Ministry Applications

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Eluvatar

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I am holding open applications for the Ministries of this Government.

Pending the conclusion of this process, I ask the incumbents to continue their service.

I will be asking some to apply by personal message.

Please apply for all the ministries you'd be willing to serve in. Please feel free to indicate your preferences.

I may alter the set of ministries based on the available Ministers and their visions, however, for the time being please take the ministries to be as follows:

  • Foreign Affairs: Tasked with diplomatic communications, observations, and strategy.
  • Defense: Tasked with commanding and administering the North Pacific Army.
  • Communications: Tasked with operating The Northern Light and/or related publications.
  • Home Affairs: Tasked with writing, revising, and coordinating efforts (mostly by telegram) to retain nations in The North Pacific and encourage them to participate in regional affairs.
  • Culture: Tasked with developing and organizing cultural events and other efforts to advance TNP culture.
  • Education: Tasked with developing and improving methods of educating TNP nations about TNP and NationStates as a whole through the FAQs and other educational materials and events, as well as ensuring the preservation and comprehension of TNP history.
  • Entertainment: Tasked with providing services and, if needed, direction to the 'private entertainment' aspects of the community, including Role Play and as may be appropriate the OOC games section.
  • World Assembly Affairs: Tasked with the Information For Voters program and related work.
(The distinctions between Culture, Education, and Entertainment may be particularly in flux.)

Minister Applications​


Code: 
[b]Minister of:[/b] Foreign Affairs | Defense | Communications | Home Affairs | Culture | Education | Entertainment | World Assembly Affairs

[b]Please outline your goals for the Ministry:[/b]

[b]Please outline areas of the Ministry as it currently operates that require improvement[/b]

[b]Do you believe there are any ministries which ought to hold more or less influence in determining executive policy? If so, which ones, and why?[/b]

[b]If you are not selected as minister, would you be interested in serving as Deputy?[/b]

[b]Which part of the term (May-September) are you available to serve?[/b]

Please submit applications by replying to this topic. If you have questions, please private message me.

Please do not reply to this topic otherwise.
 
Minister of: Entertainment

Please outline your goals for the Ministry: The Government should largely be out of the business of regulating RP, but that being said TNP has turned into a little bit of a pariah in RP spheres, known for nothing but short 2 sentence RPs, godmodding, and the list goes on. So to help reverse this TNP should create a small group of active consultant to help guide people towards more thoughtful and detailed stories focused on collaboration instead of conflict (by this I mean storytelling instead of winning).

Please outline areas of the Ministry as it currently operates that require improvement This Minister has no operations to improve upon.

Do you believe there are any ministries which ought to hold more or less influence in determining executive policy? If so, which ones, and why? If you asked me a few months ago I would give you a short and concise answer but that is not the case now. I do not believe that one ministry should necessarily be more influencial then any other. Each hold their own spheres of influence and operate in different realms. It's like comparing Apples to Iron Ore. They are both important, they both have their functions, but they don't really overlap enough for a direct object to object comparison. Some Ministries deal with keeping our interregional relations stable while others help spur intraregional activiity, it's hard to say that one is more important then the other.

If you are not selected as minister, would you be interested in serving as Deputy? No

Which part of the term (May-September) are you available to serve? Indefinitely
 
Minister of: Communications

Please outline your goals for the Ministry: I believe in this upcoming term, if chosen, I can easily do three to four issues of The Northern Lights if not more. I also would like to, if given the go-ahead, to do live interviews like the ones in Lazarus, and really inform TNPers of what is happening in TNP.

Please outline areas of the Ministry as it currently operates that require improvement I believe as long as we can maintain it, the Ministry should keep moving as planned. We just need to make sure we have a great executive staff and that they are all committed and we will soon be on the path to success.

Do you believe there are any ministries which ought to hold more or less influence in determining executive policy? If so, which ones, and why? Absolutely not. All Ministries may be different, but they are all part of the Executive Cabinet of the Delegate, and thus, shall be treated as equals in determining executive policy.

If you are not selected as minister, would you be interested in serving as Deputy? No.

Which part of the term (May-September) are you available to serve? All of it.
 
Minister of: Culture

Please outline your goals for the Ministry:

I plan to put more emphasis on regional holidays so we can actually celebrate them like a true holiday would be celebrated. I also want to have TNP hold and/or join more interregional cultural festivals, hopefully with cooperation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Finally, I have plans to reorganize the Ministry of Culture by creating committees within the Ministry pertaining to specific cultural aspects, but, of course, a discussion would need to be held first. Finally, I want to use my activity on the forum to process applications faster, so that the Ministry of Culture can be successful. This seems like a general goal, but I have my reasons. The Ministry of Culture is rather small right now, and what with the creation of the Ministry of Entertainment it isn't doing too well. We're holding on, but I want to do more. With lots of members we can soar, and become like the other Ministries, if not better. This is important, as the Ministry of Culture is vital in helping TNP understand and celebrate its...well, culture.

Please outline areas of the Ministry as it currently operates that require improvement:

Definitely activity. From what I've seen, only a few individuals are really active in the Ministry. As I said in the previous section of this application, I think we should have at least ten or more active members in the Ministry so it can do its job quickly and efficiently.

