game is there because the states are named after their real life equivalents. Nationalism, especially on the front line of ancient religious conflicts (the middle-East and the Balkans) is inseparable from religion. In the eUK we are a secular place- even the religious members of the state don't bring up their particular affiliation, except perhaps in the aforementioned brain zone. The latest poll there shows that four out of ten voters are Theists- but you'd never know it looking in the UK media.




Middle-East and Africa ~ Jewitt frees Jerusalem

As the title suggests, earlier today Jewitt, a prominent American citizen, freed the Jerusalem district of Israel from Turkish control. This represents the penultimate resistance war before Israel is freed altogether.

Israel was captured by Turkey in a conquest war long ago. The Turks then attempted to drive the Israelis out by both economic measures and by taking over Israeli parties. There were months of oppression before Big Brother freed Northern Region, the first (barren) taste of freedom. Since then the Israeli state has settled into an almost normal existence. No longer do they fear an imminent conquest by Turkey.

Jewitt himself seems quite confident about the future of the country, offering other locations which could be liberated next, such as Australia and South Africa. In truth, this publication doesn't share his optimism. Israel's survival relies much on MPPs and the disinterest of the Turks, both of which are variable factors. At the minute the wind is blowing Israel's way, but unless they get a lot more Aliyot they're going to have some trouble holding onto these new territories.


Business News ~ the Productive State

Productivity! When you work you get a 'well done' screen with your productivity for the day. But what effects your productivity? Well to start with, a bunch of factors you can't control- number of employees, raw materials quality (if you're a land worker), skill, quality of the company. But most importantly for you and your employer- wellness. If you're fifty wellness you only produce a fraction of what you would at one hundred wellness. The fraction is in fact two thirds. That's right- someone with 100 wellness produces a whole third more than someone with fifty.

So how does that knock on? Well say you're on a £5 wage. So is your friend, Pete. Pete has fifty wellness and you have one hundred. Sadly Pete gets the same wage as you because you applied for the same job. But he produces a third less. Many general managers simply fire workers with less than 80 wellness, especially in the higher skill ranges.

So how do you fix it? Simply go to an existing battle and click 'fight' once. Then go to the hospital in your region (there is a link on the battlefield screen) and click heal. Instant wellness boost. Wherever you live, you can get a minimum of 20 and a maximum of 40 wellness a day from this simple manoeuvre. So do it!


Business News ~ MoW Survey

The Ministry of work is currently doing a survey for all business owners to fill out. By filling the survey in you help both your country and the economy, and thus yourself! So get at it! Link below:

Ministry of Work Survey




**The Economist**

Top ten countries by population

1. USA
2. Indonesia
3. Hungary
4. Romania
5. United Kingdom
6. Poland
7. Croatia
8. Canada
9. Spain
10. Brazil