[DRAFT] Explosive Conflict

[Cretox State]

An issue concerning a small nation that is rapidly building a nuclear arsenal at the expense of its people. As always, any feedback is appreciated.

Draft 2: Hopefully made the premise more clear.

Explosive Conflict

Validity: Must have WMDs.

Description
Feeling threatened by your nation's large nuclear weapons stockpile, the repressive totalitarian regime of the small hostile country of Xiaoguó has declared they will stop at nothing until they attain a nuclear warhead of their own.

Option 1
"We can't just let them get away with this!" shouts Director of Homeland Insecurities @@RANDOMNAME@@, clenching @@HIS@@ fist so hard it's beginning to bleed. "These upstarts need to be put in their place before they can become a threat to us. I say we strangle 'em with sanctions so hard they'll have no choice but to give up their nuclear ambitions or have a full-blown revolution on their hands."

Effect: @@LEADER@@ screams loudly and carries a big stick

Option 2
"We can't just bleed them dry!" protests humanitarian worker @@RANDOMNAME@@, bandaging the Director's hand. "The only reason Xiaoguó's government wants nuclear weapons is because they feel threatened by us. If we just extend an olive branch and show them we're willing to be friendly, I'm sure they'll realize they don't need a nuclear program after all."

Effect: @@LEADER@@ begs hostile nations to "be cool"

Option 3
"We can't just play into their hands!" declares General @@RANDOMNAME@@, who's never found a situation he couldn't make worse. "They abuse their people. They hate us. Now they're trying to build a nuke! Our only option is to invade immediately, wreck the place, and burn any ambition they have to the ground!"

Effect: the nation's ambassadors beat up other diplomats for lunch money

Option 4
"Let's play into their hands!" squeals your brother, making his dolls kiss each other. "Why do they want a nuke so badly? Because they don't have one! If we just give them a nuke, they won't want one anymore! What's wrong with more countries having nukes? It's not like they'd ever use them against us, right?"

Effect: the nation's "nuclear outreach program" is off to an explosive start

[Cretox State]

Explosive Conflict

Validity: Must have WMDs.

Description
Feeling threatened by your nation's large nuclear weapons stockpile, the small nearby country of Xiaoguó has embarked on a massive nuclear arms program and military buildup of its own. These actions have stretched the nation's resources to the breaking point, with much of the population impoverished and on the brink of starvation.

Option 1
"We can't just ignore their plight!" pleads @@RANDOMFEMALENAME@@, Minister of Thinking of the Children. "Look, I understand that their government is utterly hostile to us, but we could have a humanitarian crisis on our hands any day now. I propose we make the reasonable choice, and pledge them aid and favorable diplomatic relations in exchange for both our countries working to scale down our nuclear programs."

Effect: @@LEADER@@ begs hostile nations to "be cool"

Option 2
"We can't just let them get away with this!" shouts Director of Homeland Insecurities @@RANDOMNAME@@, clenching @@HIS@@ fist so hard it's beginning to bleed. "These Xiaoguó pigs need to be put in their place before they can become a threat to us. Take decisive action; deploy the fleet, ready the troops, and hit 'em with sanctions so hard they'll explode!"

Effect: countries that criticize the nation's roach infestations are crushed like bugs

Option 3
"We can't just destroy their country!" protests humanitarian worker @@RANDOMNAME@@, bandaging the Director's hand. "If I were running their government, I'd feel threatened too! The only solution here is to abandon our nuclear program. It's not like we'd ever use it, anyway."

Effect: the nation's diplomats are beaten up for their lunch money

Option 4
"Let's destroy their country!" squeals your brother, smashing his action figures together. "What's the point of having toys if you're not gonna use them, am I right? I say if they want nukes so badly, we send one straight to their capital. Or two. Or ten."

Effect: @@LEADER@@ was just named Supervillain of the Year

[Ko-oren]

I like the issue and the nation name in contrast to Daguo.

For option 1: whose plight? The population didn't call on @@NAME@@ to solve anything for them, right?
For options 2 and 4: what ensures that @@NAME@@ doesn't immediately get hit by a WMD from Xiaoguo? From the description, it seems that Xiaoguo already has nukes too.

For the effect lines, I'd rephrase them to have @@NAME@@ instead of @@LEADER@@, but I don't know if there's a definite style guide on when to use which.

[Comfed]

Option 2: It sounds a lot like the person here is going for military force, not sanctions.

Option 3: How is this different from option 1?

[Great Robertia]

Daarwyrth here!

Feeling threatened by your nation's large nuclear weapons stockpile,

Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't there an issue that has a similar premise to this? I have looked it up and it's issue #312: The Empire Strikes First? which I mean. While the premise is a little different there, do keep this issue in mind to avoid any troublesome overlap.

In general, I think the issue has an interesting premise with short but clear issue options. However, I do agree that options 1 and 3 appear similar, and that the chance exists that Xiaoguó would immediately retaliate once they detect nuclear warhead have been fired upon their country. I also feel options 3 and 4 are a little cliche. Almost every issue about WMDs has options to disarm or nuke everyone. Perhaps you could scale down to 3 options and try to make option 3 something more unique? Of course, the final decision is up to you.

[Drasnia]

Option 4 "Let's destroy their country!" squeals your brother, smashing his action figures together. "What's the point of having toys if you're not gonna use them, am I right? I say if they want nukes so badly, we send one straight to their capital. Or two. Or ten."

It took a full issue chain to nuke an NPC nation. This option seems rather disproportionate.

But really, my main issue is with the premise. It doesn't really feel like it does a good enough job establishing why we should care - especially as the first option is a humanitarian one and not a military one. It all feels very off kilter to me.

