2095: Blood and Iron

[SangMar]

THE NEO-URBAN STATE

I am very, very reluctant to let players split up the US, and especially the Continental US. We have a fairly big world to fill and I don’t want North America to be a sinkhole taking up half a dozen players - that happens in too many PMT roleplays.

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I'm not actually aware of instances where the Dutch phenomenon worked in reverse to a deleterious outcome.

The theory of the Dutch Disease is that the presence of some highly competitive industry - such as resource extraction - crowds out other industries in terms of their access to factors of production, currency exchange, financial markets, etc.

On the most basic level, it happens when an economy finds it more efficient to export a resource and import manufactured goods than to shift investment and labour away from resources into manufacturing.

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Revisions to North Asia’s application noted and accepted.

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-snip-

Both of these concepts would be acceptable in principle.

Tibet would be taking on some hefty challenges. You’ll have to justify how Tibet managed to get China to let go and simultaneously develop themselves, deal with serious regional instability issues, and adapt to the rapidly shrinking Himalayan icecaps at the same time.

The Inuit Confederation sounds to me less difficult but also less interesting.

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Still the Benelux thing... A military invasion of one nation by another, in that region, for that reason, sounds utterly unimaginable unless there are some profound shifts in regional political and diplomatic norms which need to be justified.

If the European player wants the Benelux area, just have the three countries pull out of the European Union alongside France/Germany. That would be a far more realistic way to set this up than a military invasion.

R.I.FUCKING P.

Back to the drawing board.

[G-Tech Corporation]

The theory of the Dutch Disease is that the presence of some highly competitive industry - such as resource extraction - crowds out other industries in terms of their access to factors of production, currency exchange, financial markets, etc.

On the most basic level, it happens when an economy finds it more efficient to export a resource and import manufactured goods than to shift investment and labour away from resources into manufacturing.

Oh yes, I'm aware. I'm just couldn't find any examples of the opposite occurring - where a growth in domestic manufacturing crowded out resource extraction. The factors which predicate Dutch disease and the curse of raw resources don't seem to work in reverse; that is, domestic manufacturing won't offer better salaries to workers than resource extraction, rather it will lap up the leftover educated workers of a growing indigenous population and less-skilled refugees.

It seems that, since the classical change is reversed, the biggest deleterious factor will be time-lag in the growth of domestic industry, rather than outright losses to resource extraction. Instead of extracting and exporting, growing shares will go into domestic industries to feed both export and domestic demands. For certain, though, extraction and export will remain a fair part of the Conglomerate's economic base for the foreseeable future, especially when it comes to freshwater and foodstuffs.

[SangMar]

-Quietly deleting this. I need to think of a nation that’s interesting, or at least, one that I find interesting-

[Sao Nova Europa]

Revisions to North Asia’s application noted and accepted.

Nice.

BTW, for those wanting a precise map of North Asia:

[Bolslania]

RICHARD-KLOSSNER PACT
German (and variants ie. Austrian and Danish)-RICHARD-KLOSSNER-PAKT
French- PACTE RICHARD-KLOSSNER
English(Left over from American influence)- Richard-Klossner Pact

Federation with a Conservative Outlook.

---

(an encyclopedia-style article giving a brief overview of your organization's post-1945 history, politics, territory, economy, demographics, and military/diplomacy; minimum 1,000 words)
In 2025, when most of the issues that plague the modern world began to start rising, The EU held a Consensus to discuss how the EU would handle the new world situation. With America descending into chaos, the EU was left on its own to face Russia and the new world issues. As a collection of small, and unfortunately not well unified states, Germany and France decided that they could no longer support the rest of the European Union as they had been for nearly 30 years. When both nations left the EU, they formed their own Defense Pact, known as the Richard-Klossner Pact. This was functionally a second iteration of the EU, but with only France and Germany participating. Not wanting to be alone without the support of France and Germany, Belgium, Lichtenstein, and Luxembourg decided to join the RKP. With the main administrators of the EU gone, the EU eventually fell apart 25 years later.

Independent of the EU, the RKP(Richard-Klossner Pact) was left to establish its own system. Rather than adopting a whole new economic and governmental system, the RKP adopted the German Social Capitalism and Parliamentary Democracy. Due to the size of the newly formed RKP, Universal Healthcare was abolished, to be replaced with cheap healthcare. In 2035, non-renewable energy was banned, only to leave renewable forms of energy such as solar power, nuclear power, and wind power. the Richard-Klossner Pact has attempted to maintain a global stance, doing its best to maintain trade relations with other nations. Main exports are weapons, civilian and military vehicles, and computer technology.

In the first years, there was a fair amount of debate over who should preside over the newly formed RKP. eventually, Karl Ostenmann from Germany was elected to preside over the RKP for a term of 8 years. However, power plays early on from political machinators led to a state of chaos from 2033 to 2040. During that time there was no Chancellor, some taking power and then being removed a few months later. In 2040 Charles Monroe from France was elected. Liked by many, he ended the reign of political chaos and established a well-functioning, democratic RKP that has endured ever since. Notable features during his Chancellorship are the European Space program which eventually put bases on the moon and in orbit, the Sustainable Food Program, which adopted 3d printed food as a regular concept in farms, this act prevents restaurants and the like from 3d printing their food, only allowing agricultural facilities to do it to maintain the agriculture industry. As well as the Give Back program, which instituted free government housing and government jobs for those in need.

While the Richard-Klossner Pact binds France and Germany, and the Benelux nations together, but France, Germany, and the Benelux nations are allowed to function as mostly independent states, but public issues, such as power, defense, and border control are handled by the RKP government.


In 2050, the remnants of the EU collapsed, and the RKP remained one of the sole powers of Europe. There was a short-lived attempt to annex Poland and Switzerland, but upon those two nations refusing, the RKP decided not to pursue an action of military force.

In 2067, to control population growth, a one child policy was instituted in the RKP, this lowered the population growth in the RKP to 5% increase by 2145. Some thought has been given to instituting an age limit of 65 in the RKP, but this hasn't really left the speculation stage due to its rather amoral nature. This also applies to divorces and remarriages, only one child is allowed per person.


Post 2025, relations with America declined severely, with American president Donald Trump and RKP Chancellor Karl Ostenmann seeing differently on almost every issue. War with America nearly came in 2027 when Trump ordered a flight of American bombers to violate RKP airspace, upon sending fighters to intercept the bombers, the Americans turned around. The RKP issued a formal warning to the United States, saying that the next infraction, the american aircraft wouldn't leave RKP airspace. Ignoring this warning, another flight of bombers was sent over the border, and true to his word, the fighters were shot down by SAM batteries without warning. A Declaration of War was drawn up, but upon a change of president in America, they were never issued.

The RKP has been victim to several terrorist attacks, however, with well-funded outreach and social welfare programs, this attacks are very rare. Because of the rarity of these attacks, the nation has not felt the need to expand its security measures or close its borders to invaders. The security features of the RKP are very comprehensive and efficient, using CCTV cameras, placed in strategic public areas, such as intersections, alleyways, and entrances to large buildings, to monitor the public areas. However, the government leaves private property, only violating private property with a warrant or an emergency situation such as sounds of violence or a fire (and obviously if they receive a call).

Up until 2056, the RKP had fairly open borders, but because of too many immigrants coming in, the parliament voted to all but close the borders, only allowing 2,000 immigrants per year to come in to the RKP. After 20 years of reasonably unrestricted immigration, the demographics of the RKP are as shown:

The ethnic demographics are as shown:
40% Caucasian
20% Hispanic/Latino
20% African/Caribbean
15% Semitic (Middle eastern)
5% Asian

Religion is not very common in the EU, most of the power of religion having faded in the 2030s. Only about 25% of all Europeans are religious. However, some bastions of religion still remain.
The religious demographics are as follows: NOTE THESE PERCENTAGES ARE DERIVED FROM THE RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY, NOT THE POPULATION AS A WHOLE.

50% Protestant
20% Catholic
15% Jewish
10% Muslim
5% Buddhist

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2095: Blood and Iron; an application

[Bolslania]

Edited

[SangMar]

NEW ZEALAND
New Zealand - English
Aotearoa - Maori

A Thinly-Veiled Corporatocracy Masquerading as a One Party State with a Transhumanist Outlook.

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A Brief Overview of the Seafarer Republic

“On paper, New Zealand controls the entirety of their archipelago, and the former Australian states of Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales. However, in practice, only a large urban conurbation - the Auckland-Wellington Metropolitan Area is inhabited. This area, known as the former to some of its older residents, and as “Central” to both younger residents and in legal terminology, extends across much of the North Island, from the Bay of Plenty to the Cook Strait. It’s also home to approximately 9 and a half million people - approximately 99% of the population. The rest of the population that lives outside of the sprawl - some 95,000 people, can be found throughout the South Island - having been drawn there by the promise of getting back to nature and new opportunities. It should also be noted that leaving Central is not illegal according to the national government - which in fact welcomes what it calls ‘pioneers’ reclaiming the territory south of North Island. The national government themselves utilise the South Island - using the land grow crops and livestock - making the most of the small amount of land available there through modern technologies and techniques like vertical farming. In fact, should a person stand at the southernmost tip of North Island, they’ll be able to see the greenhouses where vertical farming takes place - they’re not difficult to spot: I mean, I’m sure the person reading this could quite easily spot a cluster of 40 to 50 towers that stretch for nearly a kilometre into the sky after all...”

-A Guide to New Zealand for Dummies (A. Jackson - 2088)

The Demographics of New Zealand

“As of the official 2090 census, the New Zealand can make the claim that is one of the most culturally diverse states on our planet today. What’s more, we have apparently escaped much of the racial tensions that are currently ravaging Europe and South East Asia. However, we should apply some caution to these statistics - they’re not the entire picture after all; between 95,000-100,000 residents - all of whom live on the South Island, are unable to accounted for. We do not have any information on their ethnic and religious composition.

As for Central (The conurbation between and including Auckland and Wellington, where 9.4 million of our citizens reside), the demographic make-up of the population is as follows. White people of European ancestry make up roughly 61% of the population, followed by the Maori, who are 19% of the population, then, you have Pacific Islanders, who also make up 19% of the population. The remaining 1% are those of mixed origins, and small numbers of other ethnic groups.

In regards to religious observance throughout the nation, it can be noted that the most common response to the corresponding question on the most recent census was ‘no religion’ (72%), followed by ‘Christianity’ (19%), then ‘Islam’ (6%), the remaining 3% are those of other faiths or declined to answer the question.”

-1.8.2092 Briefing on Population Statistics (National Citizenry Office - 2092)

The Armed Forces and Emergency Services of New Zealand

“At the beginning of your twenty four months of mandatory service, it is important that you inform your enlistment office about whether you have any preference as to where you would like to be allocated. This guide aims to give a brief run-down of the various services that you may serve within. However, it should be noted that not all are open to conscripts - and that if you wish to serve with these particular branches, you must voluntarily apply. Any organisation that takes conscripts will have their name in green. While any organisation that doesn’t accept conscripts will have their name in red.

The New Zealand Security Service - This is the main land arm of the Seafarer Republic’s Armed Forces. It is composed of 68,000 active personnel, with 28,000 personnel in the Army Reserve. Approximately 90% of all conscripts will be allocated to this branch, with a significant proportion of those allocated to technical and non-combat roles. A conscript will be placed within a non-combat role unless they volunteer for the infantry (subject to infantry fulfilling its manpower quota) Potential volunteers here should know that the ‘Infantry Training Course’ lasts for exactly 30 weeks - and is exceptionally gruelling. Therefore, if you wish to join the infantry, please attend your local enlistment office upon the successful completion of your medical tests, and request to placed into an infantry fitness intake* - which will bring you up to the required physical standard for a combat unit.

*Volunteers for the Parachute Unit need not apply - you will automatically be placed into the paratrooper’s fitness intake following your request to try out for the unit, and your successful completion of your medical tests.

The Security Reserve - All volunteers are automatically placed here upon giving notice of their service. They remain liable for a return to service should a conflict break out within ten years to the day of departing it.

The Internal Troop Battalions - Upon successful completion of service within the army, a conscript will be moved here. From 23-65, every person within the Internal Troop Battalions will undertake two weeks of training per year. It has a current strength of 1,500,000 trained reservists.

The National Naval Service - This service doesn’t accept conscripts, if you wish to join this branch, you must opt for an extended four year contract upon reaching the age of service. Volunteers will undertake extensive mental and physical testing upon making their request known to their enlistment office. It has approximately 12,500 active personnel and 8,000 personnel within the Naval Reserve.

The National Air Service - The Air Service accepts conscripts for technical and non-combat roles. To be eligible, you must have scored at least 300/500 in your National Education Exam. (NEE) If you wish to serve in a combat role, you must volunteer - opting for an extended 6 year contract upon reaching the age of service. The National Air Service has approximately 19,000 active personnel and 11,000 personnel within the Air Reserve.

Public Safety/Welfare Division - Police Bureau - The only emergency service provider allowed to operate in New Zealand: should you wish to join their police branch, you must inform your local enlistment office, who will remove you from the conscription pool upon being informed that you have successfully attended and graduated from the National Academy of Policing. You must serve a minimum of two years with the PSWDPB, serving as a probationary officer. The PSWDPB currently has roughly 55,000 officers - across 349 stations throughout the state - both on the mainland and in eastern Australia. To be eligible to join them in lieu of military service, you must have passed your National Education Exam with a score of 275/500. Furthermore, the PSWDPB has 30,000 civilian employees - a conscript may request to join this service - should they do so, they will be either employed by the CCTV Department, the Biometric Scanning Department or the Fingerprinting Department.

Public Safety/Welfare Division - Fire Prevention - The PSWDFP are tasked with suppressing fires and dealing with various manner of both man-made and natural disasters. Across the state, there are approximately 14,500 firefighters - with 14,000 being located in Central, and the remaining 500 being dispersed throughout South Island. They often utilise firefighting robots in addition to human manpower. As of 2091, there were 296 fire stations throughout New Zealand: with 260 in Central and 16 on the South Island - with a further 20 across the Australian territory camps. No one can be conscripted into the PSWDFP - instead, they must join it voluntarily. Once you are noted as having completed training at the National Institute of Fire Safety, you will be removed from the conscription pool. To apply, you must have passed your NEE a score of 275/500.

The Mountain Rescue Bureau - Responsible for rescuing those who have become trapped within our nation’s many picturesque mountains, the MRB does accept conscripts. No educational requirements are mandated - but a conscript who requests to join the organisation will have to pass a two-week aptitude test at Mount Cook before they can progress onto further training within the organisation. Approximately 85% of all MRB members are conscripts too - so you’ll be in good company. After successful completion of your training, you will be posted to one of 5 teams located throughout the state for the duration of your service. There are 1,500 certified MRB members as of 2091.

The Seafarer Agency for Nautical Safety - The national lifeguarding agency, the SANS operates out of 79 boat-houses, which are scattered throughout the nation. Conscripts are accepted here too - but upon requesting to join, a prospective candidate must present evidence of credible swimming ability - this will be tested at the National Aquatic Centre (Map found on back) in Auckland. As of 2091, 1,200 SANS officers are currently deployed across the nation, providing protection to beach-goers, sailors and anyone else who may come into our waters.

Expeditionary Agency - In partnership with Future Outcomes! The EA are deployed across the globe to assist in the training of foreign armies and forces friendly to the state. As of 2091, Future Outcomes reports that the unit has approximately 5,000 personnel - who are divided into 5 divisions. If you would like to know more - please contact your local Future Outcomes store. It should be noted however, that the doesn’t take conscripts - being a private entity after, and all volunteers must sign a contract whose minimum terms are decided by Future Outcomes directly, and not the New Zealand Military.”

-‘What do I do now?’ A Conscripts’ Guide to the New Zealander Public Services (National Office for Manpower Allocation - 2093)

The Government of New Zealand

“Okay... my official title is Prime Minister Thomas Davies of New Zealand. We all know that, and so does - uh - everyone else in Central... they accept that this country will never change its ruling party but only as long as we can give them a better standard of living than their immediate neighbours... Okay, understand that much? Now, I am not an absolute ruler - um - I do have like some sort of checks and balances... that is the... God, what are they called again? The National Parliament? Yeah. So essentially, there’s - um - 165 of those guys - they vote upon petitions that the populace can - uh - send into them. Of course, those petitions cannot relate to the military, our energy systems or... um... our economics. And don’t even start on environmental ones - they might get to the floor of the Council from time to time, but one word from me nixes that real quick...

Hang on... is that door closed? Yes? Good. I trust you Frank, more so than any of the other cretins in Central - you’ve been a good pick for me - making sure this office runs smoothly over the past year. So I’m going to - uh - let you in on a secret. I know you won’t tell... I trust you. That secret is that for the last six decades, the Seafarer Republic - and New Zealand before it... haven’t been a one party state. Now... you might think - um - that that’s ridiculous... how could that happen, right? But the truth is, do you remember covering the Great Crash of 2039 in school? And how... Cerberus Corporation folded in the immediate aftermath? You know - um - that big multinational cybernetics company headquartered in Wellington? Well, due to the - uh - dire circumstances of the time... they - uh - agreed to secretly bailout the New Zealand government, and assume control of the... - um - country under the cover of like a state of emergency. That explains the - uh - lack of elections since then.

What I’m really trying to - uh - say is, that my real title is... Chief Executive Officer Thomas Davies, And now - uh - Cerberus Corporation runs this country. Think about it - everything is - uh - so streamlined now. Cybernetics - and our sales - are driven through the roof by the education system which extols their usefulness... when honestly, it’s true... yeah, but really... it’s also a big way for us to make lots of money... and keep the - um - board happy. They’re the - uh - true power in this country... not the Council... those guys are aware too... - uh - they’re actually lower ranking Corporation members. I guess the - uh - reason why we don’t just tell people about this is that - um - people are inherently... like, distrustful of corporations and business, you know? Like... they can - uh - accept a one party state if it... like tries to give them good lives, you know? Whereas they won’t - uh - accept a corporation openly running all aspects of their country... especially one which - um - is in the business of upgrading humanity... and like, turning people away from the - uh - natural way they’re born, you know?”

-An Audio Recording Made by ‘Frank’ - An Undercover Journalist Working for Radio Free Asia. Currently suppressed in the Seafarer Republic. (2094)

A History of New Zealand (2019-2095)

“To explore the history behind the current incarnation of New Zealand, we must first go back a few years - to the 1st of June 2019. It was on this date that the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand first registered the “Cerberus Industries” trademark. This eponymous company, started by a mid-twenties college graduate named John Fraser initially started out small - selling small scale robotics and prosthetics while also carrying research into cybernetics. In mid-2020, scarcely a year after being founded, the company successfully appeared on the business show ‘Eagles Nest’ - and found investors who were willing to give John Fraser $300,000 in return for a 20% stake in the company. The move brought financial stability to Cerberus Industries, who responded by debuting their first cybernetic implant the following year - which allowed paraplegics the ability to walk unaided for short distances.

Successes followed, and by 2023, Cerberus Industries had won a NZD $90,000,000 contract to provide similar devices to the New Zealander and Australian militaries - chiefly for active and former troop rehabilitation. It’s estimated that within two years, Cerberus Industries provided 3,500 implants, and 1,000 prosthetic limbs to the two militaries. A year later, Cerberus Industries rebranded to Cerberus Corporation - which coincided with the opening of their European office - in Dublin, and their American office - in Miami. That same year, the corporation made onto the FTSE 100 rankings - at 92, respectively, and was first listed on Wall Street. By now, it was clear - Cerberus Corporation was one of the top companies throughout the Asia-Pacific region in the field of ‘human enhancement’. It should be noted that at this point, the advanced cybernetics and robotic implements that the Corporation are known for today were just a pipe dream in 2024: another case of current technology not yet matching up with ideals. By 2028, however - that pipe dream was slowly starting to become a reality. Cerberus Corporation was now one of New Zealand’s largest private employers - employing 17,000 staff - from executives to engineers. Accordingly, the ruling National Party government saw fit to invest in the company themselves - using increasingly shady tactics in order to ensure smooth sailing for it. In short, the New Zealand tax authorities worked in tandem with company accountants to cook the books, all the while pretending that everything was above board. In return, John Fraser himself guaranteed that no operation of the Corporation currently operating in New Zealand would move out of it - ever. There was further good news for him that year too, company researchers had made a major discovery that related to the field of cybernetics - their finding - a new, ultra-thin and ultra-strong alloy, which was soon named “Fraserium” - came be used to create light-weight, mobile exoskeletons and numerous other bodily enhancements, up until the 2060s. (When it was replaced by Fraserite - a derivative of the original material)

This discovery only boosted the company further - which was a relief to both shareholders and the New Zealand government. As privately, they’d been expressing concerns prior to it: as the company’s expansion into new markets had slumped, with stock prizes falling by 10% from Jun-Nov 2028. Fraserium changed all of that. Fortunes were so good, in fact, that the New Zealand government readily accepted when Cerberus Corporation discretely approached them with an unheard of offer. They offered to buy government debt - on the understanding that it would be paid back. Now, this was nothing new - after all, it happened with banks several times over the decades - most notably in 2008 during the financial crash of that year. But a private company not in the banking world? That was unheard of. Apparently however, it worked quite well - at least all the way up until 2039 - when a mass crash decimated economies throughout Australasia. Still, in 2028, such an idea was thought to have few drawbacks, with any dissenting voices being swiftly ignored. 2030 was a big year for Cerberus Corporation too - that was the year that they broke into the top 50 of the FTSE 100. Furthermore, they recorded a profit of over $10 billion (USD) that year - for the first time in their history. They also opened an Asian office - in the Shibuya ward of Tokyo.

In keeping with the company’s modern image, John Fraser decided to expand the company’s remit - venturing into the private security industry during the latter half of 2031. The Cerberus Enforcement Agency - the precursor to the PSWDNEA - being formed officially during that time. Cerberus Corporation was now in the business of “playing mercenary” - sending off distinguished operators - and later recruits trained in-house on deployments for the wealthiest of clients. From VIP protection, to suppressing rioting minorities in China, nothing was too difficult - but only if the money arrived on time, and in large quantities. New Zealand Police, in fact, would work with the Cerberus Enforcement Agency’s RIOT teams during the “Go Green!” Protests of 2034 - a mass student movement that aimed to push the government more quickly towards renewable energy and sustainable living - due to their combined efforts, the movement would be suppressed - and for nearly a decade longer, climate concerns would continue to go ignored. Even despite growing evidence that that shouldn’t be the case.

