The Issue
A small nameless nation within your sphere of influence has gone on a genocidal rampage within its own borders, ridding itself of what their Supreme Ruler For All Eternity, Emperor Calvin Clinton, refers to as 'those pesky Bigtopians'. Some escaped refugees are requesting that your government do something to end the slaughter of millions.
The Debate
"They're killing everyone!" gasps Anne-Marie Longbottom, one of the refugees. "I implore you to please intervene and stop this murder of my people! If South Arcans has any compassion at all then it must help us! With these madmen out of power we can finally go about rebuilding our nation as a land of justice and freedom!"
"Woah, woah, we can't just go around being a knight in shining armour for every random hell-hole on this planet," says Pip Licorish, your minister of Foreign Relations. "Should we send citizens of South Arcans into war just so we can save a bunch of foreigners? I don't think so! Now, I'm no xenophobe, but I've gotta ask: what's in it for us? Nothing but the death of our soldiers and criticism from the rest of the region, that's what. Trouble is we're getting too much of a reputation for having a big army. So drop some of our military funding and let them fight their own wars. It's got nothing to do with us."
"Well, maybe this nation does have something we need, sir," says Klaus McAlpin, your Military Advisor, while perusing a giant map of South Arcans. "We're fast running out of land and resources here, so why not invade this place, kick out whoever's in power there, and take over? We've got the military power, so why wait? If any of those hippies in the region have somethin' to say about it, they can say hello to our missile programmes, haha!"
"They have as much right to their own internal politics as we do," says activist and peacenik Abraham Jones. "While their actions may be deplorable by our standards, we can't intervene unless the legitimate government requests it. It's just an invitation to anarchy on an international scale, and nobody but a few crackpots want that."