Do you believe there are any ministries which ought to hold more or less influence in determining executive policy? If so, which ones, and why?:

I don't think any Ministry should have more importance than the other in determining executive policy. The Ministries are all part of the same branch, they just have different jobs. When determining executive policy, if the Ministries are to get involved, they should work together to discuss policies from all angles and all perspectives; whether it be foreign affairs or defense or culture, et cetera.

If you are not selected as minister, would you be interested in serving as Deputy?

Yes; infact, I already am one.

Which part of the term (May-September) are you available to serve?

Any part needed, I am on this forum every day and the same for NS itself.
 
Minister of: Defense

Please outline your goals for the Ministry: I intend to make the NPA a more open and responsible body, subject to the Regional Assembly and the laws that we have collectively voted into place within this region. I want to see the operational aspects of the NPA as more transparent to the regional body, within OpSec regulations of course. I would also curtail the raiding aspects of the NPA. I do not believe activity within the military must come at the expense of joining the likes of DEN and TBR in how we project ourselves to the NS world at large.

Please outline areas of the Ministry as it currently operates that require improvement: I believe the Command Staff as it exists and the overall structure of the NPA to be exemplary. The efficiency in operation and success rates have proven that the outgoing MoD (Eluvatar) and current Generals have been well equipped and positioned to maintain activity and cooperation with other NS military bodies. The primary area of improvement, as I see it, is in the somewhat confrontational manner in which the NPA coexists with the Regional Assembly at present. It seems to operate outside of the law in that it has, thus far, refused to cooperate with the legally mandated restrictions of oversight the law allows.

While I have no direct experience with the current NPA, I am versed in the current (version 2) Manual and am an experienced administrator of such bodies. I have never been an active military participant, and do not envision ever being so as I have traditionally seen a Minister of Defense role as the civilian liaison between the government entities and the military itself.

In this regard, I have ample related experience. Gracius Maximus has served in the historic role of Minister of Defense within The North Pacific itself. Additionally, nations with which I maintain a close association have held prominent positions within several large multi-region alliances, notably serving as Director of the Sardaukar Confederate Defense Trust (a multi-region alliance of 22 regions) and in multiple roles (Prosecutor General, Secretary of State, and Administrative Advisor) within the Alliance Defense Network.

I have also been closely associated with the nation that was the administrative 'Commandante' of the Sparrow Elite Covert Ops, which was one of the largest and most active defender armies in existence in the early NS-era. Further, I have been associated with nations that were part of the Atlantic Alliance.

I am not the best candidate to be an active leader of the armies as they raid/defend/whatever, but I am a competent administrator and am able to handle the pressures of day-to-day operations behind the scenes with little difficulty. I have been an active part of TNP for well over a decade and believe I can bring a new perspective to the role that is currently missing from the insular construct that is present in the modern NPA.

Do you believe there are any ministries which ought to hold more or less influence in determining executive policy? If so, which ones, and why? Honestly, yes. I think Foreign Affairs and Home Affairs should have a weighted position in regards to executive policy. Home Affairs simply because internal activity within the region is paramount for the development of all other departments and Foreign Affairs because our interregional relationships allow us to influence the world at large. I believe the other ministries, including Defense, should consider the priorities of FA and HA above their own goals. Defense, in particular, should be the outlet of enforcing FA issues when the need arise.

If you are not selected as minister, would you be interested in serving as Deputy? Possibly, although I believe the MoD could rely on the Generals as Deputies.

Which part of the term (May-September) are you available to serve? I can be available immediately, although I will complete the prosecution of the current trial before resigning as Attorney General.
 
Minister of: Foreign Affairs

Please outline your goals for the Ministry: I will explain and expand everything I seek to do below, so will only give bullet point answers here.

  • Develop a proper training program for new members of the diplomatic service
  • Create and work on a Handbook for Diplomats with key information, figures and information about allied regions.
  • Review the current diplomatic protocols and examine their current usefulness in how diplomacy is used around NationStates and how current they are with how the Ministry functions.
  • Develop a new representation system designed to improve our visibility in our key embassies abroad and give our diplomats the chance to see diplomacy in action.
  • Reassess our embassy policy to ensure that we are not allowing ourselves to relax our standards and are only opening embassies with regions that are established, with dedicated forum communities and governments.

Please outline areas of the Ministry as it currently operates that require improvement
I am rather concerned about the training aspects of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Our diplomats aren't getting any form of training beyond "Read the Protocols, now go to this other region and post updates". There is no mention of foreign policy, proper courses of decorum, no lessons in why we have treaties on the regions we do, no lessons on why we maintain those alliances or embassies with other feeders and sinkers. There is a lack of any formal training initiatives, a handbook with information about everything "Diplomatic" would go a long way to actually training our staff and giving them reasons to stay active interested in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

I have spent much of the last week consulting with SillyString plus Myroria and Bel (who I would like to retain as Deputies in the event I am reappointed) and we've been working on policies for the Ministry that should serve as a general outline of what we want to set out to do. You can click here to see a read only view of this document, which is a draft in its current state. A more refined document will be produced shortly. Whilst we accept that a lot of the training for a diplomat is done on the job, and will be, we also accept that a good starter and foundation for this huge area of The North Pacific, would be a handbook as well as a support structure to answer the many questions most new diplomats have.