The first truly advanced cybernetic limbs developed by Cerberus Corporation was unveiled in 2036: to much fanfare by tech and robotics insiders - the arm-hand and leg combo were made from fraserium - naturally. The cybernetic arm in particular raised eyebrows - especially when a man fitted with one demonstrated its incredible strength by easily curling a 125 pound dumbbell during a live demonstration. The leg was notable too - as like the arm-hand, it made use of pioneering neural technology that allowed a wearer to completely control the appendage, and to perform a virtually infinite number of complex motor movements.

By 2039, and the Cerberus Corporation was continuing to buy the New Zealand Government’s debt - safe in the knowledge that it would be paid back - either through contracts or eventually, cash. This system came crashing down over the summer of 2039 - when, in response to the Australasian Recession - which in itself was a response to the severe slump in the economy of the United States - the Reserve Bank of New Zealand announced that the nation could no longer pay off its debt - only mentioning the public, and far less controversial aspects of that during their statement. Accordingly, the nation defaulted - both on that debt and the debt bought by Cerberus Corporation. Cerberus Corporation’s debt however, was a far larger total than the former - which led the CEO of Cerberus Corporation - John Fraser himself, to offer a deal to the New Zealand Government. In return for not ruining the country’s economy by calling for repayment of their side of the debt and thus driving it into the ground, Cerberus Corporation would agree to write off the debt that they had taken - in return for a confidential agreement; the company would take over the running of the nation - with the current government remaining in place for a year as figureheads. After that, a state of emergency would be declared - provoked by the “climate emergency” facing the country - which is when an “emergency government” - composed of mid-ranking members of Cerberus Corporation - and taking orders directly from the CEO would take over.

With little choice, the New Zealand Government agreed. Thus, on the 3rd of August 2040, a year after the economic crisis plaguing the state was “resolved”, Cerberus Corporation secretly assumed the running of the nation. However, before they could do anything significant, one large sacrifice had to be made - Cerberus Corporation itself - it declared bankruptcy and was “bought” by “Future Outcomes” - a shell-company created by the Corporation in order to provide some distance between the company and the state’s new government - should anyone attempt to enquire. To this day in fact, “Future Outcomes” is still the official face of Cerberus Corporation, the former’s name being used to continue research into cybernetics and robotics, as well as to sell them and other services to wealthy clients: while the latter no longer exists, “officially” at least.

Now in charge, New Zealand’s new rulers begin to run everything in the best way they knew how - by keeping shareholders happy - and how did they do that? By making money. They decommissioned any older power stations that ran on non-renewable energy: reasoning that importing these resources not only cost too much, but with renewable energy now being far cheaper per KWh than their non-renewable alternatives, they felt it was the smartest thing to do. Thankfully for them - by the 2040s advances in renewable energy allowed the percentage of energy provided by non-renewable sources to be far lower than what it could’ve: which meant that putting more renewable energy sources online to replace it wasn’t nearly as big of a problem as they’d envisaged. However, now that they’d looked into it - they discovered a problem that was just as bad as they’d envisaged. Perhaps worse....

Sea levels.

For over a decade by 2041, rising sea levels had been swallowing the islands and atolls surrounding New Zealand - the people on them were in desperate need of help. Though initially, Cerberus’ decision-makers turned a blind-eye, even as waves of refugee boats began to land at Hawkes’ Bay - on New Zealand’s North Island. Months passed, and after numerous attempts at dissuasion, senior executives were swayed by a large donation of cash from a wealthy Samoan-New Zealander businessman - who believed he was helping his political party ride out the state of emergency, having no idea that they had ceased to control the government exactly one year earlier. Now swayed by this cash, the CEO himself authorised a mass evacuation - by air and sea. Within 6 months, a hundred thousand Samoans, Fijians, Tokelauans, Nauruans, Tongans and other islanders had been moved to safety in New Zealand - and were now housed at holding camps on South Island. Soon though, they wouldn’t be on South Island anymore - no one would.

The Conurbation Plan - devised by the CEO’s office, and implemented by researchers working for the Corporation was put into action in late 2044. The first phase, was a mass re-forestation campaign within areas of the North Island that were not going to be included within the boundaries of the conurbation: it would later be extended to the South Island by the time of the completion of the Conurbation Plan - in 2053.

For starters, however - the plan involved consolidating New Zealand’s population onto North Island. They would be housed in new ultra-density highrises called mega-towers. A mega-tower is a large residential block, which is exactly one kilometre in height. A single one could hold up to 750 residents at one time - with transportation from the upper floors of one to elsewhere within the city being provided by the Sky-Train service. (Miniaturised mag-lev trains, which are about the size of an early 21st century family car) Other than that, the towers were soulless - crammed with gaudy neon advertising on every external surface that wasn’t a window - in essence, a consumerist’s dream - with the lines of Sky-Train track that criss-cross from one mega-tower to the other only adding to their dystopian feel. These towers would be built slowly at first, with much of Auckland-Wellington’s existing low-density housing having to be bought out by compulsory acquisition by the Corporation. Still, it didn’t matter - a new warning campaign, stating that the purchases and removal of people from the South Island was due to climate change, and a risk of South Island being flooded quickly headed off the biggest doubters. Soon, the most persistent resistors of compulsory purchase around Auckland and Wellington began to be named and shamed in national newspapers - by now, a slow but definite slide into authoritarianism was coming - and no one cared enough or was loud enough to stop it.

