The Honourable Kazimir Alexandrov, President of the Confederate Republics
The Kremlin, Moscow
Republic of Russia, Confederate Republics of Eurasia
Monday 4th April 2022, 0900hrs Local Time
Although Russia was only one amongst many within the Eurasian Confederacy, on a firmly equal footing to the other Confederate Republics under the Constitution, the fact remained that it was the largest in terms of area, population and economy. As such, it had not been all that difficult to establish a consensus that Moscow ought to be the Capital of the Confederacy, having grown rapidly over the 20th Century to rival the traditional Russian capital of Saint Petersburg and had replaced it under the Republic. In the end it had been an arrangement that satisfied everyone; Saint Petersburg regained its prestigious position as the Capital of the Russian Republic whilst Moscow retained its prominent position. As a result, the Kremlin, which had become synonymous with the Russian Government, had become a metonym for the Confederate Presidium, the federal executive governing body of the Confederacy led by the President of the Confederate Republics. It was on the Kremlin that the attention of millions was increasingly focused, as the entire Confederacy prepared to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of formation on 9 May. Although more than a month away, the preparations for the anniversary celebrations were already well underway under the superintendence of the Confederate President.
Fortunately, the preparations were in the more than capable hands of Kazimir Alexandrov.
President Alexandrov had been a staple of the Confederate Government since its establishment, including the last four years in his current Office having recently secured re-election. As President of the Russian Republic, building on a stellar career in the Russian Army and largely credited with ensuring that border skirmishes had never escalated into full-blown warfare across Eurasia, prior to Confederation, Alexandrov had been integral in finally bringing to an end a near-century of rivalry and competition between Russia, Persia, and Asiana, as the three great powers of Eurasia folded, at last, into the Eurasian Non-Aligned Movement that had steadily sapped their influence amongst their respective satellite states. It had, therefore, surprised no one that Alexandrov had accepted a position in the first Confederate Presidium, the collective executive body of the Confederacy of which the President was first-amongst-equals with a unique position as being the only individual who was elected by every Confederate Citizen regardless of Republic. Serving on the Presidium as the Secretary for Constitutional Affairs, who was responsible for overseeing and facilitating the constitutional relationship between the Confederate Republics (effectively serving as a mediator between them), Secretary Alexandrov had played a key role in determining and establishing the early interpretations and precedents that would be essential for managing the disparate and diverse Republics that made up the Confederacy.
It had, therefore, been equally unsurprising when, in 2018, Alexandrov had announced his candidacy for President of the Confederacy, and was the instant favourite and was widely seen as a solid and reliable pair of hands to take the Confederacy into its third decade, resulting in his victory by a landslide in two successive elections, most recently in October 2021, starting his second term on New Years Day. Moreover, Alexandrov was the first citizen of one of the ‘big three’, the three Republics that had dominated Eurasia during the Competition Era; Russia, Persia, and Asiana, to be elected to the Confederacy’s highest office. As such, there was some lingering concern in some corners, particularly in Persia and Asiana (as Alexandrov was Russian), that the first such President might seek to restore some of its homeland’s historic power. In this respect Alexandrov was the perfect to allay such concerns, as during his tenure leading the Department for Constitutional Affairs he had been a staunch advocate of the equal status of all the Republics, and had steadfastly resisted any factions that sought to restore the unequal balance of power that had existed for most of the twentieth century.
Throughout his Presidency, Alexandrov had overseen the continued integration of the Confederate Republics, as various opt-outs, opt-ins or transition periods, agreed prior to Confederation Day, came to an end. This built upon the extensive work that then-Secretary Alexandrov had spearheaded during the earliest years of the Confederacy. Indeed, between his Presidency, and more than a decade-and-a-half as the Constitutional Affairs Secretary, few could argue that they had done more to turn the Confederacy from a collection of disparate Republics into a cohesive, if constitutionally complex, whole. It would be more than fair to say that it was Alexandrov that had ensured that the ascendant Confederate Republics of Eurasia had secured itself a position alongside the traditional superpowers; the United States of Columbia and the European Federation. Although by no means as integrated as either of those federal states, the Confederacy had nevertheless come together in a manner that ensured that the whole was greater than the sum of its parts, and a significant amount of credit for that achievement was due to Alexandrov as much as it was to his two predecessors as President.
