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Dear citizens of the United Kingdom,

This is part three of my manifesto for the upcoming presidential elections, for previous manifestos please check here. Today’s article will be about the military and foreign affairs which concern our nation more than ever.



The United Kingdom stands at a pivotal point in its history, with the choice we make now defining our path in eRepublik for months and even years to come. Our interesting geographical position between the Americas and Europe makes us an important strategic partner for countries both East and West, and this will definitely be reflected in the choices we have to make over the term. However the direction we are going to go in is still shrouded in mystery, with only one functioning alliance, PANAM, currently existing. One thing we need to consider in any of these decisions is that we need to put any past disagreements behind us and look upon all alliance opportunities as a clean slate.

The fact of the matter is, times are changing and we aim to be on top of these changes, regularly contacting representatives of all the key countries and major players from around the world to ensure that when we finally come to congress, who will of course be the final decision makers, we will be able to present them with opportunities that have been pursued by myself and the Foreign Affairs team to ensure that they are the best deals we could possibly have that can further the interests of the eUK. I am not afraid to make hard decisions that may be unpopular, if I truly believe that the decision is the best one for our great nation. We are at a crossroads where our next turn will determine our future, whether we’ll be invaded, whether we’ll become a power or be trapped as an insignificant pawn of the major nations, and this is why we need me, one of the eUKs foremost experts in Foreign Affairs leading our nation in these tumultuous and uncertain times.

Whilst taking all these things into account, we need to be patient and not rush things, as if we make premature overtures to joining one alliance that turns out to be a bad choice for our country, the consequences could prove disastrous.

Another key objective of the term is to boost economy by acquiring further raw materials through both conquest and diplomacy. With a strong alliance to back us up, the possibilities are endless, from getting some fruit from Ireland through conquest or through diplomacy or through swaps with the Netherlands (although Ireland would be better for swaps due to the lack of a clash of MPPs), to invading Norway for some Deer or even, dependant of course on the number of common MPPs and other costs that could be incurred, renting Grain from somewhere like France. The fact is that the new resources make the war module like Pokémon; you gotta catch them all 😛 - I feel that the last government was not proactive enough in taking opportunities to take and hold new RMs that would improve the strength of the country as a whole.

Just with the things I’ve listed, we would acquire the full 25% production bonus on food, the key product in the game at the moment, which would be a boon for the economy and for our fighters, who would be able to buy cheaper food than most places in the world, whilst our company owners would still be making healthy profits. All this would of course need to be backed up with a formal alliance and I would take this into account when presenting the options for potential alliances to congress.




Then on to our military, our army is the driving force behind the safeguarding of our nation. Together our strongest soldiers protect the sovereignty of our beautiful state.

Let’s start out with a role I’d like to see (possibly) covered by a uMoD would be to coordinate the militias such as the Home Guard and Camelot. While I’d rather see the army at full strength we should not exclude them because they’re not content with the army, they do after all deal damage in the name of His Majesty.



One thing that we have had feedback about is that coordination between the MoFA and MoD could be improved, and especially in these complicated times where we have no formal alliance with a unified military leadership orders often need to be made based on the way things are progressing in diplomacy, rather than just to fight for the same allies as we did in Phoenix. Mainly because ordering where we fight can have effects on our relations and is an effective way of showing our friendship to a country. To deal with this we could potentially have the MoFA sitting in the command channel alongside the CP, although this is down to the discretion of the MoD and military command and they may not want yet another outsider in their channel. An alternative to that would be the creation of a separate IRC channel that could be used by the MoD, the general staff and the MoFA to ensure orders are updated in a way that maximises diplomatic concerns. In the long-term, even when we re-enter into an alliance it is still beneficial to the military commanders to know who is in the country’s good books.

However, the base damage of each country in eRepublik comes predominantly from it’s immobile or two-clicking population so these need to be encouraged to fight more regularly.
Many under-estimate the retention value of a well oiled military, and it i for this reason that I’d like to see the expansion of our non-IRC military sections. A large branch could be made which deals primarily with those who don’t use IRC. Managing forum using citizens by sending daily orders and the opportunity to be equipped, as well as trying to encourage the use of IRC through strikes. This would further our efforts to coordinate our citizens who perhaps don’t have the time or motive to become fully fledged members of the current military.
Those who are frequent users on IRC can form fast(er) response units. The expansion of a non-IRC branch and boosted recruitment will hopefully encourage people to enlist and lead to a significant growth in the eUK’s fighting force.



This marks the end of my final manifesto concerning military and foreign affairs. I will publish a last article on the fourth in which I will announce my cabinet, and provide a summary of all my manifestos for you slow readers.

Frerk,
Candidate Prime Minister and
John Forseti,
Candidate Deputy Prime Minister