[DRAFT] Going Ballistic

[Cretox State]

Fire another one! Feedback appreciated. I thought it made sense to split this into 2 issues: a capitalist and a communist version. Some questions:

1. Is option 4 superfluous?
2. Does it make sense to have this as 2 issues?
3. Does option 3 make sense in each version?

Going Ballistic - Capitalist

Validity: WMDs and private industry.

Description
In an effort to thaw chilly relations, cool down hot tempers, and avert an unintentional nuclear winter due to miscommunication, East Lebatuckese leadership has arranged a rare state visit to @@NAME@@ to discuss creating a direct emergency communications link between the two nations' leaders.

Option 1
"Please forgive the Premier. He recently assumed the position due to natural causes," says an ambitious-looking young thing while gesturing at a drooling old man in a wheelchair. "East Lebatuck does not usually negotiate with capitalist swine, but we can all agree that avoiding mutual destruction is in our collective interest, yes? We propose a direct, secure hotline between the Kremil and a @@DEMONYMADJECTIVE@@ facility of your choosing. Think on it, comrade."

Effect: cleaning staff in @@LEADER@@‘s office have a hard time resisting the urge to prank call East Lebatuckese military command

Option 2
"C'mon, I know you're smarter than this," scoffs defense industry CEO Ray Feon after frantically checking his stock portfolio. "You know we can't negotiate with the reds. They're opposed to everything we stand for. Freedom! Liberty! Shareholder value! Mark my words, those godless commies are going to stab us in the back. Now, I've got some new Vought Cutlasses fresh off the assembly line that I know you're just gonna love to see."

Effect: borscht has been renamed "freedom soup" in all government cafeterias

Option 3
"@@LEADER@@, can't you see what a great opportunity this is?" pleads advisor and hobbyist doormat manufacturer @@RANDOMNAME@@. "The East Lebatuckese are clearly willing to work with us. We should seize the moment, and work towards a gradual nuclear disarmament treaty with them. You'd be hailed as one of the greatest leaders of your generation, I'm sure of it!"

Effect: @@LEADER@@ would rather consort with sworn enemies than proven allies

Option 4
"Hey! Don't we deserve a seat at the table?" asks a diminutive ambassador from a small allied nation, who you forgot was in the room with you. "Frankly, it's rather insulting that you would entertain this hotline with East Lebatuck before your own allies. A secure nuclear communications network between allied states would go a long way towards ensuring our mutual security. That's what you should be prioritizing."

Effect: the new "nuclear intranet" is primarily used as a dating service for high-level diplomats

Going Ballistic - Communist

Validity: WMDs and socialism.

Description
In an effort to thaw chilly relations, cool down hot tempers, and avert an unintentional nuclear winter due to miscommunication, United Federation leadership has arranged a rare state visit to @@NAME@@ to discuss creating a direct emergency communications link between the two nations' leaders.

Option 1
"Now, I don’t usually negotiate with reds," says United Federation President Joseph Finnedy in between mouthfuls of apple pie. "But I think both our nations could stand to benefit from this arrangement. What I'm proposing is a secure direct hotline between the Pentagram and a facility of your choosing. That way, we won’t have to worry about starting a nuclear war over silly misunderstandings. Sound good?"

Effect: cleaning staff in @@LEADER@@'s office have a hard time resisting the urge to prank call United Federation military command

Option 2
"Since when do we consort with capitalist dogs?" barks Party powerbroker @@RANDOMNAME@@, tossing you an enormous red flag. "If we go through with this, the people would riot. The Party Congress would never approve. For both our sakes, you can't go forward with this. Besides, capitalists and treachery go together like borscht and beets."

Effect: @@DEMONYMADJECTIVE@@ schoolchildren have nightmares of wealthy businessmen plunging deeply into the motherland's tender nether regions

Option 3
"This is exactly the kind of breakthrough we need, comrade!" exclaims Foreign Minister Ivan "Crazy Ivan" Ivanovich, whom your advisors keep urging you to toss in a reeducation camp. "Our nuclear arsenal may be the pride of @@NAME@@, but it's also a recipe for global annihilation. We need to take this opportunity and push for a gradual disarmament treaty with the United Federation."

