[WHPR] Interview with MoFA

Day 4,024, 22:12 • Published in USA USA • by James S. Brady Press Room





MUSIC



Good Evening everyone,

Today I have another interview for you, this time with our Minister of Foreign Affairs TheMike. I wanna thank TheMike once again for taking the time to answer some of my questions and I hope this interview will be informative and helpful. Without further ado here's the interview:





MH: Could you explain to me the daily tasks of Foreign Affairs?

TM: Hi, Max! Thank you for taking the time to do an interview with me 🙂
The beauty of the MoFA office is that it is less routine and more ad-hoc. It is all about communicating with our partners abroad and with some of our opponents too. Even though the game is much slower than it used to be, the community is just as vibrant as ever.



MH: How do you like the job of Foreign Affairs?

TM: I must admit that it can be very demanding. Timing is very important, because you need to make yourself available when required and some conversations cannot wait. Unfortunately RL work has picked up pace over the past couple of months, but I am doing my best to engage with our partners



MH: What rational goes into choosing allies?

TM: The first thing is that you must have common goals. You must also share a common idea of how you want to play this game.



MH: How have negotiations with our allies been?

TM: It is all about building trust and trust comes with time. I think we have used our time over the past half a year very well and have managed to build up trust with our allies. It is our responsibility now to build reputation based on this. We have to carry on being consistent in our endeavours.



MH: How has negotiations with our enemies been?

TM: It is never easy when the people on the other side want you to burn in eternal fire. We have had some engagement this month, but I think we need to keep playing the game for our opponents to recognise us.



MH: Do you ever have disagreements in strategy with other members of the NSC such as the Minister of Defense or President?

TM: None. We are all on the same page.



MH: How long do you think eUSA will be occupied if you had to estimate?

TM: I have no crystal ball unfortunately. What we have to do is to keep playing the game, engaging with the eRepublik community and keep integrating. I am on the opinion that the eUSA has always played an isolationist policy which is what led to the Spring Invasion in the first place. I believe we have now put a stop to that and have slowly started integrating with the global eRepublik community.



MH: What are some of the biggest challenges as Minister of Foreign Affairs?

TM: Being online all the time.



MH: I have asked the MoD about the possibility of a formal alliance in the future, from what I have gathered that looks like it may not happen anytime soon. What are some of the concerns around joining an alliance at the moment?

TM: I think the game has moved on from the culture of creating alliances. Furthermore, Asteria is dominating the world of alliances and if there is going to be one it needs to be able to challenge them for world domination. I don’t think this is possible today.



MH: What can eUS citizens do to strengthen our ties to other countries?

TM: Those who fight and have the packs can engage with the NSC to fight according to our military priorities. And I believe we have been doing that for quite a while now. Those who are not active in the military module, can engage with the other game modules – journalism (writing articles, interviews, war analysis etc), politics (join the Government, help us coordinate the army and with our partners, or help domestically with retention).



MH: What can eUS citizens do to improve the community?

TM: Engage, be cool, do stuff. Above all, be positive.



MH: Could you explain what some of the work that foreign affairs has been doing the past few months consists of?

TM: Well, we had a mountain to climb in terms of repositioning the eUSA in the world of FA. The only currency in this game is trust. All arrangements in this game are based on trust between the respective communities. Even if it is between countries in conflict, there must be some element of trust for any meaningful engagement to take place. So, our job has been to build back the trust in the eUSA. I believe we have been able to do so in regards to our allies, but now we have to engage with our opponents and build some trust with them as well.



MH: Any advice for future Ministers of Foreign Affairs?

TM: Be open-minded, patient and positive. Be outgoing and online as well.



MH: And lastly did you enjoy your time as CP? What was the highlight of your time in office?

TM: Being PotUS is tough. You are responsible for everything that is going on, so you end up being all over the place. I was lucky to have a great team who supported me, but I acknowledge that I didn’t have the time to do everything I wanted. The key thing future Presidents have to keep in mind is that RL doesn’t stop, just because you’ve become the President in an online game. So, when you are planning your objectives, do keep this in mind.






Thank you for reading and remember to fight every day and to get active wherever you can.

-Secretary of Media Maxwell Hanz-