Reykjavik World Summit, April 1 2027
For the creation of an International Clearing Union
Rules: No metagame, godmod, assassination attempts, or posting by those without a Democritus RP map claim
Perspective: France
Today will be a day long remembered. The entire axis on which the global economy sits will soon be permanently realigned, historic injustice will be corrected, and President Dupont will have the honor of setting it in motion. He, like many of his compatriots, had become a committed Europeanist in large part because of these developments. To France, this was not just an opportunity to redraw the world in line with egalitarian values; it was the moment that the Republic’s honor was restored after decades of humiliation and servitude.
Leaders of the 20th century had been confronted by immense challenges – this fact was unquestionable – however, they had repeatedly failed to deliver meaningful change. The first betrayal had come at the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944, when the American delegation and Soviet agents betrayed the Franco-British Union by attempting to reshape the international order in their own interests. The grand design of Keynes for an International Clearing Union which would provide the framework for sustainable post-war recovery was pushed aside, leaving the two rivaling super powers able to compete for economic hegemony at the cost of Europe and the rest of the world. The Americans orchestrated the creation of a proxy gold standard; a zombie fixed exchange rate which forced the great powers to abandon colonialism in favor of a new form of imperialism - trade, finance and debt diplomacy. The nations of Europe had joined their former colonial subjects in servitude to the new super powers – either imprisoned behind the Iron Curtain, or indoctrinated into the cult of the US Dollar.
It was of course Charles de Gaulle who first set about restoring the prestige of France, and Europe as a whole. His work, and that of subsequent administrations, to tear down the "exorbitant privilege" of the American currency culminated in 1971 with the Nixon Shock. The sustainability of American gold reserves had been exposed by natural market fluctuations, and the French navy’s grand mission across the Atlantic to redeem European foreign exchange reserves dealt the death blow. The Bretton Woods system which America had used to impose its hegemony was now haemorrhaging under speculative pressure, and so the decision to shift to fiat currency was one of desperation. While the potential for the US Dollar to continue to serve as the world’s reserve currency might have proven possible given time, the devastating American-Soviet War put an end to any such aspirations.
The following years were dominated by uncertainty, with no central system for international commerce able to emerge for more than brief moments in time. Neoliberalism emerged in some countries, while mercantilism became prevalent elsewhere. Current account crises created by systematic trade imbalances were leading to public and private debt proliferation in the periphery, while the core economies accumulated large surpluses with no incentives for distribution. Even as the CSN was established in Iceland, world leaders remained unable to agree upon a path forward. The re-emergence of North America in the late 1990s and early 21st century offered a temporary reprieve, with first Canada and then the North American Federation able to take up the role of de facto world reserve currency. The devolution of NAF in the 2020s and subsequent international recession provoked fears of another period of anarchy, with the NAF Dollar ceasing to exist. This time, the path forward was clear; face complete economic collapse as international deflation took hold, sending millions of people across the globe into perpetual poverty and enabling the great powers to continue to exploit the underdeveloped states, or take radical action.
Only the currency of the French Confederation met the necessary criteria to act as the world’s reserve and uphold international economic order. The ongoing Cold War between Europe and South America and conflict in Africa made perpetual pre-eminence of the Franc politically unacceptable internationally, and the Triffin Dilemma inflicted significant pain on French exporters and domestic industry. Consequently, the ingenious plan of Keynes for an International Clearing Union underpinning a fixed exchange rate system was revived – and accepted. After a period of three years, the Franc’s role as the internationally recognized world reserve currency was to be supplanted by the new Bancor system. There would be no need for an officially designated world reserve currency, with all international currencies fixed in relation to each other via the Bancor to provide stability. The system would stabilize balance of payments, promote sustainable growth, and bring about greater international equality.
And so it was today, April 1 2027, that President Dupont arrived in Iceland ready to formally surrender the Franc’s formal designation as world reserve currency. The inauguration of the Bancor, and subsequent launch of the Eurozone's new exchange rate mechanism, would perhaps serve as a welcome distraction from the ongoing domestic situation across the French Confederation. French Indochina’s strict border controls and regulated economy, which facilitated Cambodia’s recovery from the emaciated state of the previous war and recession, had thankfully served to keep cases of SARS-H11 low and in managed areas of isolation. The news was less encouraging elsewhere - both Algeria and Metropolitan France had delayed the arrival of the virus as a result of continental efforts to limit free movement, low levels of trade and travel to the countries of origin, and increased funding for the health sector to improve detection methods at the level of local physicians and central clinics. This had ultimately given the Seventh Republic three months of preparation and relative normality, before cases began to increase sharply and lose traceability. Even as Dupont enters the summit hall, arranged so that all delegations would be able to observe physical distancing despite already being tested upon arrival, officials in Paris would be unveiling new health restrictions as the situation continues to deteriorate. It would be too late for more than 35,000 who had already been claimed by SARS-H11.
The Seventh Republic, the French Confederation, and the wider world face a crisis once more. Dupont, however, hopes that for the first time in more than a century all nations will soon be positioned to emerge from such crisis into a fairer and more prosperous future.