[Sacara]

But really, my main issue is with the premise. It doesn't really feel like it does a good enough job establishing why we should care - especially as the first option is a humanitarian one and not a military one. It all feels very off kilter to me.

Agree with Drasnia, here. I don't think this is something @@NATION@@ should care about, the way this is currently framed.

[Minskiev]

Well, this is pretty obviously based on NK, right?

Anyways, critique. I feel like Option 2’s effect line assumes the nation has roach infestations, and thus kind of takes away from the player’s nation. Perhaps a better one could read:

“visitors criticizing the country go to a better place”

[Australian rePublic]

Two of 4 options involve scaling back nukes, and the other two involve preparing for war. That doesn't add up

[Cretox State]

Draft 2 is now up. Is there really not an issue about this already?

[Westinor]

Er, if option 1 is satire it doesn't exactly hit the mark for me. How is sanctioning a nation already impoverished due to its own nuclear program going to do anything? The option suggests revolution due to a lack of food and supplies, which is likely going to occur already, since the description mentions the nation's resources already being at the breaking point, and the issue doesn't mention any extra incentive being needed to push the nation over that breaking point. Thus, it serves as a distraction from the humanitarian crisis that is the Xiaoguó government starving its people, which is the compelling dilemma I'm getting from this issue.

[Cretox State]

Er, if option 1 is satire it doesn't exactly hit the mark for me. How is sanctioning a nation already impoverished due to its own nuclear program going to do anything? The option suggests revolution due to a lack of food and supplies, which is likely going to occur already, since the description mentions the nation's resources already being at the breaking point, and the issue doesn't mention any extra incentive being needed to push the nation over that breaking point. Thus, it serves as a distraction from the humanitarian crisis that is the Xiaoguó government starving its people, which is the compelling dilemma I'm getting from this issue.

I removed the humanitarian angle altogether. It looks like I can go about this two ways (or make two issues): them developing nukes, and them starving their people in pursuit of a goal (could be nukes, or something else).

[Westinor]

Er, if option 1 is satire it doesn't exactly hit the mark for me. How is sanctioning a nation already impoverished due to its own nuclear program going to do anything? The option suggests revolution due to a lack of food and supplies, which is likely going to occur already, since the description mentions the nation's resources already being at the breaking point, and the issue doesn't mention any extra incentive being needed to push the nation over that breaking point. Thus, it serves as a distraction from the humanitarian crisis that is the Xiaoguó government starving its people, which is the compelling dilemma I'm getting from this issue.

I removed the humanitarian angle altogether. It looks like I can go about this two ways (or make two issues): them developing nukes, and them starving their people in pursuit of a goal (could be nukes, or something else).

Yep, focus looks much better.

[Trotterdam]

Draft 2 is now up. Is there really not an issue about this already?

#312.

[Cretox State]

Draft 2 is now up. Is there really not an issue about this already?

#312.

I don't see any significant overlap.

[Trotterdam]

I don't see any significant overlap.

Well, it does the "a nation you don't like is trying to develop nukes" thing, though I missed the "in response to feeling threatened by your own nation's nuclear weapons" part of your draft.

Options are similar, though: attack, sanction, diplomacy. The biggest difference is your "nuclear outreach program", which is funny, but also not a particularly sensible option for a nation explicitly stated to be hostile.

There are other issues, such as #815, about other nations reacting to your nuclear weapons, in ways other than trying to develop their own.

My best suggestion is to make the reason they're working on nukes more relevant to the issue, and make the issue more about "how to keep other nations from being scared of us" rather than "how to deal with an enemy nation developing nukes".

[Cretox State]

I don't see any significant overlap.

Well, it does the "a nation you don't like is trying to develop nukes" thing, though I missed the "in response to feeling threatened by your own nation's nuclear weapons" part of your draft.

Options are similar, though: attack, sanction, diplomacy. The biggest difference is your "nuclear outreach program", which is funny, but also not a particularly sensible option for a nation explicitly stated to be hostile.

There are other issues, such as #815, about other nations reacting to your nuclear weapons, in ways other than trying to develop their own.

My best suggestion is to make the reason they're working on nukes more relevant to the issue, and make the issue more about "how to keep other nations from being scared of us" rather than "how to deal with an enemy nation developing nukes".

What if I shifted the premise to be something along the lines of:

Feeling threatened by your nation's expansive military forces and growing influence over the region, the small nearby country of Xiaoguó has declared they will stop at nothing until they attain a nuclear warhead of their own as a means of deterring any potential encroachment upon their territory.

Then I would change the validity to "Must have high Defense Forces," and organize the options like this:

1. [diplomacy] pursue a policy of neutrality, and scale down military forces/influence-building in the region
2. [aggression] sanction and apply pressure to keep them from getting nukes
3. [more aggression] invade them outright
4. [@@NAME@@ has nukes] "nuclear outreach program"
5. [@@NAME@@ doesn't have nukes] get nukes of your own

Under the new premise, Xiaoguó would feel threatened by you, but wouldn't be outright hostile.

[Trotterdam]

If the topic is "how to keep other nations from being scared of us", then I think you need multiple diplomatic options. Like, scale down the military, or keep the military but try to convince everyone that it's just because you're paranoid about self-defense and you can be trusted not to use it aggressively, or try to convince the nation that you won't attack them specfically even if they're much smaller than you because you're ideologically aligned to them. That kind of thing. And then "nah, we love people being scared of us!" as the last option.

I don't think this is going to work as a nuke issue, due to overlap with #312.