Mission Statement
The Oceanic Security Council was founded in recent 2014 as a replacement for the Oceanic Defense Coalition. ODECON was a force for neoliberal security in the early 21st Century, but the eventual collapse of the Coalition created a power vacuum in the Seas, exploited by a spike in black activity. King Isandros of Thebes created the OSC several years later as a stopgap reinvention of ODECON, for the purpose of a liberal alliance under pragmatic terms, one which would not repeat the former’s fatal mistakes. In its charter, the League gives itself wide latitude for military intervention, and the rhetoric of the preamble supplies lethal force in the ultimate place of argument for human rights. The rights of borders, sovereignty, nationalism et al. rank only second to the universal entitlements of dignity and self-defense. The OSC is an absolute collective defense pact, with the pure and immediate goal of guaranteeing security by collective action. The Council serves the need left by ODECON and protects the safety of the seas through multilateral agreement. The OSC is a major deterrent to aggression against any of its members and a powerful force for maritime security across the world.
This alliance is open to any nation that IC will adhere to the provisions of the founding charter. It is a successor to ODECON, created by a former signatory. The OSC reiterates a commitment to protecting liberal values internationally, but in a modified form. Economic and cultural unity is not a program of the OSC; social and market integration is the purview of bilateral agreement. The OSC evades the previous vices of ODECON by using a simpler and more honest thesis of sheer military alliance. The ideological basis of the alliance is also changed. Self-defense is the fundamental justification for the alliance and all its actions, replacing the failed attempt to use liberalism itself as a type of ideological justification. Compared to ODECON, the OSC’s founding charter also gives the Council wider latitude to take military action in defense of vital interests. Given the global rise of extremism and political instability, this change is necessary to prevent a kind of diplomatic paralysis which weakened the efficacy of ODECON.
The OSC has no headquarters or independent institutional existence. However, provisions exist for the creation of Council-designated offices and assets proper.Charter of the Oceanic Security Council
Preamble
This Oceanic Security Council is a commitment by the member states to protect one another and to deny completely to any hostile actor the use of the land, the sea, or the air. On the basis of the combined military strength of the Parties, these articles of mutual security are enforced in full as a guarantee to the sovereign existence of each and every member.
Articles of Defense
Article I
Any act of aggression against a member of this Oceanic Security Council shall constitute an attack upon every of its members. Any member who is attacked shall be able to invoke this Article to require the assistance of all other Parties. An act of aggression shall NOT exist when the member is assailed in the course of a military operation beyond their own sovereign territory.
Article II
There shall be no limitation which stands as a prevention to the use of force to protect the sovereignty of a member of the OSC. This Oceanic Security Council recognizes no other nor higher international authorities.
Article III
The principle of Article II shall be taken to mean that aggression is not answered until the aggressor is finished as an aggressor, without further powers of aggression. The OSC High Commission will reserve the power to define when an attack upon a member-states has been answered.
Article IV
In the judgement of the OSC, no aggressor retains rights to life or property after entering into aggression against a member of the Council.
Article V
The individual members shall retain complete freedom of action politically, militarily, and economically. Article I is the sole requirement enforced on the Parties. An annual defense spending of 8 percent or greater is nevertheless the recommendation of the Council.
Administrative Articles
Article VI
In order to create an executive body to arbitrate disputes which may occur in interpreting the Articles of the Charter, each member state will appoint a single representative to serve upon a High Commission of the OSC.
Article VII
The High Commission shall have the power to create any office or title necessary in order to delegate responsibility for the functions of the Council. The Commission will have supreme authority over all appointments to office. The High Commission shall not have the power to delegate its oversight of the OSC budget. The High Commission’s authority shall not be construed to extend beyond those forces and equipment placed under OSC control by a signatory.
Article VIII
All powers not forbidden to the High Commission by the Charter of the OSC shall be considered to rest with the Commission.
Article IX
The High Commission shall have the power to enact and approve binding legislation upon itself and any offices it may create. The High Commission shall not have the authority to delegate the power of legislation. All proposed legislation shall be enacted, approved, amended, or repealed by majority vote of the Commission.
Articles of Accession
Article X
Every application to join the OSC shall be subject to the vote of the High Commission. If the membership of the Commission shall exceed 10 delegates, then a minimum of 2/3rds approval shall be required for any additional applications to pass.
Article XI
Once an application has been introduced to the High Commission, the voting must be closed and tallied after no more than seven (7) days.
Articles Miscellaneous
Article XII
There shall be no grant to observer status nor any form of affiliate membership other than full membership in the OSC.
Article XIII
This Charter may only be amended through an affirmative vote passed by each Head of State of the member nations.
Signatories: