The Current Situation
Day 778, 14:04
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Published in Canada 
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by
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by HuCard
Asia
I have to row back a little here. As some might remember I was quite vocal against this operation when it started, expressing my sincere doubt that the regions to be "liberated" would actually be returned to China and not just remain under the occupation of a different country.
Fortunately my worries were dispersed and Liaoning was swiftly returned to its rightful owner. The Indian high iron region of Karnataka remains under US American administration which even erected a Q5 hospital and a Q5 defence system there, however seeing the turns of events in China I am now more willing to believe our prime minister Jacobi's words that it would only be temporary.
I would go as far as to say that I can be considered supportive of the operation and look forward to the day Heilongjiang is freed from Hungary. A few concerns about talks of US American "leasing" of the regions still plague me, but even if that were the case it would be better for China than to have no high iron region at all. And while everyone knows that this whole operation serves no other purpose than to weaken Phoenix, it nonetheless might boost EDEN's reputation amongst neutral states and could open new doors in the region.
What remains is the situation on the Korean peninsula and the Japanese islands. The latter's act of granting the USA passage may have been ultimately a good thing for EDEN and the Asian states to which the USA gained access, but nonetheless it threw the Japanese state into a fair bit of trouble. Aside from the infighting and incessant accusations of betrayal, manipulation, and faulty allegiances, Japan's diplomatic relations to Phoenix states have understandably taken a severe hit. While it having recently been forced to get closer to EDEN out of the mere need to have some protection may have been for the benefit of our alliance, with the recent change in government the country will be trying to return to its former neutral position, now however burdened with a fair share of conflicts.
Europe
First of all, while I personally disapprove of Poland's invasion of Germany I will admit that strategically there is nothing wrong with it. Poland's population exploded and exceeded the already ridiculous number of 40000, and due to its weakness and ever-lasting tensions between it and Sweden/Poland Germany would not have been of interest as an ally to EDEN anyway.
The only thing I do not understand is why Phoenix neglects Germany's defence as much. For a while it had looked as though Poland was trying to reach the UK, and even had that not been the case the high grain regions would still be of tactical relevance seeing how many young mouths the Poles have to feed. If I was Phoenix, I would rather try to keep them away from them at all costs to try and starve part of its babies to death or loss of interest.
Spain's actions on the other hand defy any logic. Aside from the fact that its attack on France was unjust and its motive of being an act of revenge entirely irrelevant to Realpolitik, it is also a factor which poses a threat to EDEN's security. As I mentioned before France borders Canada and the USA, and while it together with its allies Italy and Ukraine might not be overly strong on their own, if they were to join one of the two super-alliances it would certainly make an impact on the global balance of power.
The Entente Cordiale threatened once to side with Phoenix, but in my opinion these threats are empty ones. Italy and France are probably too prideful to crouch back to the nations whose policies they had formerly resented this much, and Ukraine would not really benefit from a membership in Phoenix. And we are lucky and to be grateful for this, as this is not the work of Spain's diplomatic skills; any other country would by now have ran to the alliance opposing the one of its cruel oppressors. Nonetheless we mustn't rely on the Entente's willpower and honour, since at some point even these strings may tear. And Spain is not handling its scissor very carefully, running around with it all over Europe.
The Balkans
Romania has made the same mistake of bluntly waltzing through an innocent neutral bystander, and I hope it has learned its lesson. The violation of Bulgaria's sovereignty lacking any bit of respect followed by the inability to defeat Turkey after activating its MPPs (not to mention that even had Romania succeeded, believing that they would be able to still pass through Iran afterwards was very optimistic) turned out to have been a major mistake. Ignoring the basic rules of diplomacy backfired and Bulgaria understandably and predictably joined Phoenix, suddenly becoming a threat to Romania also thanks to its active MPPs and Phoenix's brilliant region swaps.
Greece made a similar mistake to Spain, acting blindly and our of revenge without considering the possible dangers of its actions. For months Greece and its allies have with ease been able to hold the constantly attacking Turkey at bay, but deciding to retaliate and thus activating the Turks' MPPs suddenly turned the tide and even saw the temporary loss of a few Greek regions. In the future this move might prove costly, as now a fair share of EDEN countries which would be required elsewhere can be kept busy by launching serious attacks on Greece.
Israel too has to suffer from this. Previously it would always be saved and protected by Greece, but now that the latter has to fear for its own safety, these problems became more severe and difficult.
Conclusion
EDEN lacks any sort of diplomatic foresight and its members are way too emotional, clinging to foolishnesses such as desire for revenge without realising that the actions arising from these things are bound to backfire someday.
Some may say that diplomacy is irrelevant in eRepublik as the eWorld is split largely into two factions constantly at war with each other anyway, but they are wrong. The most obvious example is the case of Bulgaria, where Romania failed to consider for a moment the impact its ruthlessness might have and suddenly finds its core lands in peril.
But continuing to exert such pressure on the Entente also harbours its dangers, not to mention that Spain's and Poland's crimes shed a bad light on the entire alliance and might make it harder to find new allies in times where we need them. A pen is more likely to make new friends than a steamroller after all.
I have to row back a little here. As some might remember I was quite vocal against this operation when it started, expressing my sincere doubt that the regions to be "liberated" would actually be returned to China and not just remain under the occupation of a different country.
