[SUBMITTED] A High-Interest Coupnundrum

[Hulldom]

Had some help from Cretox in drafting this offsite, but this is very much still a draft and very much a first attempt at writing an issue. I would greatly appreciate your feedback!

A High-Interest Coupnundrum

Validity: Not autarky.

[desc]The Government of Althaniq was recently overthrown by a group of insurgents, who now have de facto control of the country. The insurgents then claimed that Althaniq no longer exists, instead claiming that a new country also known as Althaniq exists in the territory previously occupied by Althaniq. The coupers have used their new position to insist that Althaniq’s debts to foreign countries including @@NAME@@ no longer exist due to the country owing them no longer existing.

[option]“@@LEADER@@, if they refuse to honor the debts that their nation agreed to eventually repay, we have to cut off Althaniq’s spigot and embargo them!” says @@RANDOMNAME1@@, your Finance Minister. “Imagine what their response will be when they no longer swim in a glut of cheap, @@DEMONYMADJECTIVE@@ goods!”

[effect]a glut of artificial goods meets a dearth of demand thanks to vindictive trade policy

[option]“We must force them to PAY THEIR DEBTS IMMEDIATELY!” roars @@RANDOMNAME2@@, your Minister of Defense, "They've chosen to shirk their responsibilities to us and everywhere else and we must collect on what they owe us to send them a message with force." Grinning slightly, he says, "We will always collect on our debts."

[effect]being sent to collections is a lot more threatening nowadays

[option]“This is actually a wonderful opportunity!” , whispers @@RANDOMNANE3@@, your accountant. “We should play along, and once we’ve cajoled the rest of the international community to agree with us that Althaniq is not actually Althaniq, we can do the same!” He looks at you wildly, “Imagine what we can do in our new utopia without that pesky risk of foreign debt!”

[effect]the default state for @@NATIONNAME@@ is default

A High-Interest Coupnundrum
Validity: Not autarky.

Description
The Government of Althaniq was recently overthrown by a group of insurgents, who now have de facto control of the country. The insurgents then claimed that Althaniq no longer exists, instead claiming that a new country known as Democratic Althaniq exists in the territory previously occupied by Althaniq. Thus, the coupers have used their new position to insist that Althaniq’s debts to foreign countries including @@NAME@@ are now invalid due to the country owing them no longer existing.

OPTION 1: “They must learn about fiscal responsibility and the importance of paying their debts!” says @@RANDOMNAME@@, your Finance Minister, feverishly pouring over a briefing paper. “So many of us have worked long and hard to ensure that we remain an attractive place to invest and that we remain an attractive place to invest in without obfuscating or cooking the books. How can we let them get away with it?!”

Effect: the only thing more feared than an audit is a lecture on responsibility by a @@DEMONYM@@ treasury official

OPTION 2: “We must force them to PAY THEIR DEBTS IMMEDIATELY!” roars @@RANDOMNAME@@, your Minister of Defense, "They've chosen to shirk their responsibilities to us and everywhere else and we must force them to pay their debts." Grinning slightly, he says, "Afterwards, Althaniq will always pay its debts."

Effect: being sent to collections is a lot more threatening nowadays

OPTION 3: “This is actually a wonderful opportunity!” , whispers @@RANDOMNANE@@, your accountant. “We should play along, and once we’ve cajoled the rest of the international community to agree with us that Althaniq is not actually Althaniq we can do the same! Imagine what we can do in Year Zero without that pesky risk of foreign interference!”

Effect: the default state for @@NATIONNAME@@ is default

A High-Interest Coupnundrum

Validity: Not autarky.

Description
The Government of Althaniq was recently overthrown by a group of insurgents, who now have de facto control of the country. The insurgents then claimed that Althaniq no longer exists, instead claiming that a new country known as Democratic Althaniq exists in the territory previously occupied by Althaniq. Thus, the coupers have used their new position to insist that Althaniq’s debts to foreign countries including @@NAME@@ are now invalid due to the country owing them no longer existing.

OPTION 1: “They must learn about fiscal responsibility and the importance of paying their debts!” says @@RANDOMNAME@@, your Finance Minister, feverishly pouring over a briefing paper. “So many of us have worked long and hard to ensure that we remain an attractive place to invest and that we remain an attractive place to invest in without obfuscating or cooking the books. How can we let them get away with it?!”