To that effect, I plan to introduce (and have done already with Lazarus) a working group of Diplomats (mentioned above), assigned to serve as "diplomatic representatives" in some of (at the moment) our treaty allies as well as select regions of interest to the region. This would be to both maximise the opportunities for advancement, but also use on the job training to effectively increase the quality and level of training given to our diplomats. As a side note, it will improve communication between us and the respective regions as well as showcase a new, innovative way to incorporate learning into diplomacy to the greater NationStates community.

How would this "group" work? Essentially, each Senior Diplomat, who will be the primary representative from The North Pacific will lead the team. These will be diplomats who present the letters of credence and will be our first line of communication between allied governments; they will be responsible for a Junior Diplomat, and between one and three trainees. Both the Junior and Senior Diplomats will serve as mentors to these trainees and will demonstrate the day to day behaviour and duties of a diplomat as best as possible. I plan in the coming future to introduce more innovative tests and assignments of our trainees, to give them a stronger foundation and wider knowledge of our place in NationStates as well as the importance Diplomacy plays in every-day events (see the linked document).

There is more to being a diplomat than posting updates. That is a grotesque misrepresentation of diplomacy in NationStates. At their basest level, yes: they are the official messengers of regional governments but their more defined role has been the representation of their community and a projection of all the virtues their community believe in. Properly utilised they can be a hugely tremendously influential force dedicated to a fluid and responsible government, to the benefit of our region and our allies both.

Do you believe there are any ministries which ought to hold more or less influence in determining executive policy? If so, which ones, and why? Each ministry should have a dedicated portfolio; that portfolio should take precedence when deciding official policy relating to that Ministry.. At the same time, however, each other Ministry may have the potential to give valid and solid advice - which should always be taken into account. In the matter of foreign policy, I would say that the policy should compliment and aim to advance the wishes and plans of the cabinet - if that means putting the region into contact with other regions which match what we require or want in a policy, then we should endeavour to do that. It means that the Minister should coordinate and communicate with their fellows in the cabinet to ensure executive policy in that area is robust and suitable to the tasks it needs to complete. In particular, Foreign Affairs exists to facilitate connections and communications - which should pave the way for Culture, WA Affairs and Defence to hold events/plan a joint project and hold operations. There needs to be a robust system of communication within cabinet, with each Minister happy to assist the other, and support them and the Delegate, where possible.

If you are not selected as minister, would you be interested in serving as Deputy? No. I would not want to be a point of conflict if my successor has a different set of views and opinions on how the Ministry should run than I do.

Which part of the term (May-September) are you available to serve? All of it.

Please see my recent conflict of interest disclosure, hosted on my UCR forum.
 
Minister of: Education

Please outline your goals for the Ministry:
-Improve format and increase activity in the University (main goal)
-Upgrade the FAQs to better reflect regional functions
-Start Trivia game planned for this term

Please outline areas of the Ministry as it currently operates that require improvement
I hope all is an acceptable answer.
The University needs better structure to function well. Right now it serves as a place where discussions are occasionally posted and nothing else. We need to start from the bottom and build up; Mcm had a good start by introducing lectures. If the ministry can start gaining interest in University functions, we can start to create things like classes and other activites. Starting them right away is too ambitious considering the state of the University now. Preferably, I would like to run NS topics over RL topics because of increased interest.

Originally, the FAQs were going to borrow heavily from former delegate Mcm's collection of dispatches. That is not happening, and these need to be recreated. I would also like to talk to other cabinet members about creating individual dispatches instead of one for every ministry.

Trivia game is still going. I find this to be fairly self-explanatory.

Here is an expansion/restatement of ministry goals and improvements I had planned for the term. A number of the ministries issues could be fixed by increased participation.
Do you believe there are any ministries which ought to hold more or less influence in determining executive policy? If so, which ones, and why? Really depends on the policy. Each ministry has their specialties, and the Cabinet should know when a minister should help decide policy or put plans into action.

If you are not selected as minister, would you be interested in serving as Deputy? I've had my fair share of deputying over the last 6 months. I think it would be better for someone new to serve and learn how the ministry functions.

Which part of the term (May-September) are you available to serve? There are 3-4 separate weeks where I will have little time for NS or no internet access. The last part of the term is also questionable for how much time I will have to dedicate to NS. Feel free to contact me privately about which weeks they are.
 
