[JP] Trade And Military Alliance (TAMA)
![USA](http://www.erepublik.net/images/flags_png/S/Japan.png)
mjdiv
In my 15 months of being an eRepublikan and experiencing this social experiment at many different levels, I am 100% certain that no nation in the eWorld will be safe from being overcome, either militarily or politically, without the strong support of allies. This includes Hungary, Indonesia, Spain, Poland, Canada, Japan and, yes, eUSA too! Although we need not rush in to bite the hook of the first alliance's fishing line that is dangled in front of us, we do need to consider what kind of alliance we will have in the near future to bring about not only security but also prosperity.
Many of the alliance ideas I have heard recently revolve solely around the idea of a military alliance to guard against attack from enemies. While that is a valid reason for having an alliance, I propose that more be done to strengthen such an alliance and hold its members together. If the only thing that keeps a nation in an alliance is the prospect of security from attack, then nations are just as likely to jump to whatever alliance of the day appears to offer the most military protection.
For everyone out there who thinks their country will "win" by conquering the world, I assure you that you will never see that day come about. Alliances can beat alliances, but no one country will ever beat the world. If we are anti-Phoenix or anti-EDEN, we would not simply be against the imperialistic tendencies of one nation; we would be against all of the nations under Phoenix's/EDEN's protection. We will not win a war against a Phoenix/EDEN alliance by pure military force. The way to change the dynamics of the situation is by a change in ideology. Whatever imperialistic alliance that is formed automatically becomes an enemy to the other alliance and strengthens their cause.
I hear some people saying "But we need to expand! We need those high-iron territories! We need diamonds! And what about making sure we have titanium?" You know what? You're right! But why does that have to involve conquering other countries? Unlike other nations, we have all the resources we need for our citizens and to function well as a society. The iron, diamonds and eventually titanium will give strength to our military capabilities (as cheaper resources for weapons and gifts). A way to do this would be through trade.
I hear more of you saying "Trade...pff...that's boring! We need RAWR!" There will still be plenty of wars in the world to participate in, especially the liberation kinds.
In order to have a strong alliance, the alliance must respect the sovereignty of all of the nations involved. It must also benefit every member of the alliance (big and small) and not be simply for the support of it's strongest nations. The alliance members must be able to think in terms of "we" and "our" and not just "me". To give strength to such a group it would also work toward the prosperity of each member involved.
Some may see what I propose to be idealistic, but everything starts out as an idea. Ideas that are fueled with passion and moved by action can make them reality. So, I will start with an idea. Those who add to these thoughts will help turn a good idea into a great one.
I propose the creation of an alliance that has all of these aspects:
1. Centered around raw materials. Of high importance (and these areas should have higher populations to build higher walls) would be territories with high resources in all of the raw materials. These resources should be made available in free trade to all members of the alliance. The alliance is not only a military alliance, but also a trade alliance, to promote prosperity of all of the nations involved. Nations within the alliance will have 1-5% maximum import taxes on all high resources that the alliance has secured. Non-alliance nations may be embargoed, but not nations within the alliance. The nations within the alliance are free to adjust their income taxes and VATs (sales taxes) how each nation sees fit according to their respective congresses, but will not raise import taxes.
2. Each nation must have an organized military that will be required to come to the defense of members of the alliance that are being attacked on their home soil. Members will not be required to assist in offensive operations, only defensive ones. However, the nations are allowed to coordinate in offensive operations if they wish to. Each nation is also free to have MPPs with nations that are outside of the alliance.
3. Members must respect the sovereignty of member nations unless agreement has been made between attacking and defending nations to do otherwise.
4. To protect the military/trade alliance from nations with unfair trade practices that do not allow foreign competition, those nations would be embargoed by all nations within the alliance unless they agree to allow Japanese companies (along with the other allied nations) to sell to them by eradicating prohibitive trade barriers.
With the above type of alliance, each nation will benefit from military support of all nations involved in the event of attack and would also all share in growth of prosperity, all having adequate, inexpensive access to high-resource-producing regions and being able to trade among member nations without barriers of high tariffs. What would keep the countries from raising their tariffs? Well, the loss of trade and military partners in what could be the most economically beneficial alliance in the world!
A change of thinking is necessary in a changing world. It was said that the definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over again, expecting different results. We cannot create a second EDEN and expect it to work better than the first one. We need a completely different ideology. The pen is mightier than the sword because the written words and thoughts that are in the minds of soldiers and citizens are what hold them together in times of crisis. Brute force alone only works when you're ahead, but falls apart when you're not. But the proper mindset together with action are what create phenomenal explosions into possibilities that beforehand may never have existed.
We are at an important crossroads, Japan. We can continue with doing things as they've always been done and getting the results we've always gotten. Or we can step out of the box and dare to create something fantastic. Nothing was ever accomplished by those who have said "we can't do that". All of the great things have been created by those who say "we can".