Effect: the only thing more feared than an audit is a lecture on responsibility by a @@DEMONYM@@ treasury official

OPTION 2: “We must force them to come to terms immediately!” roars @@RANDOMNAME@@, your Minister of Peaceful Resolutions and Conflict Resolutions, sounding slightly less than peaceful and increasingly ready to initiate conflict. Collecting himself, he says, “We can find a way to make them recognize the debts of @@NAME@@, perhaps by offering some generous terms and trying to work things out with them?”

Effect: debt collectors seem a lot more threatening nowadays

OPTION 3: “This is actually a wonderful opportunity!” , whispers @@RANDOMNANE@@, your accountant. “We should play along, and once we’ve cajoled the rest of the international community to agree with us that Democratic Althaniq is not actually Althaniq we can do the same! Imagine what we can do in Year Zero!”

Effect: the default state for @@NATIONNAME@@ is default

A High-Interest Coupnundrum

Validity: Not autarky.

Description
The United Federation government was recently overthrown by a group of insurgents, who now officially control the country. Interestingly, the coupers have exclusively used their new position to insist that the nation's debts to foreign countries including @@NAME@@ are now invalid due to the country owing them no longer existing.

OPTION 1: “They must learn about fiscal responsibility and the importance of paying their debts!” says @@RANDOMNAME@@, your Finance Minister, holding a variety of brightly colored bags and a credit card. “Clearly they’re still @@NAME@@ even if they claim they aren’t. This means we must find a way to recoup my, I mean our, losses somehow! Maybe we can embargo @@NAME@@‘s goods while making them spend all the @@CURRENCY@@ they can!” A credit card tumbles out of their hand which they then drop the bags to protectively grab.

Effect: Nations defaulting on their debts are encouraged to shop till they drop.

OPTION 2: “We must force them to come to terms immediately!” roars @@RANDOMNAME@@, your Minister of Peaceful Resolutions and Conflict Resolutions, sounding slightly less than peaceful and increasingly ready to initiate conflict. Collecting himself he says, raising his voice, “We can find a way to make them recognize the debts of @@NAME@@, perhaps by offering some generous terms, but if not, we MUST SEND IT TO COLLECTIONS!” Next to you, your Minister of Defense nods approvingly,

Effect: Debt collectors seem a lot more threatening nowadays.

OPTION 3: “This is actually a wonderful opportunity!” , whispers @@RANDOMNANE@@, your accountant, who is known for their shady methods to conceal your wealth via spreadsheet manipulation. “We should play along, and once we’ve cajoled the rest of the international community to agree with us that @@NAME@@ is actually new we can do the same! Imagine what we can do in Year Zero!” You catch a glimpse of their spreadsheet and notice it’s deep in the red.

Effect: Bungling treasury officials are considered national heroes./The default state for @@NATIONNAME@@ is default.

[Candensia]

This reminds me of an old Onion sketch.

YouTube - U.S. Government Stages Fake Coup To Wipe Out National Debt

[Verdant Haven]

This is a fun idea for an issue – nice one.

- The United Federation is broadly presented in issues as basically the economically strongest democratic/capitalist NPC nation there is, with a massively powerful military (basically, it is the USA) and broad influence. I would suggest having a different nation be the one in question, as it just doesn't really feel like it fits the historical characterization for them to have this happen, even if it was a deliberate scheme. Jutsa maintains a great list of NPC nations.

- What is meant by saying that the coup plotters "officially" control the country? Are they recognized by some international body? Has the previous government acknowledged their take-over? If it would be more accurate to say that they have de-facto control, that might be easier.

- Look at just slightly adjusting the wording of the description to make clear what the coup leaders have done. It's just a bit grammatically awkward at present ("the coupers have exclusively…" ). "Couper" also isn't generally recognized as a word in English.

- While I get the joke of the first speaker preaching financial responsibility while waving shopping bags and a credit card, nothing seems to tie the occurrence of a coup in a foreign nation to the speaker's personal gains or losses. The finance minister here doesn't seem to be presenting any actual support for either statement they make – that the nation is clearly the same, or that they need to learn about fiscal responsibility. Focus more on the argument (the fact that the new government continues to use the old name, for example), and a little less on the description of the individual speaker.