Minister of: World Assembly Affairs

Please outline your goals for the Ministry: My goals would be:
  • Prompt posting of WA proposals, summaries, and recommendations for discussion and voting, as soon after a proposal reaches quorum as is practical. This will be helpful to the Delegate in determining how the community wants him to vote in early voting.
  • Liaising with the NationStates General Assembly and Security Council forums to offer constructive input on proposal drafting and to post the official position of TNP on WA resolutions after our position has been determined.
  • Posting of summaries and recommendations as dispatches and requesting that the Delegate pin these dispatches to the WFE, to help inform the broader regional WA community regarding WA proposals.
  • Community collaboration on the drafting of WA resolutions to be submitted by the Delegate as community initiatives.
  • Efforts to revive the World Assembly Legislative League (WALL), in consultation with the Delegate, Cabinet, and other WALL signatories.
Please outline areas of the Ministry as it currently operates that require improvement: I think there are three areas in need of improvement:
  • The WA Affairs Ministry needs to be included in the Executive Staff again, to attract interest in the ministry and expand the drafting pool for summaries and recommendations. We can't wait for WALL to substitute for our own regional WA Affairs ministry, nor is it practical to expect that TNP will make a significant contribution to WALL in the absence of our own organized ministry.
  • WA voting should be expanded to permit residents with WA nations in TNP who are not citizens to vote. This will hopefully lead to more robust discussion and more representative voting.
  • WALL, obviously, which is an interregional initiative but significantly relates to the ministry. We need more serious contributions from all of the signatories, TNP included, and if any signatory isn't able or willing to make contributions there is no point in that signatory remaining in the organization.
Do you believe there are any ministries which ought to hold more or less influence in determining executive policy? If so, which ones, and why? No. I think ministries are interdependent, as each serves the same community and often the community's needs in one area intersect with their needs in another. All ministries should have equal influence in determining executive policy and I favor an approach in which executive policy is more collaboratively determined in consultation with the Cabinet, rather than just by the Delegate.

If you are not selected as minister, would you be interested in serving as Deputy? Potentially, if the Minister wants me to serve.

Which part of the term (May-September) are you available to serve? The entirety of the term.
 
Minister of: Home Affairs

Please outline your goals for the Ministry and the areas of the Ministry as it currently operates that require improvement:

I have merged the first and second questions as what I see as my goals for Home Affairs is what I see that needs to be improved upon by the Ministry to better serve its purpose. Throughout my tenure as Minister, we have been able to restart some of the programmes implemented in the earlier days of the Ministry, such as Nation Recruitment and the Press Releases. Reforms have also been introduced to make our services more efficient and ease the burden of the Minister.

Mentoring - In Mentoring, we have seen good effort from Mentors contacting their Mentees, encouraging nations to remain in The North Pacific and attempt at all it has to offer. Most of the time we are successful, however, we have been seeing an alarming no. of Mentees either falling inactive or leaving the region. This has led me to question the methods of our Mentoring, and the efforts of our Mentors. To tackle this, I think all we can do is talk as a Ministry by looking at how we have been approaching things, locating and analysing the problem by showing the PM's between Mentor and Mentee, and attempting to fix the errors by try new approaches. Through talking as a Ministry, I think we can definitely lower the no. of nations ending up on the Inactive Mentee List. In the meantime, I have also been contacting all the mentees to make sure that they are regularly checked up on.

Recruitment - In Recruitment, we have been able to complete 2 lists and are currently focusing on another. Each list has consists of around 300-600 nations from TNP. While I am happy with the progress we have made, I feel as though we haven't been feeling the results of our recruitment drive on our forums. I think a more firmer approach should be taken such as establishing the means of making recruitment easier, such as Template TG to send, and more regular discussions on the success of our efforts. Through these discussion, which would be held before and after each list, I would like the Ministry to conduct an evaluation of the success in previous list and plan how to be more successful in the next list. Looking at TG's sent by the Recruiters will be involved in the discussions.

In both Recruitment and Mentoring, resilience, persistence and consistency will be required and enforced by myself and the Directors of Home Affairs in accomplishing the set out goals.

Press Releases - Even though I don't think I can write good articles, we have also been able to restart the Press Release program to make the in-game community more aware of the activities happening on the Forums. So far so good, but I would really like to expand the coverage of the Press Release to things other than elections and foreign policy news to more local news such as the activities of the government (RA Votes, NPA Ops, Court Business etc..) and the community of the off-site community to make sure the in-game community are aware of whats happening here on the forums.

Understanding that these are challenging goals to accomplish, and the needed patience and effort required are great, I have already begun asking long term members of the off-site community to join Home Affairs to help in our efforts and I will consider a change in the Ministry's leadership to make use of the enthusiastic and more exclusive members of HA.


Do you believe there are any ministries which ought to hold more or less influence in determining executive policy? If so, which ones, and why?

No. Each Ministry is as important as each other in determining executive policy in the region. I can get that some Ministries are closely associated/in control of Foreign Policy while other are more associated/in control of Domestic Policy which may influence the policy agenda and its implementation in other Ministries, the equality amongst the Ministries allows a Ministry to specifically focus on its policy area and improve rather than having to submit to the influence of more significant Ministries which could have negative consequences on the utility of some Ministries.

If you are not selected as minister, would you be interested in serving as Deputy? Perhaps.

Which part of the term (May-September) are you available to serve? Its easy going for me in school for a few more weeks then its the holidays all the way till September. As I'm not going anywhere during the holidays, I should be able to serve indefinitely as Minister during this period of time, if all goes well.
 
Minister of: World Assembly Affairs

Please outline your goals for the Ministry: As always, my goals are as follows:

Effective posting of the At Vote and Queued proposals,

Improving the atmosphere of debate and participation in decision making for voting trends.

Appointing an individual to the Ministry who can independently handle Security Council decisions, while also actively working with both the Minister and Delegate, the better to balance both TNP's SC interests as well as ensure rapid and active participation in the gameside forum itself.

As ever, constantly working with our interregional partners to build WALL into an effective and efficient legislation machine.

Please outline areas of the Ministry as it currently operates that require improvement:

?Above all else, the broken system that is WALL should be repaired. In my tenure as WA Minister thus far, I have actively managed to reach out to both delegates and skilled authors previously involved in WALL's formation, such as Gruen, Mousebumples, and Sciongrad. I have a highly functional working relationship with nearly all the authors and representatives in WALL thus far, and intend to utilize that relationship to create an entity that can effectively storm the WA with our own interests abroad.

?Participation and debate are down in TNP's WA forums. I seek to both expand participation on TNP's forum, but also in the gameside forum. In this way, TNP's voice can be better heard, and alternatives can be better received. Strengthening our voting core in both numbers and awareness is the best way to do so.

Do you believe there are any ministries which ought to hold more or less influence in determining executive policy? If so, which ones, and why? Though each department can function independently, it is best when all parts move to a common goal. I hope that, with greater influence from the Executive, the WA Ministry especially can better serve the goals of TNP and work on the same footing as the rest of the ministries and provide an equal amount of influence.

If you are not selected as minister, would you be interested in serving as Deputy? I am, as always, constantly at the disposal of The North Pacific's government.

Which part of the term (May-September) are you available to serve? I am available for the entirety of the term.
 
It looks like Separatist Peoples and I have similar goals, and part of the reason I applied was because SP hadn't yet and I thought they may be retiring from the ministry. I think SP is a good Minister and should continue serving, so I withdraw my above application.

I would be willing to serve as Deputy Minister again though, if needed.
 
Minister of: Defense

Please outline your goals for the Ministry:

I would like to continue the work of Gladio, McMaster, and Elu in expanding and recruiting for the North Pacific Army. Their work has lead to the NPA's numbers at historical highs and we are becoming quite the force to be reckoned with. I would hate to see that crumble under an new, foreign Minister of Defense who has little to no record working with the modern NPA. Additionally, I believe constant training is needed to maintain readiness. We can have the largest military in Nationstates but it will do us little good if the troops can't follow orders or are too inexperienced to know how to follow the order given to them. Which leads me to my next point.

Please outline areas of the Ministry as it currently operates that require improvement

Our troops need more experience in defending and liberation. Our raider operations have kept them focused, disciplined, and ready, but have not taught them the nuances of how to liberate or how to defend our allies, such as Stargate, if needed. To this end I would like to reach out to some of our closer defender leaning allies, such as ESPA and Tajitiu, and organize major inter-regional exercises intended to simulate liberations and even defenses.

Do you believe there are any ministries which ought to hold more or less influence in determining executive policy? If so, which ones, and why?

If I was forced to pick, I would say the Ministry of Entertainment only because I believe the Ministry of Culture renders the position redundant. Perhaps the two should be merged.

If you are not selected as minister, would you be interested in serving as Deputy?

Yes, although as a General I already hold a fair amount of influence within the NPA.

Which part of the term (May-September) are you available to serve?

The entirety.
 
Lord Ravenclaw:
You can click here to see a read only view of this document, which is a draft in its current state.
Click to expand...

For the sake of clear record-keeping, the document is reproduced here (with formatting stripped) below in a spoiler tag.

?The North Pacific
Diplomatic Training, Management and Education Schemes


First Steps
Upon acceptance of application, all diplomats shall be officially designated as a “trainee” until they fulfill the criteria listed in this document. All trainees should ensure that they have read and understood the Diplomatic Protocols of the North Pacific. A mentor should be assigned where necessary, and if possible the mentor should be part of their eventual working team.


Ambassador Reports, Group Assignment, Alignments
All trainees should have posted at least one report before being officially assigned to a region based on activity of The North Pacific’s forum following a template <to be created> and based upon the guidelines mentioned in the Handbook <to be created> (Myro’s). The trainee should also follow through with an alignment test and undergo some basic training regarding Gameplay Alignment, Factions and Spheres (done)


Group assignments will come following the completion of the above.


Treaty Allies Training Teams (TNP Consular Assistance?) shall be made up of a team consisting of the following:
1 Senior Diplomat
1 Junior Diplomat (optional)
1-3 Trainee Diplomats


In general diplomatic teams are to be staffed by personnel identified as compatible with the host region, so as to engender positive engagement and a close working relationship. Where the host region is considered difficult, or its current government FA department unreliable, diplomatic teams will be weighted towards experience and a clear understanding of TNP interests. Antagonism leading to a collapse in relations is to be avoided, but a firm hand is to be maintained with problem relationships


Noting that with the Osiris example of September 2013 (The Osiris Question) wherein The North Pacific repealed the treaty between both regions following the others’ dissolution of their legal governing documents. It was the view of the government and of the Regional Assembly at the time that our treaties are between us and the constitutionally/legally recognised government in power at the time of the treaty signing. Should that government cease to exist whilst in power, or should the constitution/act of government which empowers that government be repealed, replaced or abolished following the procedures set down without a successor government named and in action, then The North Pacific is no longer obligated to follow the treaty requirements of recognition should any exist, and may freely repeal the treaty. Under this interpretation, the government we recognised would officially no longer exist.


The North Pacific should endeavor to ensure that the junior and trainee diplomats are receiving the appropriate level of support from the senior official present at the embassy. This is of key importance in regards to difficult host regions, where we wish to avoid a junior or trainee diplomat causing an incident that could harm our relationship, or being used as a scapegoat by anti-TNP individuals to manufacture one. The Junior Diplomat should, where possible, work with the trainees to better further their training and knowledge. Criteria for the advancement and qualification of Trainees to Junior, and Junior to Senior should be made available by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.


The alignment of the diplomat, or diplomatic team, is also important in interregional relations. It helps The North Pacific’s interests, as well as fostering effective diplomacy in general, for the ambassador or ambassadors assigned to a region to not be outright opposed to the region’s alignment. Just as one shouldn’t assign a hardline defender to a raider region like Lone Wolves United, one shouldn’t assign a hardline raider to a defender region like The Rejected Realms. Constant conflict between the diplomatic team and their host region could hurt relations.


That being said, though, it’s also important that the assigned diplomat or diplomats does not coddle or fraternize inappropriately with a region because they share alignment. In the end, they work for and represent the North Pacific, and should always keep that in mind.


Testing, Qualifications, >> Education
1. Quizzes on the protocols, possible scenario and mock cases. <to be created>
2. Build up a case history of scenarios, handbook with protocols, list of allies and information on the constitutional structures of each ally. <to be created>
3. Competition between the teams having them play the regions their tasked to in mock negotiations. Build some competition between them, get them to think like the regions we send them to, and test them. (Bel’s idea)
4. <Possible joint project with MoE?> Protocol training, scenario guides, historical negotiations, important events.

Lord Ravenclaw:
Please see my recent conflict of interest disclosure, hosted on my UCR forum.
Click to expand...

For the sake of clear record-keeping, the disclosure is reproduced here below in a spoiler tag.

Joshua Ravenclaw​
Curriculum Vitae and NationStates Conflict of Interest Disclosure​

Current and Past Involvement in NationStates:

[Game Created Regions]

April 2012: Osiris
January 2013: The North Pacific
May 2013 - June 2014: The South Pacific
January - April 2014: Balder
February - June 2014: The East Pacific
26th August 2014: Reclaimed citizenship of The South Pacific.
30th August 2014: Return to The East Pacific.
5th August 2014: Rejoined the Regional Assembly of The North Pacific.
1st January 2015: Return to Osiris
11th March 2015: Forfeited citizenship of The South Pacific

[User Created Regions]

2008/9: The Land of Kings And Emperors (Renounced, 2008/9).
2008/9: Earth Reborn (Inactive, current).
July 2012: The United Federation (Renounced)
March 2013: British Isles (Renounced, February 2014)
September 2013: Equilism
July 2013: The New Galactic Empire (defacto) (Reclaimed August 2014)
7th September 2014: Kingdom of Alexandria
14th March 2015: Spiritus

[Organisations]

15th April - 25th May 2015: The Grey Wardens
2013: The Sovereign Confederation (Osiris)


Current Roles

The Commonwealth of Equilism
November 2013: Senator.
22nd September 2014: Ambassador from Equilism to the New Galactic Empire
18th November 2014: Ambassador from Equilism to the West Pacific Imperium
25th May 2015: Ambassador from Equilism to the Republic of Europeia

The Kingdom of Alexandria
August 2014: Founder/Archon-Basileus (Monarch)

The New Galactic Empire
12th August 2014: Senior Administrator.

The East Pacific
30th August 2014: Citizen
March 2015: Diplomatic Advisor to the Delegate (Ramaeus Montresor)
March 2015: Journalist of the East Pacific News Service (Editor: Bachtendekuppen)
April 2015: Magister of the East Pacific

The North Pacific
January 2013: Resident of The North Pacific
20th September 2014: Regional Assembly Member
20th March 2015: Executive Service for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Delegate: Tomb, Minister: Egalotir)
20th March 2015: Diplomatic Mentor
21st April 2015: Minister of Foreign Affairs (Delegate: Tomb)

Osiris - Fraternal Order of
January 2015: Citizen of Osiris (Honoured Citizenship Status)
January 2015: Councillor of the Deshret
January 2015: Advisor to the Pharaoh of Osiris
18th February 2015: Elder of the Pschent
15th March 2015: Chief Elder of the Pschent

Spiritus - Elemental Republic of
14th March 2015: Citizen
9th April 2015: Executive Advisor on Regional Security (President: Rogamark)



Former Roles:

Osiris - Kemetic Republic of
June 2012: Member of the Diplomatic Service (Diamete, McMasterdonia, Tim Stark)
October 2012: Deputy Vizier of Foreign and Diplomatic Affairs. (Lyanna Stark)
November 2012 - July 2013: Vizier of Foreign and Diplomatic Affairs. (The Madjack, The Dourian Embassy, Cormac A Stark)
April 2013-June 2013: Member of the Sepatarchy, Co-Spokesperson. (The Madjack)
May 2013-July 2013: Priest of the Council of Ma'at, Spokespriest of the Council of Ma'at. (The Dourian Embassy)
June 2013-July 2013: Kai-Repat (Vice Delegate) of Osiris under The Dourian Embassy.
September 2013-October 2013: Deputy Vizier of Foreign and Diplomatic Affairs (Cormac A Stark, Dalimbar)
September 2013-October 2013: Priest of Ma'at. (Cormac A Stark)

Osiris - Post Kemetic Republic
October 2013-November 2013: Director of Diplomatic Affairs. (Detective Figs)
October 2013-November 2013: Priest of the Hedjet. (Security Council)
October 2013-December 2013: Member of the Deshret. (Legislature)
November 2013-December 2013: Joint Director of Foreign and Diplomatic Affairs. (Venico)
November 2013-December 2013: Deputy Grand Hedjeti.

Osiris - Fraternal Order of
December 2013-January 2014: Councillor of the Deshret.
15th December 2013-April 2014: Minister (Scribe) of Foreign and Diplomatic Affairs. (Venico, Koth/Lord Ravenclaw)
24th January 2014-19th April 2014: Pharaoh and World Assembly Delegate of Osiris
April 2014-June 2014: Councillor of the Deshret.
May 2014-June 2014: House Registrar
May 2014-June 2014: Deputy Director of Foreign Affairs
May 2014-June 2014: Guardian of the Atef

The North Pacific
January 2013-June 2014: Regional Assembly Member
February 2013: Electoral Commissioner.
11th December 2013: Deputy Minister for Culture and Entertainment. (Delegate: McMasterdonia, Minister: Lennart)
18th December 2013-June 2014: Minister for Culture and Entertainment. (Delegate: McMasterdonia)
8th April - 21st April 2015: Temporary Hearing Officer

British Isles
December 2013-January 2014: HM Government, Secretary of the Home Department.
December 2013-February 2014: Member of Parliament for Northern Ireland
March 2013-March 2014: Citizen of British Isles

Balder
January 2014-18th April 2014: Minister of Information
January 2014-April 2014: Citizen of Balder
May 2014-June 2014: Citizen of Balder

The New Galactic Empire
September 2013-June 2014: Head Administrator.
December 2013-February 2014: Imperial Chancellor.
September 2014-November 2014: Moff (Minister) of Foreign Affairs

The South Pacific
May 2013-June 2014: Citizen of the South Pacific
May 2013-June 2014: Assembly Member
26th August 2014-11th March 2015: Citizen/Assembly Member
1st December 2014-11th March 2015: Minister of Foreign Affairs

The East Pacific
February 2014-June 2014: Citizen
September-November 2014: Diplomatic Advisor to the Delegate (Ramaeus Montresor)
November 2014-January 2015: Diplomatic Advisor to the Delegate (Xoriet Montresor)

The Grey Wardens
15th April 2015-25th May 2015: Archivst
10th - 25th May 2015: Warden-Ensign

Equilism
22nd September 2014 - 25th May 2015: Ambassador from Equilism to the New Pacific Order
18th November 2014- 25th May 2015: Ambassador from Equilism to the Coalition of the South Pacific

Regional Honours

The New Galactic Empire
December 2013: Imperial Medal of Honour for Services to the Legislature and Community - Awarded by Emperor Darth Revan
December 2013: Knight of the Red Guard - Services to the Region (helping to save and restore the regional forum following forum destruction) - Awarded by Emperor Darth Radix II

Osiris (all variants)
2nd April 2013: Commendation of Osiris - George Holland
17th July 2013: Vigilant of Horus - Cormac Stark
26th April 2014: Seal of Vigilance - Joshua Bluteisen
4th August 2014: Crown of Osiris - Cormac Somerset
 
Minister of: Communications

Please outline your goals for the Ministry:

Main goals: Enlarge the number of authors and editors as well as increase the cooperation and feedback between the relationship of the said individuals in the Ministry to regularly produce and deliver NS news that's truthful, resourceful, and unbiased.

1. Increase the Executive Staff of the Ministry of Communications to engulf a larger amount of writers. This is a very easy goal to achieve by all means. We have a large number of TNPers who are excellent at reasoning and writing, and we have more that are also good at editing. All we have to do is reach out to these individuals, and ask for their assistance.

2. Post a TNL publication every 25 days. The reason for 25 days is because there are many news agencies that abide by the "30 day standard." By the time we publish our news paper under the 30 day standard, five other media agencies could be delivering the same news at the same time. So in addition to breaking the 30-day standard, we get to be among the first to deliver the news to our readers, and we get some extra time (about 5 days) in case an emergency happens and we end up publishing late.