It was not for naught, therefore, that President Alexandrov was taking the Confederation Day preparations very seriously. In his mind, although the ten-year anniversary had been an important one, it was at the twenty-year mark that the Confederacy started to become a generational institution; there would soon be children born whose parents had never known life before the Confederacy. Moreover, although the sheer size and economic strength of the Confederacy had immediately made it a global player, not merely a regional actor in the way that the ‘big three’ had been on their own, the fact remained that it was untested and perhaps somewhat delicate. For Alexandrov his priority, now that the initial precedent-setting work had been completed, was to continue to build upon the foundations that he had helped lay and to ‘stress-test’ the Confederacy by taking a more unified position on the global stage, as until now the Confederate Republics had been something of a enigmatic new power in international relations. It was, however, firmly within the competency of the Confederate Government to set the Confederacy’s foreign policy, and Alexandrov had decided that the time was right to transition from the inward looking mindset that had dominated the Confederate Government for the past two decades and to start looking outwards.
It was for that reason that, even as the Confederacy itself prepared to celebrate its twentieth ‘birthday’, that Alexandrov had taken particular and personal effort to invite dignitaries from all over the globe, and to encourage them heavily to attend. In addition to the festivities on and around 9 May itself, the President had made clear that he would make himself available to any and all foreign leaders or foreign ministers that might wish a personal, face-to-face, meeting. Considering that the Confederacy had largely kept itself to itself, even as the Confederate Diplomatic Corps had taken over for the individual delegations previously maintained by the individual Republics, it was highly likely that more than a few foreign dignitaries would jump at the opportunity for a sit-down with the President of the world’s newest, and most mysterious, superpower. It would be a logistical challenge to fit such audiences in around the scheduled events, and a diplomatic balancing act to avoid any bruised egos or unnecessary offence, but it could be done, and the potential benefits dramatically outweighed the effort required, as although the Confederacy (and its Republics) had been active on the international trade scene a more proactive trade policy would by no means by a bad thing.
“The Presidium is ready for you, Mister President.”
Alexandrov glanced up from the document he was reviewing, the updated itinerary for the Confederation Day celebrations, and nodded a grateful acknowledgement to his Private Secretary, Daphne Lasker, a smart and accomplished young woman from the Levantine Republic. Leaving the document on his desk, Alexandrov made the short walk from his office on the top floor of the Grand Kremlin Palace, once the primary residence of the Russian Tsar, to the Presidium Room; a large conference room set aside for the sole use of the Presidium, the formal means by which executive power was exercised within the Confederacy. Despite the fact that, officially speaking, the President of the Confederacy was only first-amongst-equals within the Presidium, the men and women gathered around the table stood respectfully as Alexandrov entered the room and took his place at the head of the table. Although not envisioned as such in the Confederate Constitution, the simple fact of the matter was that the President was the [I[only[/I] official elected by every man and women in the Confederacy meant that he commanded a great deal of respect, and exercised significant influence.
“Good morning, everyone,” Alexandrov said warmly, every week started (and ended) with a full meeting of the Presidium on Monday morning and Friday afternoon respectively. “Who wants to kick us off?”
“We’d best start with me, Mister President,” Salman Almasi, Secretary for Constitutional Affairs, replied.
“Oh, that can’t be good news,” Alexandrov grimaced.
“Depends how you look at it, Sir; as we’re all aware it is the intention of this Administration to use the Confederation Day celebrations to open the door for major trade deals between foreign powers and the Confederation itself, rather than the individual Republics, as was the case during the transition period,” Secretary Almasi said with a grimace. “Most constitutional scholars agree that this well within the competency of the Confederate Government, as those of us involved in the Constitutional Convention will likely agree, however a number of Representatives from the Sovereigntists have decided to make a lot of noise that it should be a shared competency.”
Alexandrov’s grimace became a frown as he considered the Constitution, and despite disagreeing he could see where they were coming from. At no point did the Constitution explicitly delegate the negotiation of trade deals to either the Government, the Republics, or as a shared competency; instead most had interpreted the Government’s exclusive competency to manage foreign affairs as being sufficient. Although he had not yet heard the arguments, Alexandrov would assume that argument being made was that the reference to ‘economic policy’ being a shared competency was sufficient, despite precedent (and original intent) dictating that it was the Confederate Senate’s right to ratify all trade deals that was the means by which the competency was shared, rather than individual Republics negotiating individual deals that might undercut or disadvantage their fellows (which was exactly what it had been intended to avoid). As such, it was unlikely to be successful at the Supreme Court of the Confederacy, but it would be publicly embarrassing for the Government to be having to deal with such a case, if they took it to court, whilst trying to close those very trade deals.