- If the player selects option 1, demanding that the foreign nation learn responsibility, why is the effect line the opposite of that?

- I'm not entirely clear what the result of selecting choice 2 is… is it getting the foreign nation to accept responsibility for their debts through negotiation (in which case how is it different from option 1?), or is it about sending in the military to extract what is owed (in which case more of the option should be about that).

- The third option is super corrupt and suggests certain things about Leader's past behaviors that border on violating player autonomy. Perhaps it could be more of a suggestion about undertaking a new program of reckless spending and graft, to be followed by a staged coup, rather than implying that the player and government are already in such a situation.

- Remember that effect lines are not complete sentences – they will be merely items in a list. They shouldn't have capitalization or periods.

- Check the How to Write an Issue thread for additional macros, including the various pronouns so that you can have those match your speakers without hardcoding them.

I look forward to the next iteration of this draft!

[Hulldom]

So “bump”. Hopefully I came close to addressing some of VH’s concerns. Rewrote the first option to put the emphasis on responsibility rather than the official itself. In the second option, I eliminated wording that would assume war rather than peace. Lastly, removed the backstory bit for the last option so hopefully it helps.

[Australian rePublic]

The only way that option 3 would work is by dissolving the government, constitution, and everything else associated with @@NAME@@

[Hulldom]

The only way that option 3 would work is by dissolving the government, constitution, and everything else associated with @@NAME@@

Not necessarily here. Legal title transfers over. As I remarked to Cretox while working on this, it reminds me a bit of the USSR’s repudiation of Tsarist debt. The same land, different government, different name.

The real world parallel would suggest that 3 is actually incredibly doable, if inconvenient for a bit.

[Hulldom]

/bump?

[Verdant Haven]

- I think Althaniq is a much better choice than the UF – I see no problem there. I would make a point of the new leadership very specifically using exactly the same name as before though (simply because every issue referencing "Althaniq" will still do so – can't break that meta). Great place for a "coincidentally using the exact same name for reasons they insist are different than before" sort of comment.

- When it comes to framing the arguments of the first couple speakers, it may be helpful to look into the real-world legal framework of "successor states" or the "succession of states" which dictates how things like this are handled. This isn't inherently how things have to be handled in the world of NS, but it may provide some helpful concepts and vocabulary for the arguments being made, to shore up the options presented.

- The intent of Option 2 is definitely clearer now, which is good. I just don't know now what the difference is between option 1 (which provides a goal of peacefully compelling Althaniq to accept their old debts, but is not specific about what you're going to do), and option 2 (which wants to achieve the same goal, and suggests a specific method of doing so). That'll need to be clarified. I don't think there's anything wrong with the previous military suggestions (and it gives an excuse for the effect to talk about the player nation beating up younger nations for their lunch money), the actions demanded just need to be explicitly stated to distinguish them from the negotiating table options that are also presented.

- The final option is much improved. I don't know how widespread familiarity is with the Franco-Cambodian concept of a revolutionary "Year Zero" though, so you might need to be a bit more clear what the accountant is talking about when they say that. I do really like the effect line on that final option – keep that around, and see if you can flesh out the text for it just a hair.

[Hulldom]

/bump for Draft 3.

What I did: re-wrote option 2 to explicitly focus on a violent (military) response, added some additional clarification for option 3, removed references to "Democratic Althaniq", opting for "Althaniq".

I do quibble with whether the idea of state succession needs to be made more clear here given that it is spelled out more clearly now with the changed references.

[Verdant Haven]

This is continuing to move in a good direction. Just a bit more that I'm currently seeing. Forgive the line quotes here - easiest way to be specific at this point!

Description
The Government of Althaniq was recently overthrown by a group of insurgents, who now have de facto control of the country. The insurgents then claimed that Althaniq no longer exists, instead claiming that a new country known as Althaniq exists in the territory previously occupied by Althaniq. Thus, the coupers have used their new position to insist that Althaniq’s debts to foreign countries including @@NAME@@ are now invalid due to the country owing them no longer existing.

