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Written by Sopo
Opinion Editor
I recently had the privilege to be one of the sole viewers of an EBC Radio broadcast simply titled "FA Discussion." The broadcast featured Kuramia (Minister of Foreign Affairs), Cerian Quilor (fired FA Deputy and current Minister of Communications), and Common-Sense Politics (Grand Admiral). The following clip left me speechless:
CSP: "What are the foreign policy aims of this administration? Why are we talking about ambassador systems and foreign updates?"
Kuramia: "Probably because that's my foreign policy right now, and I haven't received any feedback as to what our foreign policy could be."
Listen to the clip here!
An ambassador system and a foreign update do not a foreign policy make. The onus of crafting and implementing a foreign policy lies squarely on the shoulders of the President and the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Apparently, they have failed to do that.
Since this broadcast, President Aexnidaral Seymour has signed and the Senate has approved a Non-Aggression Pact with the Kingdom of Great Britain. I hope they've come a long way since they attempted to raid Kantrias last year and nearly destroyed relations with the LKE, our close ally, after a series of immature and spiteful decisions. The KGB has been pushing to move relations between our regions forward since I was last President in 2015. This was not a difficult get. We should strive for more.
What is more? Firstly, we should be cooperating with the allies we already have on cultural and military pursuits. The former is vastly more important for regions with which we've enjoyed rocky relations recently, such as The South Pacific. Cultural collaboration leads to mutual understanding and a deeper more profound regional friendship. Just as traveling informs us as individuals about people in other countries, so do we learn about our friends and allies when we actually take the time to interact with them. As far as I can tell, we haven't been doing that.
Secondly, we should be seeking out and engaging young, upstart regions with values similar to ours. We should form bonds with them early on in order to have a greater say in their development and increase the likelihood that they'll be a suitable partner down the road. Much like President Anumia's Great Architecture Project sought to use Europeian resources--time, knowledge, and connections--to develop potential partners, we should continue in that spirit by unofficially mentoring promising regions while pushing them toward our sphere. We don't need a fancy scheme to do that (as we learned, the fancy scheme doesn't work anyway), we just need a series of thoughtful interactions and a bit of investment where necessary.
Thirdly, we should be cultivating the next generation of foreign affairs leaders so they know the difference between foreign policy and bureaucracy. Our ambassador is a mail delivery service, but I believe it could be more, and that it could be meaningful. Rather than having all possible ambassador posts filled by anyone in the Foreign Ministry who is willing, we could promote AMs to "Ambassador" when they show promise either through the course of training, mentoring, or World Affairs Hub discussions. Older members with a specific interest or notable connections could serve as well. They would act as a mini-deputy in one assigned region that the administration would like to focus on with more specific aims and higher expectations than under the current system. Realistically, they would be a combination intelligence officer and traditional ambassador: making connections and posting updates, but gleaning useful information like who the power players are, who represents the region in Gameplay, how the regional community is trending ideologically, and who their current/future partners are. These goals would obviously differ between regions depending on whether they were big or small, a UCR or GCR, etc. I served in a similar role when Skizzy was the President back in 2012 as a "special envoy" to The South Pacific, resulting in our treaty there. Making the ambassador position both desirable and meaningful would go a look way toward making the system worthwhile for both the administration and the participants.
Fourthly, we can use our advantages as they are meant to be used. Radio has been a boon for Europeia since it was established by President Malashaan in 2014. We've had many foreign guests on our broadcasts of years past that brought in large foreign audiences interested in witnessing their friends take part in our innovation. Since the early days of radio, broadcasts featuring non-Europeians have dropped off considerably, and we've been reaching an almost exclusively domestic audience. These foreign-inclusive broadcasts served as the sort of propaganda that our foreign update can only dream of being. They guaranteed interaction between Europeians and non-Europeians both on and off-air, bringing in foreign citizens for games and interviews with big name guests like Todd McCloud, Raven, and Xoriet. These successful broadcasts subsequently brought people into our IRC channel and even onto our forums.
Finally, we should hold our government accountable when they steer us out to sea and set us adrift. We are in dire need of a president with a vision for our foreign policy beyond foreign updates and a milquetoast ambassador system. If you're reading this and thinking of running for president, I ask you: look at the myriad of ways that we aren't projecting our influence and figure out how to do it. Think outside the box. There's no one right answer. I am hopeful that the coming presidential election will see our foreign policy righted and defined, but I am certain that we cannot survive on our current path long-term. With no defined goals, all we're headed toward is a mirage.