Although the traditional left-right political spectrum existed within the Confederacy at the level of the individual Republics, at the confederal level politics had broadly split into two main factions. The Confederalist Party favoured stronger powers for the Confederate Government, within the boundaries of the competencies granted it by the Constitution, in order to leverage the combined strength and resources of all of the Republics for the common good. The Sovereigntist Party, by contrast, whilst still believing in in the Confederacy in principle, believed that the Republics ought to maintain as much sovereignty as was possible, within the boundaries of the Constitution and that the Confederate Government should instead be responsible of co-ordinating the actions of the Republics rather than taking too many actions in its own right. In addition to the two main factions, there was a thriving centre ground for a variety of independent candidates to position themselves, and there was absolutely nothing to stop these Independents from seeking election to the highest office, as the political parties (such as they were) held no official position within the Confederacy, and were instead gatherings of like-minded politicians. Indeed, Alexandrov was officially an Independent (as had been both his predecessors), even if he had Confederalist sympathies, and was largely supported by them.
“Well, considering that I helped to write the Constitution, I am more than happy to try and explain just how wrong they are, so if they want a meeting to discuss their concerns I am more than happy to oblige, but I rather doubt that it’s going to make a difference,” Alexandrov replied with a grimace. “Let’s see if we can’t get some legal opinions out of the courts in the next month, we need to be able to confidently show our international friends that any trade agreements they commit to or suggest are actually going to be possible in the long-term… alright, next?”
“I’ll try and lighten the mood with some happier news, Mister President,” Vitalius Planudes, Secretary for National Development and Infrastructure from the Byzantine Republic said with a wry smile. “I’m very happy to report that we’ve had a breakthrough in the Gauge Debate for the Trans-Eurasia Railroad.”
Alexandrov raised an interested eyebrow and leant forward in his seat. The Trans-Eurasia Railroad had been a follow-on project to the Trans-Eurasia Highway, a highly successful public works program instituted in the earliest days of the Confederacy to link the Confederate Republics together. Where the Trans-Eurasia Highway had been a stunning success, completing a full circuit of the Confederacy and linking into all major regional highways, the Trans-Eurasia Railroad had been dogged by problem after problem, and whilst it technically existed on paper the practicalities were very different. Instead of ushering in a thriving new market, like the Trans-Eurasia Highway had with the Confederate car manufacturing sector, the Railroad, whilst not quite being a laughing stock, was very under appreciated and under-utilised by all. The main issue was the differencing gauges on the railroads between, broadly speaking, the Russian bloc, which used a broad gauge, and the Persian and Byzantine blocs which used the standard gauge, meaning that although one could travel on anywhere within the Railroad network on a single unified ticketing system they would have to change trains, and the issue was even more noticeable for freight transportation, requiring expensive alternatives for north-south trade between the Republics.
Despite literally two decades of discussions and consultations, with a view to agreeing on a common gauge across the Confederacy, the arguments had raged and raged and no decision had been made. If a decision had indeed been made then the breakthrough would be incredibly valuable, and a stunning piece of work on the eve of Confederation Day.
“Well, don’t keep us in suspense, Mister Secretary,” Alexandrov replied dryly. “Which gauge and how did we come to a breakthrough?
“Standard gauge, Sir, although there is considerably more track that will need to be replaced, and in some pretty remote locations, the ability to integrate and connect directly with the European Federation’s standard gauge, and the positive implications for both freight and passenger transport, ultimately won the day,” Secretary Planudes explained. “As for how, well… I must admit, I engaged in a little quid pro qo in order to get this over the line; I have guaranteed that none of the work, at any stage in the production line, involved in changing the gauge over will go outside of the Republics having to pay out for this to happen, using my authority over Confederal infrastructure contracts, and the Republics not having to change gauge will be shouldering the cost of all connections at the borders.”
Alexandrov nodded thoughtfully, although he had not explored the nuanced depths of the debate he had been broadly aware of it, and in even his limited knowledge of the situation adopting a universal gauge that was easier to connect in with neighbouring countries had seemed like the most advantageous. At the same time, he could fully understand why his native Russia, and those from its historic bloc, had been resistant; the replacement of every piece of railroad track in all of the impacted Republics would take time and cost billions and lead to disruption across the rail network in the meantime. It stood to reason that they would have wanted some concessions out of the other two former blocs, and that they want want to ensure that their own economies benefited the most from what was probably the largest infrastructure project in the Confederacy aside from the construction and integration of the Trans-Eurasian Highway. Ultimately, even if the Confederate Department for National Development and Infrastructure had given up the right to choose the most competitive deal, by agreeing to limit their contractors to those in the relevant Republics, the long-term gains of integrating with the European railroad network was considerably higher than any potential losses.
“Excellent work, Vitalius,” Alexandrov nodded appreciatively. “Anyone else, before we get into the Confederation Day update?”
With no one else on the Presidium deciding that their business was more important than the Confederate Day preparations, Alexandrov leant back in his chair with a weary smile.
“Alright then, let’s get on with it shall we… the first round of invitations for a personal meeting have gone out to the United States of Columbia and the European Federation, so we should be hearing form them shortly whether they want to take us on up on the offer… once we’ve heard from them we can start to-“
