Belschaft describing state policy.
Rach: Welcome to the Rune Stone Mr. Delegate, it's an honour to have you here.
Bel: Thank you, it's a pleasure to be here.
Rach: So now that you've been delegate for a little while so far, how do you feel that's going?
Bel: Well, progress has been slow but steady so far. At present we've been focusing on internal matters, getting the government streamlined and functional in a way it hasn't been for some time. The cabinet and myself is working on implementing our plans, and the first part of that is simply to get the government fully staffed. We're still looking for Deputy Ministers and re-organizing TSP's forums to make them easier to access, once we've done that our big priority is to get as many people involved in running TSP as we can.
Historically we've been governed by a relatively small elected group of people, and we want to change that and involve the region at large in the process of as much as possible. The first part of that simply involves doubling the size of the cabinet, by involving Deputies and a few other officials in policy making, rather than merely giving them work to implement. Once we have done that we have plans for a fairly large program of regional outreach, and our intent is to try and get everyone in TSP involved in some kind of policy making. Be it by giving our ambassadors the independence to interact with foreign governments without needing the cabinet to direct their every move, allowing the New Southern Army to conduct military operations without the Delegate approving each one, or allowing the Ministry of Regional affairs to develop and implement cultural activities by itself.
If everything goes to plan it will be the biggest transferal of power and responsibility from government to region in TSP's history.
Rach: How will you choose these deputies?
Bel: I won't be; the region doesn't need or want me to be micromanaging it. I've asked the various Cabinet members to look for people who are eager to get involved with TSP and make it a better region, regardless of their past experience, but beyond that it's up to them to them.
Rach: Let's talk about some wider trends in NationStates. AMOM discussed the need for people to have WA in order to vote and take part in the region as a citizen. Is this a belief you adhere to?
Bel: No, it's not. The decision to commit yourself entirely to a region, including exclusive WA presence, is an admirable one, but it's not the only measure of loyalty or dedication. There are dozens of different ways to contribute to a region, and only a few of them involve your WA nation. I don't think it's the right move, especially in a GCR, to limit the ways it's possible to be part of the region. My WA nation has been in TSP for quite some time now, but for most of 2011 and 2012 it wasn't; under such a policy I would never have been able to get involved with TSP, and nor would other people like Hileville, Southern Bellz or my vice-Delegate Rebel-topia.
I firmly believe that the GCR's should try to be as open and welcoming as possible to everyone, and putting up artificial barriers to citizenship is not a way to do that.
Rach: Have you had a chance to look at the NS Gameplay changes yet? What are your thoughts on them?
Bel: I have, yes, and have taken the time to give my input. Broadly speaking I think they are moves in the right direction. Some of them, like the Delegate Elect concept, are ones I argued for during and before the summit. The important thing it to improve the current Gameplay Dynamic, and make it both easier and more rewarding for people to take part. The idea of ending 'game over' scenario's where one side wins and the other has no chance of stopping them is something that is fundamentally good for the game, as are the moves to make the GCR's slightly less stagnant.
However, we do have to be careful to maintain the balance of gameplay and not give anyone too strong an advantage. That however is a question of making sure the balance between influence cost/effects is correct for most of the proposals. I only see one idea, the 'Reformation' proposal, that I entirely oppose.
Rach: Lets go to something a bit more juicy, how do you feel about TRRs Media Corporations behaviour during their interview of you?
Bel: I am very irritated at the unprofessional nature of it. I am, in real life, on the editorial staff of a magazine and had one of my people acted in such a manner I would have no choice but to fire them. I had to leave the interview abruptly, and despite having talked to the interviewer dozens of times since when it was conducted no attempt to contact me about it to either finish it or clarify parts of it was made. Instead an extra question was added on at the end, with the explicit implication that I 'ran away' rather than answer it.
The magazine I work at had a similar issue a couple of years ago, when one of our staff doctored an interview to make the interviewee look bad. The journalist in question was fired out of hand, and it was only by printing a very prominent correction and apology that we avoided a libel suit. It's the kind of behavior that shows no journalistic rigor or integrity. The interviewer himself has, since it went up, contacted me to make clear he had no involvement in the decision publish it in that manner of with the editorial line imposed on it. I don't attach any blame to them, clearly the fault lies with his superiors.
Rach: Do you know who his superiors are? Do you approve of having such a political agenda in a paper and do you approve of their anonymous policy?
Bel: I'm given to understand the Director of the TRR Media Corporation is The Church of Satan, though whether or not he was the editor in question I don't know. And no, I don't support either political agenda's or anonymous publication. There is a reason why bi-lines exist; so that we are accountable for what we write, can be fairly criticized for it, and that any bias' on the part of the journalist in question will be obvious. Journalism is about communicating information, not about enforcing a political line. If you find yourself unwilling to put your name to something you have to ask yourself whether or not you should be publishing it.
Rach: Do you feel that the Pacifics news sources fall under a political agenda?
