1416: Building on Sand
The Issue
Intelligence reports confirm that the ever-ambitious nation of Wezeltonia has been constructing artificial islands in the Maxxi Sea, in order to claim jurisdiction over the adjacent waters.
The Debate
1. “Those thieves think they can shut us out!” yells trade advisor Holly Svensson, placing a small ball on one side of a brass balance. “Trillions of @@CURRENCYPLURAL@@ pass through the Maxxi Sea. If we let Wezeltonia establish sovereignty there, they’ll be strong enough economically to bring the rest of the world to its knees! We need to get Brancaland, Skandilund, heck, maybe even Blackacre, to sanction Wezeltonia until they cease this naked mercantilism!” She drops a large weight onto the other side of the scale, causing the ball to fly and hit your young intern in the head.
2. “What business of yours is it if we develop our own waters?” snaps Marlon Carey, the ill-tempered ambassador from Wezeltonia. “We don’t tell you how to manage your outlying territories, unless your outlying territories lie in our zone of control. But I’ll tell you what, maybe we could contract with some of your construction firms to help us build. That could put both our nations on a more solid foundation.”
3. “Wezeltonia is destroying the environment in the Maxxi Sea!” wails marine biologist Sigourney Hopkins, who was not invited to this meeting but followed your carbon footprint here. “All that sand is destroying coral reefs and killing sea creatures in their own habitat. We need to convince the World Assembly to declare that artificial islands are not recognized as territory, to reduce Wezeltonia’s economic incentive to build there. If that doesn’t work, send them a telegram and order them to stop murdering harmless fish, crustaceans, and vampire squids!”
4. “It seems to me that these shores do still be international waters, savvy?” says Admiral Ashley Perez, looking through the wrong end of a spyglass. “Let’s send a ship or two out there to remind Wezeltonia that our freedom of navigation still applies. With our patrols on the watch, they won’t dare venture more than a few nautical miles from their shore! Or kilometers or other such bilge.”
Issue by The Forever Rejected Nation of Fauxia
Edited by Zwangzug
I know I didn't label the numbers right. And option four or whatever definitely depends on whether I answered some other issue. Nice to see fleshing out of geography.