The Costapunente Summit, 2017
OverviewThe continent of Vestrim was one of ideological differences, with a long history of colonialism and revolution. There lay anarchists and socialists in Faldarun and Ovandera, right-libertarians in TKae, constitutional monarchists in Evethia and Nadelküste, absolute monarchists in Ardir, religious orders in Attimeka, segregationists in Luixiana and republicans in the Democratic Federation. Getting such an ideological mess to work together seemed almost impossible, but it was something that Emanuela Amatore planned to do. President of the almost-insignificant island nation of Isolaprugna, notable only for its unique economic ideology of Georgism, she wished to bring some order and peace to such a continent.
And thus, she sat there, alone apart from two bodyguards and the Foreign Minister, Velia Sartini, around a large conference table. The building had been commissioned by her father, Milo Amatore, to serve as a conference centre for Isolaprugnan officials to meet with foreign officials, and it sat in the city of Costapunente, Isolaprugna, across from the Assembly of Delegates, her nation's legislature, and the Transparent Assembly, a body of the Isolaprugnan government responsible for monitoring corruption and insuring freedom of information. She had invited heads of state and diplomats from nations across Vestrim to come and meet her there, and discuss regional relations and de-escalate regional tensions, which Amatore considered to have increased.
Looking out the window, she could see a plane touching down at Costapunente Airport. Whether this was a regular commercial flight or foreign officials landing she wasn't sure, but she hoped it was the latter. While tourists were constantly coming to Isolaprugna to enjoy its beaches and cultural scene, fuelling her nation's economy, they were hardly of use to her in this instance when what she really needed was to discuss the region's politics with other leaders.
She hoped holding the conference in Isolaprugna was a good idea; the nation's implementation of ideas from Georgism and market socialism along with its retention of a market-based economy had made it able to be somewhat agreeable to both socialists and capitalists, and that Isolaprugna's refusal to line up entirely with either economic system allowed it to be a neutral location for nations to meet in, as if such a conference had been held in Ovandera, which had just overthrown its monarchy in a syndicalist revolution, or TKae, where the market was so deregulated that the government may not need to exist, there would likely be tensions due to the ideological leanings of the nation.
When she was young, her father had told her that making enemies was hard, but ceasing to be enemies was even harder. Those words resonated sonorously around her head as she prepared herself for the conference. She had put on a plain, smart dress, and put on some formal makeup, which she hoped would be enough to present herself well. But her worryings were interrupted by the doors opening. She turned round, praying to St. Alydian in her head that the conference would turn out alright, and saw delegates arrive from one of the nations of this politically divided continent.