Nearly a decade later, and the Conurbation Plan was declared completed: much of North Island had been transformed, with thousands of brightly lit mega-towers now coming to dot the night skyline. At that time, a climate warning was still in place for South Island, so it was still illegal for anyone to live there at that time - accordingly, anyone found there by the army was quickly brought back to Central, and fitted with a waterproof, durable electronic tag to prevent them from leaving Central’s limits again. South Island however, was open to those with a permit - namely military personnel on exercise, active mountain rescue members, agricultural workers - who were encouraged to continue growing food on the land, while also trained to use Corporation-developed robotics to make farming easier and those with a hiking/adventure holiday permit.

Now that the population were centralised in one place, the Government could implement their new surveillance programmes too - all of it done secretly, with only high-ranking Corporation employees and the Commissioner of the PSWDPB knowing the full extent of the project. First, the Corporation began with Project “ARCTIC” - which installed 450,000 ultra high-definition CCTV cameras throughout Central, in effect, if one had the means to view these cameras, they could get a 360 degree view of every street within Central in real time. This took two years, and led to Project “ORION” being implemented once the former was completed. “ORION” was a more ambitious project, which required the unwitting acceptance of it by the entire population. Which, naturally, was achieved by deceit - under the guise of “fire safety” - the PSWDFP installed over 25,000 discrete whole-body biometric scanners in various areas of Central - entrances to mega-towers, shopping centres, hospitals, schools and the like. Then, any information gathered on a person who went through them was sent to the PSWDPB - which was then linked in with the results of the national census. Therefore, in this way, within eight years, Cerberus Corporation had built a mass surveillance state - with the vast majority ot the nation’s residents being none the wiser. Although, it had to be said that much of the populace did notice one difference - the PSWDPB, ambulances and PSWDFP arrived to crimes, fires and other accidents much more quickly than even just a few years prior. To members of the public, for some unknown reason, it was almost like they didn’t even need to call them for the aforementioned services to show up...

2062 was a huge year for the Corporation - and the nation too: the former decided on sole military action for the time - they judged it as good a time as either. After all, it was like the US could stop them, not with their domestic issues, and China wouldn’t stop them because of amongst many things, chiefly, the geographical distance between the two nations. Therefore, in early 2062, New Zealand - aided by Future Outcomes and their Expeditionary Agency, invaded Eastern Australia; in a manner similar to Putin’s invasion of Crimea, some fifty years earlier. After brief skirmishes - the Australian Defence Force - weakened by increasing lack of investment and having to also maintain peace in an Australia wracked by climate change, withdrew to the East, with the Australian Government suing for peace within six months. It was then during the resultant peace talks that the New Zealand Government told them why they’d invaded. It was simple - to forcibly distribute aid to the populace within the East, who were reeling from the increased desertification of their homeland. It was a lie of course - Cerberus Corporation wanted Australia’s territory to mine for resources, so that they could continue to maintain their hold on the Asian cybernetics and robotics markets. Still, however skeptical, the Australian Government couldn’t risk another conflict, and thus accepted a peace deal: New Zealand would acquire the Northern Territory, Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales from Australia - which would be managed by Future Outcomes - who would provide services and security to the people living there.

The residents of Eastern Australia soon found themselves moved into vast high-rise camps - which were modern, spacious and had lots of desalinated water to drink. But that was it - aside from mining for resources, that was their life now. Still, most didn’t mind - they were still had a better standard of living than Australians within the west of the country. Within two years, a quarter of a million Australians, all of whom were judged to be educationally, musically or physically “excellent” were granted New Zealand residency permits, and moved into Central after spending a further three years in the holding camps, while waiting for their own mega-towers to be built in the former. Every year since 2065 accordingly, the Corporation has done something similar at the camps in Australia - they permit, by lottery, 15,000 residents to move across the Tasman Sea and start new lives in New Zealand. However, unlike the residents of Central, these residents were allowed to reside on South Island from 2072 onwards - approximately 90,000 of the Australians resettled in the country have chosen that option, and make up the vast majority of people on South Island today (2094). Altogether, 450,000 Australians have been settled by lottery in New Zealand over the past three decades - with over 80% relocating to Central.

In last two decades since 2072, Cerberus Corporation has continued to invest in cybernetics and robotics discretely through Future Outcomes also - with their ‘human enhancement’ programme reportedly having allowed the vast majority of New Zealand’s populace to be augmented in way or another. John Fraser himself, at the ripe old age of 102 is rumoured to gained the ultimate enhancement - immortality - having swapped out his human organs for cybernetically enhanced variants which are replenished constantly via nanobot. Still, it doesn’t cease to amaze me how consumerist a population can become if a government (or a corporation pretending to be one) conditions them to be so - they willingly have altered themselves en masse, and are in the process of further shedding their humanity as I write.

One thing’s for certain though - as 2095 approaches, how will New Zealand’s Corporatocracy cope with a resurgent United States and an ever powerful China now one again in their midst? Can Future Outcomes - the shell company, survive still on the world-stage, or will the old enemy of corrupt business - powerful, progressive nations, finally bring it - and Cerberus Corporation down?

I can only wonder...”

An excerpt from “A Brief History of Modern New Zealand” - written anonymously and published by Radio Free Asia (2094).

---

2095: Blood and Iron; an application

WIP

[Plzen]

RICHARD-KLOSSNER PACT

Accepted.

---

R.I.FUCKING P.

Back to the drawing board.

In my defence, the original post does very clearly imply that the United States as a superpower (albeit no longer the superpower) is still very much a thing.

[New yugoslavaia]

So, what about the IC?

[Plzen]

So, what about the IC?

Need a China application, at least. Can't exactly have a post-modern nation RP without the world's dominant superpower.

[New yugoslavaia]

So, what about the IC?

Need a China application, at least. Can't exactly have a post-modern nation RP without the world's dominant superpower.

If you say so...


(eventually)

[Sao Nova Europa]

I'm surprised no one wants to app as a superpower. Of course if no one joins as China or US, you could make North Asia the superpower.