Effect: @@LEADER@@ would rather consort with sworn enemies than proven allies

Option 4
"Hey! Don't we deserve a seat at the table?" asks a diminutive ambassador from a small socialist bloc member, who you forgot was in the room with you. "Frankly, it's rather insulting that you would entertain this hotline with the United Federation before your own allies. A secure nuclear communications network between fellow socialist states would go a long way towards ensuring our mutual security. That's what you should be prioritizing."

Effect: the new "nuclear intranet" is primarily used as a dating service for high-level diplomats

[Cretox State]

Reserved.

[Westinor]

I'll leave a quick response to your questions since i'm a bit tired right now-

The option itself seems alright-ish. It fits in the issue but is somewhere along the lines of an extra add-on option, which I think is fine. The issue isn't particularly long in my opinion, so unless you need to trim some fat later on you should be fine leaving it on imo.

You could probably fit this all in as one. In my opinion the UF works for both scenarios, but I suppose that's up for interpretation. Love the variance though.

The third options seem fine in the same way the fourth seems fine. It adds on to the "this is an international relations thing that we can build on", which sort of makes Option 4 feel a bit unneeded. In fact, it might be worth looking at cutting it. Aside from that, Option 3 in the socialist version is a bit strange in that the speaker is worried about your own nuclear arsenal. I understand it's in reference to his peacenik personality, but It seems weird he'd appeal in that way as opposed to an opportunity to disarm the enemy nation. Not a huge nitpick though, it seems fine the more I read through it.

Also I like the "cold" opening, but for some reason feel the "cool down" is in direct opposition to "thaw chilly" and "avert... winter" which ends up causing it to lose some of it's... poetic quality? Just a note, not a nitpick.

[Cretox State]

Also I like the "cold" opening, but for some reason feel the "cool down" is in direct opposition to "thaw chilly" and "avert... winter" which ends up causing it to lose some of it's... poetic quality? Just a note, not a nitpick.

That contradictory phrasing was intentional. I could change it if it doesn't add anything.

[Electrum]

Hmm, I think you can condense this into one issue. Instead of having the other country's name in the description, you could say "your rival superpower", or "your ideological rival", or something along those lines.

With the MADness chain out, you will need to consider whether this draft occurs before or after the chain occurs. I'm actually not too sure how this issue will interact with that chain, so that will be something you need to read up on (sorry!).

I agree with Westinor regarding option 3/4.

[Candlewhisper Archive]

I think this issue is a fine one, but is decades too late. The Washington-Moscow hotline was needed in a time when it wasn't always possible to rapidly connect calls, and the time taken to connect through government switchboards could end in disaster.

These days, communication can happen so quickly the line is redundant. In the event of a false alarm error, someone could call a mobile or send a whatsapp, or just drop a tweet. In fact for 22 years this hotline has just consisted of a secured computer link for sending email.

We live in a much more connected world now, and this issue is redundant.

[SherpDaWerp]

These days, communication can happen so quickly the line is redundant. In the event of a false alarm error, someone could call a mobile or send a whatsapp, or just drop a tweet. In fact for 22 years this hotline has just consisted of a secured computer link for sending email.

Perhaps a low-tech validity is in order then? It's a bit hard to send an email in No Internet countries, for instance.

[Trotterdam]

Perhaps a low-tech validity is in order then? It's a bit hard to send an email in No Internet countries, for instance.

I guess, but even then the question would likely be "Is critical national safety infrastructure entitled to an exemption from the law that applies to the rest of the citizens?".

[Baggieland]

Perhaps a low-tech validity is in order then? It's a bit hard to send an email in No Internet countries, for instance.

Seems like a reasonable way around that problem to me.

I guess, but even then the question would likely be "Is critical national safety infrastructure entitled to an exemption from the law that applies to the rest of the citizens?".

Don't politicians always have one rule for themselves and another rule for the hoi polloi?

"C'mon, I know you're smarter than this," scoffs defense industry CEO Ray Feon after frantically checking his stock portfolio. "You know we can't negotiate with the reds. They're opposed to everything we stand for. Freedom! Liberty! Shareholder value! Mark my words, those godless commies are going to stab us in the back. Now, I've got some new Vought Cutlasses fresh off the assembly line that I know you're just gonna love to see."

What exactly is option 2 calling for? Is it a call for war? A bit vague at the moment.

[Australian rePublic]

What kind of emergency hotline? What kind of emergency would lead to a nuclear war?