I would add or tweak just one or two extra words here to keep it clear. "A new country also known as Althaniq..." is one. I would also suggest dropping "Thus" (which suggests that what follows is implicit to what has already been described) and just starting with "The." You could potentially keep your original idea that the only significant thing the insurgents have done is insist that their debts vanished - so long as it's kept clear, it's a funny idea.

OPTION 1: “They must learn about fiscal responsibility and the importance of paying their debts!” says @@RANDOMNAME@@, your Finance Minister, feverishly pouring over a briefing paper. “So many of us have worked long and hard to ensure that we remain an attractive place to invest and that we remain an attractive place to invest in without obfuscating or cooking the books. How can we let them get away with it?!”

Instead of saying "How can we let them get away with it" I would recommend that the minister actually advise something specific. Given the effect line, perhaps they are suggesting you send them to teach a class to the insurgents about the benefits of recognizing sovereign debt, or something similar.

OPTION 2: “We must force them to PAY THEIR DEBTS IMMEDIATELY!” roars @@RANDOMNAME@@, your Minister of Defense, "They've chosen to shirk their responsibilities to us and everywhere else and we must force them to pay their debts." Grinning slightly, he says, "Afterwards, Althaniq will always pay its debts."

Much stronger position - excellent. Be aware that you say "we must force them to pay their debts" twice in back to back sentences. While one might presume from the job title of the speaker that they are suggesting military intervention, it would probably be a good idea to replace that repetition with an actual statement along the lines of "...and now it's time to send in the troops."

OPTION 3: “This is actually a wonderful opportunity!” , whispers @@RANDOMNANE@@, your accountant. “We should play along, and once we’ve cajoled the rest of the international community to agree with us that Althaniq is not actually Althaniq we can do the same! Imagine what we can do in Year Zero without that pesky risk of foreign interference!”

I'd be inclined to add a comma after "not actually Althaniq" (though that is admittedly just my preference).

I'd also repeat what I suggested above re: the reference to "Year Zero" (but again, that's just my preference. Others may not think it's necessary!).

Great work on this. The improvement from the original to the current draft is dramatic.

[Hulldom]

Written while interpolating the harmony to Hark, the Herald Angels Sing! in my head, draft 4 is up.

[West Barack and East Obama]

I don't understand the last option. Is it saying that @@NAME@@ is planning on subverting Althaniq?

[Hulldom]

I don't understand the last option. Is it saying that @@NAME@@ is planning on subverting Althaniq?

Not at all.

It’s saying that your nation should play along with Althaniq and agree that their debts are no longer valid so that your nation can/should/will do the same thing.

[West Barack and East Obama]

I don't understand the last option. Is it saying that @@NAME@@ is planning on subverting Althaniq?

Not at all.

It’s saying that your nation should play along with Althaniq and agree that their debts are no longer valid so that your nation can/should/will do the same thing.

Okay, thanks!

[Hulldom]

Giving this one last bump before I submit it on Tuesday.

[Hulldom]

Just want to note that I have re-wrote the first option a little bit to be more distinct from number two. Is there anything I should know before I submit?

[Electrum]

This issue reminds me of the fact that the US only agreed to normalise relations with Vietnam when they promised to repay back South Vietnamese debt.

In my opinion, I don't think a presentation is strong enough. Your country's lost millions of investor's money and the response is to give a presentation? Why not a diplomatic freeze / refusal to trade with the new country? Your call if you want to adjust your issue though, given there's only a few more days to the contest ending.

[Hulldom]

This issue reminds me of the fact that the US only agreed to normalise relations with Vietnam when they promised to repay back South Vietnamese debt.

In my opinion, I don't think a presentation is strong enough. Your country's lost millions of investor's money and the response is to give a presentation? Why not a diplomatic freeze / refusal to trade with the new country? Your call if you want to adjust your issue though, given there's only a few more days to the contest ending.

I did rework the first option, which has been surprisingly pesky. I think there’s enough to differentiate the first and second now (they represent distinct policy choices!), but a second or third(?) opinion would be appreciated.

[Verdant Haven]

There ya go! That's a big improvement on option 1. *Decisive* and *specific* action with firm consequences. Good choice.

On the final option, I might replace the very last words with "foreign debt" instead of "foreign interference," but otherwise I think this is looking pretty reasonable now.

[Hulldom]

And now, now we wait.

[Bears Armed]

Good luck!