[Kenobot]

Abandoning the Russian idea because the history is getting ridiculously long and somewhat repetitive. The premise is a little too complicated and far in the future for me to make a history I'd be happy with for any app unfortunately

[New yugoslavaia]

OP, what nation are you playing? The US?

[Plzen]

OP, what nation are you playing? The US?

I'd prefer not to take a nation at all, and instead spend my efforts designing interesting events/crises/conferences and otherwise doing the things a DM needs to be doing.

[Sao Nova Europa]

Since Russia is abandoned, do you mind if I change my app to include European Russia?

[Plzen]

Since Russia is abandoned, do you mind if I change my app to include European Russia?

err, sure. Go ahead.

[Sao Nova Europa]

RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Российская Федерация - Rossiyskaya Federatsiya

Federal Presidential Constitutional Republic with a Conservative Outlook.

---

Russia has a history stretching back to 8th century AD. Yet the history of modern Russia can be traced to 2021. Vladimir Putin had managed to shore up the Belarus regime, but in return his country had been met with crippling EU and US sanctions. This, combined with low oil prices, the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and years of dissatisfaction with economic stagnation, corruption and repression, led to the 2022 protests. At first, the Putin regime attempted to handle them through simple police brutality but as things began getting out of hand with ever more popular demonstrations, Putin finally decided to go for the nuclear option and have the military restore order.

It seemed as order was to be restored, but Putin's death on 7 August 2022 by a sudden heart attack, just two days after he had ordered military operations against the protestors, meant that there was a sudden lack of leadership. Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin recalled the military and reached out to protesters, making promises of a new start. While protests continued, Dmitry Medvedev, leader of United Russia and Putin's long-time associate, assumed the Presidency in late September (in a constitutionally disputable move). Being more liberal than his predecessor and finally free from Putin's shadow, he announced a series of reforms in a public address: liberalization of the economy, anti-corruption campaign and putting an end to Russia's isolation.

Most of the protests began to dwindle in numbers. The ones that remained were dealt by with the police. From 2022 to 2031, Medvedev launched the 'Liberalization Reforms'. He changed the name of his party from United Russia to Liberal Party. He established an anti-corruption campaign to put an end to oligarchic interests in public administration and liberalized the economy with privatizations, tax cuts and deregulation. Despite his initial authoritarianism, he gradually began allowing freedom of speech and the creation of genuine opposition political groups. Despite popular opposition from both the left and the right, he re-approached the West, abandoned Belarus and settled the Crimea dispute through compensations for Ukraine. While those moves were unpopular at first, the end of sanctions and subsequent better living standards ensured high popularity for this pro-Western turn.

In 2031, when he stepped down, Russia was less corrupt, more market-friendly and had a pro-Western orientation for perhaps the first time since Peter the Great. That same year, a new constitution was approved, aiming at furthering those liberal reforms. The new constitution guaranteed civil and economic rights, and set checks and balances to prevent accumulation of power by the central government. The 60 Federal States are given broad autonomy on healthcare, education, regulations and cultural affairs, and a somewhat limited (but still significant) autonomy on fiscal issues and taxation as well. The federal government is confined to fiscal, monetary, foreign and defensive affairs. The executive part is led by a President, elected for a five-years term and restricted to two terms. The legislative part is comprised of an upper house (Federation Council) of three Representatives for every state and a lower house (State Duma) with 450 MPs elected across the country in singe-constituency seats with a First-Past-the-Post system.

Making use of West Siberia's extensive oil and coal reserves, Russia was able to finance infrastructure spending to better connect the provinces of the country and to shorten the distance of traveling. As the oil and coal reserves of West Siberia dwindled due to overuse in the later part of the century, however, the governments of Russia began a long-term transition towards moving to nuclear energy. Ironically enough, those "fourth-generation" nuclear power plants were largely financed from profits by the oil and coal industries. By 2081, this transition had mostly been completed, and it was thus no surprise that Russia signed the Seoul Agreement of 2089.

Climate change and rising temperatures had a somewhat positive side-effect in Russia. Although the ice in the northernmost, arctic regions of the country melted, rising temperatures also opened up new farmlands in the region, allowing greater agricultural cultivation than any other time in Siberia's history, helping with the food supply. Many of the farmlands in Siberia are subsidized by the state governments, a move criticized by fiscal conservatives but widely popular among the farming electoral block.

On the other hand, climate change also had the negative effect of extreme wildfires, especially during summers, in Siberia's many forests. Those fires would rage with great ferocity and speed, making it difficult for the authorities to control. In order to deal with the wildfire crises, fire stations outposts were constructed across the country in strategic checkpoints and many vehicles and aircraft were acquired. Indeed, Russia has a large fire department than a police force and spends nearly 1.4% of its GDP on preventing fires. While this has allowed the authorities to limit somewhat the destructiveness of the fires, they are still a problem.

Bio-engineering in Russia is mostly used for medical reasons and provided by the public and private healthcare sector. This is largely due to the population's conservatism with regards to transhumanism. Nevertheless, as stated, the technology is widely accepted when it comes to healthcare and while it is regulated by the state governments, it is recognized as a medical necessity.

Politically, Russia has been dominated by two parties; the center-right Liberal Party and the center-left Progressive Alliance, which was formed by the coalescence of all left of center opponents of the Liberals. The Liberals are mostly supported by businessmen (both upper class tycoons and middle-class business owners), the military (soldiers and officers) and academics. Progressives are mostly supported by civil servants, farmers (especially those subsidized by the state governments) and ethnic minorities. Liberals tend to support fiscal conservatism, social moderation, and an internationalist foreign policy. Progressives tend to support fiscally third-way policies, socially progressives ones and also largely agree on the need to follow an internationalist foreign policy. As both major parties tend to be on the center of the political spectrum, there is broad agreement on the need to respect liberal democratic norms domestically and international law and agreements externally.