Fortunately my worries were dispersed and Liaoning was swiftly returned to its rightful owner. The Indian high iron region of Karnataka remains under US American administration which even erected a Q5 hospital and a Q5 defence system there, however seeing the turns of events in China I am now more willing to believe our prime minister Jacobi's words that it would only be temporary.
I would go as far as to say that I can be considered supportive of the operation and look forward to the day Heilongjiang is freed from Hungary. A few concerns about talks of US American "leasing" of the regions still plague me, but even if that were the case it would be better for China than to have no high iron region at all. And while everyone knows that this whole operation serves no other purpose than to weaken Phoenix, it nonetheless might boost EDEN's reputation amongst neutral states and could open new doors in the region.
What remains is the situation on the Korean peninsula and the Japanese islands. The latter's act of granting the USA passage may have been ultimately a good thing for EDEN and the Asian states to which the USA gained access, but nonetheless it threw the Japanese state into a fair bit of trouble. Aside from the infighting and incessant accusations of betrayal, manipulation, and faulty allegiances, Japan's diplomatic relations to Phoenix states have understandably taken a severe hit. While it having recently been forced to get closer to EDEN out of the mere need to have some protection may have been for the benefit of our alliance, with the recent change in government the country will be trying to return to its former neutral position, now however burdened with a fair share of conflicts.
Europe
First of all, while I personally disapprove of Poland's invasion of Germany I will admit that strategically there is nothing wrong with it. Poland's population exploded and exceeded the already ridiculous number of 40000, and due to its weakness and ever-lasting tensions between it and Sweden/Poland Germany would not have been of interest as an ally to EDEN anyway.
The only thing I do not understand is why Phoenix neglects Germany's defence as much. For a while it had looked as though Poland was trying to reach the UK, and even had that not been the case the high grain regions would still be of tactical relevance seeing how many young mouths the Poles have to feed. If I was Phoenix, I would rather try to keep them away from them at all costs to try and starve part of its babies to death or loss of interest.
Spain's actions on the other hand defy any logic. Aside from the fact that its attack on France was unjust and its motive of being an act of revenge entirely irrelevant to Realpolitik, it is also a factor which poses a threat to EDEN's security. As I mentioned before France borders Canada and the USA, and while it together with its allies Italy and Ukraine might not be overly strong on their own, if they were to join one of the two super-alliances it would certainly make an impact on the global balance of power.
The Entente Cordiale threatened once to side with Phoenix, but in my opinion these threats are empty ones. Italy and France are probably too prideful to crouch back to the nations whose policies they had formerly resented this much, and Ukraine would not really benefit from a membership in Phoenix. And we are lucky and to be grateful for this, as this is not the work of Spain's diplomatic skills; any other country would by now have ran to the alliance opposing the one of its cruel oppressors. Nonetheless we mustn't rely on the Entente's willpower and honour, since at some point even these strings may tear. And Spain is not handling its scissor very carefully, running around with it all over Europe.
The Balkans
Romania has made the same mistake of bluntly waltzing through an innocent neutral bystander, and I hope it has learned its lesson. The violation of Bulgaria's sovereignty lacking any bit of respect followed by the inability to defeat Turkey after activating its MPPs (not to mention that even had Romania succeeded, believing that they would be able to still pass through Iran afterwards was very optimistic) turned out to have been a major mistake. Ignoring the basic rules of diplomacy backfired and Bulgaria understandably and predictably joined Phoenix, suddenly becoming a threat to Romania also thanks to its active MPPs and Phoenix's brilliant region swaps.
Greece made a similar mistake to Spain, acting blindly and our of revenge without considering the possible dangers of its actions. For months Greece and its allies have with ease been able to hold the constantly attacking Turkey at bay, but deciding to retaliate and thus activating the Turks' MPPs suddenly turned the tide and even saw the temporary loss of a few Greek regions. In the future this move might prove costly, as now a fair share of EDEN countries which would be required elsewhere can be kept busy by launching serious attacks on Greece.
Israel too has to suffer from this. Previously it would always be saved and protected by Greece, but now that the latter has to fear for its own safety, these problems became more severe and difficult.
Conclusion
EDEN lacks any sort of diplomatic foresight and its members are way too emotional, clinging to foolishnesses such as desire for revenge without realising that the actions arising from these things are bound to backfire someday.
Some may say that diplomacy is irrelevant in eRepublik as the eWorld is split largely into two factions constantly at war with each other anyway, but they are wrong. The most obvious example is the case of Bulgaria, where Romania failed to consider for a moment the impact its ruthlessness might have and suddenly finds its core lands in peril.
But continuing to exert such pressure on the Entente also harbours its dangers, not to mention that Spain's and Poland's crimes shed a bad light on the entire alliance and might make it harder to find new allies in times where we need them. A pen is more likely to make new friends than a steamroller after all.
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Comments
Good article, good opinion.
Vote.
war rules
Excellent work, as usual, HuCard. Your reporting of international events is unparalleled, in eCanada. We are lucky to have you.
nice 🙂
nice summary. Great commentary.
another day another war. it seems regardless of the name of each alliance (which changes when they loose... how 1984 sounding) the actions are similar. invade here... activate MPP there.. get egotistical over in that corner... now switch your partner and Dosado.
however i must say this article presents alot of logic and i really enjoyed reading it. you've earned my subscription back after a short stint where it seemed like you were just a little holier than thou....
looking forward to the next one!