[AB] Alliances - The Past and The Future

Day 1,195, 09:16 • Published in Finland Finland • by Erwin Schauman

Non-Presidential article of the author's view on the global alliance situation.

No marmosets, no presidential statements, very few jokes. Still, give a vote for the effort!

Soundtrack - right click and open in a new tab to listen while reading!




THE PAST CREATED OUR FUTURE


Not so long ago we lived in much simpler times. We knew exactly who was our friend and who was our foe. It was us vs. them. It was a world of clarity, a black and white world, but a world I dearly miss...

The twin alliances, EDEN and Phoenix, offsprings of the forerunner alliances Atlantis and PEACE, waged an infinite war against each other, sundering the world in to two equally strong rivaling spheres. The war between the factions for the domination of the eWorld lasted for over a year with the winds of war periodically changing to favor the other side to keep things interesting. It was a war of total conquest and unrestricted warfare where winner would have taken it all.

It was a Golden Age of eRepublik when activity was at its peak and new leaders emerged to lead their glorious forces to battles for resources and to quench their lust for revenge. The war was fought on all fronts and it spared nothing – economies were laid waste, governments were couped and overthrown, nations were destroyed and stripped of their wealth... All the while the media section was active and filled with alliance propaganda, lies, fiction and if you were really lucky, facts.

The struggle sired infinite legends of selfless sacrifice, heroism, gallant victories, as well as crushing defeats.


War never was as fun or as deadly!

And we loved every moment of it.

But nothing lasts forever. The winds of war started to favor EDEN too heavily, and in one fell swoop the morale of Phoenix was crushed in a string of defeats. The alliance started to collapse as internal issues rose that caused irrevocable rifts between the member states.

In the end, Phoenix was no more. EDEN lost its counterpart and, at the same time, much of its reason and motivation to fight. It too, started to crumble, and new factions emerged from the two.

The world shifted from a bipolar world to a multi-polar world.

Or has it, really?

THE STORM AFTER THE CALM


”Lets make a deal never to attack each other...”

The world has now entered in to a chrysalis period, where the nations of the world have encased themselves in a cocoon of indecisiveness in order to protect themselves from the difficulty of choosing a side. It seems that to many that is something to avoid like plague.

Perhaps it's due to emotional attachment to the old ways, or perhaps it's just calculative waiting for something cataclysmic to take place to springboard the nations to a final decision on whose side to fight on.

Regardless, sooner or later something has to emerge from the cocoon. Something is evolving under the tough shell, but it remains to be seen what.

Meanwhile, blind eyes are turned to the rape committed by old brothers-in-arms against now current allies. Their pleas for help go unheard, the unwillingness to fight against a former friend halting the arm that should be raised in defiance of such atrocities.

Alas, the comatose elitist leaders of the nations, unlike Margaret Thatcher, lack balls.

They choose inaction.

ALLIANCES – BROKEN TOOLS TO BE DISCARDED?


Fondling inappropriate buttocks, no matter how willing, is still inappropriate

What the world has now is three major alliances - the Erepublik Defence & Economy Network, remnants of the victorious nations of the previous world wars and holders of the legacies of old.; the Pan-American Alliance, an US lead upstart alliance that has been rapidly expanding its sphere of influence; and the New World Order (name still bending), a so far impotent attempt to unite the strongest nations of the world to prey on the weak.

All of these alliances share the same weakness, the same fundamental flaw - they consist of members with mixed loyalties, born from the age old conflict that molded the whole culture of the eWorld.

The member states are unable to let go of the past and instead embrace it like a toddler embraces his mother's breast. Even if it means going against the alliance policies, leading to a situation where alliances... are no longer alliances. The more accurate description is a bloc of countries that cooperate as long as it fits the individual needs of the country, and as long as alliance decisions do not go against the collective conscious of the nation in question.

Gentlemen, it simply does not work. How could an alliance, where the members do not fight for a common cause but simply cooperate when it serves their selfish needs, ever amount to anything? Without a common enemy, without a common vision, alliances cannot fulfill the role they are meant to fulfill - unification of nations under one ideal, under one vision, under one purpose.

In the current state of affairs, alliances have no reason to exist other than to stroke the egos of the few alliance bosses who role-play their part. Same could be achieved without the alliance structure, through bilateral relations.

It would be much less hypocritical, as well.

SUMMA SUMMARUM



In practice, alliances do not exist anymore. Not as they once did. The rules have changed and nations now ally themselves with any nation they feel can help them, regardless if those nations are hostile towards other allies-on-paper.

This is the situation many wanted to see a long time ago when the game was still fresh – a re-enactment of the 30 Year War where nations switch sides more often than Lady Gaga switches her style.

But looking at the situation we are in now, one has to pose the question, is this really what we wanted? Did we really want a chaos like what ensued after the collapse of the Roman Empire? Where is the spirit of the old, the vision that moved entire armies just for the delight of causing destruction and anguish to the enemy? Or has that become obsolete too, and we must now get used to a gray world of backroom deals and backstabbing?

It remains to be seen if after the chrysalis period nations adapt to the multi-polar world and forgo their old allegiances in favor of showing loyalty to the alliance they now are part of, or if the resistance towards change is so heavy that we are forced to descend back to the old order and continue the age old war between the same two super blocs, like it was in the Golden Age.

Or will we perhaps eventually see the rise of true alliances, consisting of members that share a common goal, ideology and vision? Alliances, that transcend over the boundaries of mundane desires, and create a legacy unrivaled by what we've witnessed before.

Time will tell.