Russia has an army of 750,000 active personnel and an arsenal of 6,800 nuclear warheads. Despite this substantial military force, that guarantees the independence of the country, Russia for the most part has pursued a conservative, liberal-oriented foreign policy. It has signed environmental treaties (such as the one of Seoul in 2089), agreed to take in 250,000 refugees and has been an advocate of world peace and talks between China and the US.

Sergey Yakushev (2031 - 2041), a Liberal, was the first President to be elected in free and fair elections. He continued Medvedev's policies of economic liberalism, but on foreign policy he made overtures towards China, seeking Chinese investments in Siberia. His successor, Georgy Antonovich (2041 - 2051), also a Liberal, created the Federal Energy Fund, financed by the profits from the oil and coal industry. On international affairs, he abandoned both Medvedev's pro-Western policy and Yakushev's outreach to China in favor for a neutral foreign policy and trying to act as a mediator between the two great powers.

Kiryanov Borisovich (2051 - 2061), a Progressive politician, also served two terms. He became the first non-liberal to win office in Russia, confirming the transition towards liberal democracy. He used the Federal Energy Fund to finance large-scale infrastructure projects, including high-speed railways, new airports and more paved roads to better connect the states of the federation. He also agreed to take in 250,000 refugees from Africa, although critics pointed out that most of the refugees were educated middle class Africans rather than poor people. Sultanov David Danilovich (2061 - 2066) was another Progressive president, but he won only a single term. He continued funding infrastructure projects but he also began moving towards nuclear energy.

This was a policy followed by his successor, the Liberal Sherkov Nil Aleskeevich (2066 - 2076). Sherkov had two priorities; using the profits from the oil and coal industry to finance a transition to nuclear energy and modernizing the Russian military with purchases of weapons from both China and the US, as he tried to safeguard Russia's traditional neutrality. On both counts, he was widely successful; Russia began mass construction of fourth generation nuclear plants while his 'arms diplomacy' both enhanced Russia's military capabilities and deepened ties with both China and the US. Vikhrov Iosif Yevgenievich (2076 - 2086) was a Liberal, who followed Sherkov's agenda for the most part; he continued constructing nuclear power plants and launched the 'Fire Protection Initiative', constructing fire station outposts all over the country and dramatically increasing spending to counter catastrophic fires. On international affairs, he tried to foster talks between China and the US but had little success.

Faddei Vadimovich (2086 - 2091), a Progressive, came to office with an agenda of increased welfare spending. With his Healthcare Reform Act, he increased the federal funds directed towards state-run healthcare systems, allowing most federal states to expand their health services. He also became a prominent environmental figure. He signed the agreement of Seoul to ban use of coal in 2089, launched a number of reforestation efforts to deal with trees burned by wildfires and zoned off large parts of Siberia as 'natural protected zones'. He also tried to increase financial aid towards desertified regions, but the legislature (controlled by the Liberals after the 2089 legislative elections) blocked this initiative.

Lavrenti Valeryevich (2091 - present) is a Progressive. He was elected after Faddei decided not to seek a second term due to health problems. In his late forties, he is a relatively young politician who has the profile of a moderate reformist. He is seen as a consensus-seeker who is willing to work with moderates on both sides of the aisle. He thus lowered the federal income tax but also legislated increased funding on wildlife preservation and nominated the first Afro-Asian minister, Jonathan Larionovich, a thirty-five years old economist. Internationally, he has renewed efforts for arms control and peaceful resolution of disagreements and has signaled his will for Russia to take in more refugees.

Russia has a population of 161,500,000. The population is divided between Russians (who constitute a clear majority), various Turkic ethnic groups (such as Tatars, Yakuts and Buryats), and about 500,000 Afro-Asians, descendants of refugees that Russia accepted from African nations. Russia is also the largest country on earth, with an area of approximately 17,125,200 square kilometres (6,612,100 sq mi), spanning more than one-eighth of the Earth's inhabited land area.

---

2095: Blood and Iron; an application

[Arvenia]

I might join this RP as a radical environmentalist state.

[Bolslania]

So we've got a fair selection of 2nd tier powers, but no one took China or America?

[Plzen]

So we've got a fair selection of 2nd tier powers, but no one took China or America?

That is indeed exactly my concern. I'm going to try and wait it out still, but if we ever get to a point where we already have one superpower but nobody seems interested in the other one, I'll take the other one.

[New yugoslavaia]

So we've got a fair selection of 2nd tier powers, but no one took China or America?

That is indeed exactly my concern. I'm going to try and wait it out still, but if we ever get to a point where we already have one superpower but nobody seems interested in the other one, I'll take the other one.

I could try and take either, but I'll need to be careful as both are major players and have quite a bit of backstory to consider.

[SangMar]

So we've got a fair selection of 2nd tier powers, but no one took China or America?

That is indeed exactly my concern. I'm going to try and wait it out still, but if we ever get to a point where we already have one superpower but nobody seems interested in the other one, I'll take the other one.

Would it be feasible to create a successor state to the US as an application? Obviously, it would control all of the territories of the US, be suffering from the issues outlined in the OP, and be the clear number 2 in global economic, cultural and military power. But, if I were to put in an application - could I make that happen? Or does it have to be the United States exactly?

[Plzen]

Would it be feasible to create a successor state to the US as an application? Obviously, it would control all of the territories of the US, be suffering from the issues outlined in the OP, and be the clear number 2 in global economic, cultural and military power. But, if I were to put in an application - could I make that happen? Or does it have to be the United States exactly?

It needs to control the Continental 48 states and it needs to be a clear global superpower. Everything else - regime, culture, demographics - can have changed as much as you think is plausible by 2095.

[Arvenia]

Is Cascadia possible?