I'll leave you with a final thought: "Whatever the mind...can conceive and believe, it can achieve." - Napoleon Hill.
For the past year, I have been long at work trying to bring this mindset to eUSA and I am continuing to try to bring this mindset to like-minded people around the world. If the people continue have an open mind and speak up instead of accept the status quo, then our leaders will eventually listen!
Interest is growing in this type of alliance worldwide. Join the discussion with like-minded people around the world who are interested in the Trade And Military Alliance on IRC in [url=irc://irc.rizon.net/TAMA]#TAMA[/url].
Have fun and enjoy another day in eRepublik!
Comments
It's too bad that this game doesn't allow for trade agreements because a similar line of thought has crossed my mind in the past as well. I look forward to your articles and KIT!
Pres. danyeo,
I agree; and that's why I've been working with brilliant minds over the last year to get around this. The solution to this is the "collective embargo", just one of the many great ideas being discussed in #TAMA.
Thanks for this marvelous article and spreading this theory.
In the real world Free trade zones like the European Coal and Steel Community (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Coal_and_Steel_Communit)have already spread peace and this could be the beginning of a Union of states in the ERepublic that are interdependent and therefore required to help each other to survive.
I wish you the best of luck and am looking foreward to the possible realisation of this dream.
To follow this logic, each country would have to specialise depending on its national ressources to maximize the interdependance but that is secundary.
Free trade and the resulting dependencys of the countrys will ment the states to a compact union which will not only be a military, but also an economic global player to be recogned.
The only problem is that you need to not only convince one state but many states at once to form such a nation.
Kenji Tamada -
You have essentially captured the essence of what TAMA is about. There definitely will be war in eRepublik, however, because there will be nations that will refuse to conform and thirst for war and conquest, so there will be no shortage of battles to keep the citizens happy. This idea has been catching on worldwide and continues to grow 🙂.
Hi,
I like the idea of collective embargo. I hope eJapan can rejoin Sol and bring these sort of ideas into it. Sol is currently rather weak militarily, but certainly have potential to be a strong regional block of trade/defence and alliance.
Warm regards,
CDV
eMalaysia President
The idea of economic alliance is a good one, and i would be happy if the developers of the game would give us the opportunity. But the collective embargo would do more damage than gain, both in diplomacy and in economy so im against it.
It is a nice idea.
But I don't think this can work on this time.
"Origineel.NL -
Countries in this alliance, just like any other, would not be prohibited from taking military action in their own interests (after all, war makes eRep interesting). But the other nations in the alliance would not be required to assist in aggressive offensive campaigns. Nations would also be required to share resources with other members or be expelled from the alliance."
I couldnt find your article anymors so couldnt respond.
But what you are saying here is the same as what PEACE was based on and it didnt work. In the end the big countries, which support and give the Alliance a real value, will decide what will happen. Other big countries will hesitate to kick out other big countries because it will only weaken the alliance. Like in any other alliance in the RL world or the Erepublik world the big countries will rule/lead the Alliance. The European coal and steel Community is the France/Germany Alliance, PEACE was the Indonesia Alliance etc...
~hyuu~
Origineel.NL -
As far as a military power goes, PEACE did work except it was mainly for the benefit of Indonesia/Hungary & resources of the alliance were for the benefit of those nations as well. TAMA would be structured such that smaller nations would benefit from trade (in both directions, not just one) just as well as the larger nations by having access to all materials as well as markets for what is produced. The smaller nations especially will be able to prosper economically much better than they could alone in addition to military support from the entire alliance. When one studies the different alliances that have existed, we need to take the best and leave the rest. To my knowledge, the kind of structure that TAMA provides has never existed in eRepublik before. With equal representation by alliance members, this will be different than PEACE/ATLANTIS/Phoenix/EDEN-type alliances.
Not a single great thing in the history of mankind ever was created without resistance to the idea, nor was it ever created by people who said it can't be done. Join in the conversation with many great minds around the world who will get this done - I assure you this IS possible. One can either be involved in making it as good as possible or watch it evolve without them. Either way, it will come about. Those who say things are impossible are happy to keep things as they are - but the world is defined by unstoppable change that we must learn to adapt to. V2 will be very interesting 😉.
It will be important to fully include smaller nations in decision making. No one will stay long or whole-heartedly in what they
perceive as an American controlled alliance. They'll feel like
pawns.
We could do it UN style with permanent members of a security council along with rotating smaller nations. The leader of the alliance would serve one or two months and be chosen only from a smaller nation. This Alliance Commander would need some real power and his decisions respected by the larger countries.
Whatever the details of power sharing, everyone must feel included.
Definitely a good idea.
I like the alliance idea. Is Israel included on your list? For the trade issue, I think if our alliance chose to lower not only raw materials tariffs, but manufacturing as well, we would show the world by example how freer trade can work. The countries we really don't want to trade with are mostly at war with us or have embargoes already. In addition, an embargo by our member nations would mean something if our markets were open to everyone.