Bel: To a certain degree, yes. NS is a political game, and there are few genuinely independent news sources; often they are run by a regional government, or by members of such wearing different 'hats'. The South Pacific Independent News Network is one of the few that is totally independent of government control, and I neither want or have any editorial control over it. I have high hopes that before my term as Delegate is over they will print at least one critical article about me, as that is what they should be doing; holding my government to account and keeping TSP informed about what we are doing, not spreading propaganda for us.
Rach: So when will we see the South Pacifics news source again?
Bel: That is my hope, yes. Former Delegate Hileville is the current Editor in Chief, and I plan to gently prod him into putting out more content. It is still active, but mainly about TSP's domestic affairs, and it's content doesn't often get posted in the GP forums.
Rach: Where would you like to see NS News Sources go? Do you feel there are any voids?
Bel: It's been a while since we've had a truly non-partisan news service, that isn't run by a region and reports on activity across the game. There's a new one just been set up, the NationStates News Express, that may fill that void. Time will see if it truly is an independent news source however, or just masquerading as one to make it's content seem less partisan.
Rach: Cough, the Runes isn't run by a region
Bel: Yes, but to a certain degree the Runes falls foul of the 'different hats' issue, with it being perceived by some as the mouthpiece of Balder's government. I think that is not really the case, but there is a bit of truth to it; however, it does practice a high degree of journalistic diligence.
Rach: What do you feel is the state of current GCR affairs as a whole?
Bel: That's an interesting question, and one that deserves a very long answer, longer than I'm inclined to give. My concern is that anything I say will be taken as being official TSP policy, not my own opinion, and as such I am going to address things in more general terms.
At present a number of GP commentators are starting to talk, publicly and privately, about a GCR 'Cold War', and there is a small amount of truth in that, but the reality is a lot more complicated. Really, the current situation we are in has developed in the aftermath of three events; Unibot's withdrawal from NS, the collapse of the Sovereign Confederation and the coups in TSP and Osiris. For about a year and a half Unibot, and by extension the UDL, acted as the bogey man of the GCR's and concerns about UCR meddling were usually directed towards him. Since he's gone NES and TNI has, to a certain degree, taken his place in that kind of rhetoric. I don't think it's official NPO policy, but the ones making the most noise about it are members of the NPO.
The result of that, combined with TNI's efforts in the TSP and Osiris coups - the UIAF pledged their support for TSP within 12 hours, and had troops online as part of the attrition warfare at every update after that, and their actions in Osiris are better known - has produced a certain amount of tension between the NPO and those GCR's allied with TNI or on friendly terms. Meanwhile with SovCon collapsed, TP has found herself diplomatically isolated and has been seeking new allies, and tried to resurrect the Modern Pacific Alliance as the Modern Pacific-Sinker Alliance.
That effort hasn't gone anywhere as of yet, but the unintentional result of all this is that the GCR's seem to be aligning into two rough blocs, one opposed to TNI and one allied with them. TP-TEP-Lazarus+TWP (who have been diplomatically isolated for a long time, and seem to be trying to leave that state) vs. TSP-Osiris-Balder+TNP (who aren't as close to TNI as the other three but are allied to the others). TRR of course continues to do it's own thing as a FRA member, and seems happy in splendid isolation.
Now, I don't think anyone involved in those regions wants a cold war, and we all have similar objectives and ideals. We are all supporters of GCR-unity and Independence, though our methods and terminology vary. The real risk is that we might stumble into a cold war by accident; the rhetoric has been heating up already between Balder and TP, and relations are becoming more frayed.
That is something that I don't want to see happen, and I have been working to improve TSP-TP relations, and members of TP have being doing the same. Obviously they went to hell during the Milograd coup, and it's going to take a lot of time to move beyond being cordial, but it's something that needs to be done. Even if we didn't have the same objectives as the NPO, they aren't going anywhere.
We all have to learn to live with each other at the end of the day, whatever our differences.
Rach: The idea of a cold war is a fascinatingly fun idea to discuss. Which region would be which country , roughly of course in the event of a cold war?
Bel: Hmm... give me a minute to think about that one.
Well, TP is obviously the USSR, but no one else clearly fits into a real life country in terms of the cold war. TNP is most reminiscent of the modern day US, with it's utterly polarized and dysfunctional legislature and courts. TSP would probably be one of the South American republics, Chile, Argentina or Brazil with Milograd's brief regime being one of their Junta's. Osiris is of course Egypt right now, in the midst of an incredibly complex and messy political situation. Balder has to be a Scandinavian nation, probably Norway. TRR is a sleeping giant who does her own thing, and is neither aligned with one side or the other; China, though obviously not a Maoist one.
TEP and Lazarus are harder to place for me. A lot of people have called TWP NS' Somalia, and there is a certain amount of truth in that. Whichever side TSP is on is, of course, the good side.
Rach: Any last words before we wrap up?
Bel: Well, obviously I'd like to thank the Rune's for having me here today, and would like to invite anyone who hasn't been involved in TSP to come give us a visit. We're a very friendly place and looking to get new people involved.
Rach: Thanks for coming
Bel: Always a pleasure