3. Increase the capability of TNL. By this I mean that we should not stick to the regular old article mode over and over again. We need to get our staff out there interviewing people, being at the scene of the news, and just basically thinking of ways to present the information to our audience through making opinion pieces, podcasts, interviews, as well as editorials. Writing the occurrences that happened is simply not enough for a regional newspaper such as TNP's.

4. Produce press releases similar to those produced by the Ministry of Home Affairs. These press releases would be good exercise for our journalists to not only practice their writing skills and speed, but they would also help us conduct interviews and be among the first "out at the scene" to deliver the news to our readers.

Please outline areas of the Ministry as it currently operates that require improvement

Referring to the text I wrote above would answer this question as well.
But the areas where improvement is vital to the functioning of the Ministry and furthermore TNL are:

1. The lack of journalists in the Executive Staff, which means that we're relying on a small number of writers to write a small number of articles. This is not good because when relying on a small group, the delay of one of these individuals can hinder the activity of the rest completely.

2. There needs to be greater cooperation and feedback between the journalist and editor. Simply editing the piece is not enough. The editor should send constructive feedback to the journalist to ensure that the journalist can constantly improve instead of repeating the mistakes in their pieces constantly.

Do you believe there are any ministries which ought to hold more or less influence in determining executive policy? If so, which ones, and why? I've always had the belief that the Ministry of Home Affairs ought to hold more influence than any other ministry in determining executive policy. This is because of the fact that an army, diplomatic corps, news paper, and almost everything in a community cannot function without new member to keep it going. The Ministry of Home Affairs ensures that these new members find the area that interests them, and then they guide them to go for it and pursue it.

If you are not selected as minister, would you be interested in serving as Deputy? Yes, I would be interested.

Which part of the term (May-September) are you available to serve? I am available throughout the term with the exception of one week in which I will be in the Honduras.
 
Minister of: Culture

Please outline your goals for the Ministry:

  1. I would like for the members of the Ministry to be better able to express their creativity in creating and organizing Cultural Events. I would like to open an "Idea Box" in the Culture HQ for members to post ideas they have for Culture events, or just ideas to improve the Ministry in general. This will be followed by creating new jobs and activities for the members to partake in.
  2. I would like to streamline the Stories of The North Pacific. Before my term, Stories was greatly neglected and thanks to the help of fellow members of the Ministry and R3n (HMS Unicorn) I was able to update the list of featured Factbooks. So far in my term, I have been able to feature one Factbook, the Factbook of New Sekai. It went smoothly enough in my opinion, although the process took a little longer than I would have hoped. If I am reappointed, I would like to fix the small bugs in the process of nominating and voting for Factbooks, and just generally increase activity in the Stories threads.

Please outline areas of the Ministry as it currently operates that require improvement

Organization is a general area where the Ministry could improve in. Stories could be improved, as well. As I said, In my short term I was abe to restart the Stories of TNP after its neglection since January. I do believe the decline in activity in this project was due to the fact that the list was not properly maintained. Activity could obviously be improved, seeing as only a handful of the members of the Ministry are actively contributing to the various projects. I don't think any problem with the Ministry cannot be fixed with a little tender, loving care. :D

Do you believe there are any ministries which ought to hold more or less influence in determining executive policy? If so, which ones, and why?

I honestly do not have an opinion on this. While Home Affairs and Foreign Affairs are important, do I think they should hold more influence in determining executive policy? Probably not. Having said that, I do think that if any Ministries were to have more influence than others Home and Foreign Affairs would be my choice. I hope this answers your question.

If you are not selected as minister, would you be interested in serving as Deputy?

Of course. Any chance to manage the Ministry would be great.

Which part of the term (May-September) are you available to serve?

Unless something comes up, I should be available your whole term.

Thanks, and good luck to all of the applicants!

[me]
 
I'd like to formally retract my application for Minister of Communications.
Meanwhile, I will leave up my application in case the future Minister or Delegate Eluvatar wants to make use of any of my goals, etc.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

~ Tomb
 
The Democratic Republic of Tomb:
I'd like to formally retract my application for Minister of Communications.
Click to expand...
I'm sorry to hear that.
The Democratic Republic of Tomb:
Meanwhile, I will leave up my application in case the future Minister or Delegate Eluvatar wants to make use of any of my goals, etc.
Click to expand...
Thank you, I do wish to keep it part of the public record, primarily for those reasons :)
The Democratic Republic of Tomb:
Sorry for the inconvenience.

~ Tomb
Click to expand...
It's all right. You must do what you must.
 
Minister of: Communications

Please outline your goals for the Ministry:
  • I would like to produce an edition of The Northern Lights ideally every two weeks, no less than once per month.
  • I would like to see The Northern Lights remain fact-based rather than agenda-driven. The goal will be solid journalism, not propaganda.
  • Following from the above, I would like to see The Northern Lights competitive with other NationStates media and setting higher standards for NationStates journalism than some media productions.
  • I would like to see The Northern Lights reflecting the values of The North Pacific -- focused on facts and truth, inclined toward no particular gameplay ideology, and presenting information that is relevant to a broad cross-section of our citizens and residents.
Please outline areas of the Ministry as it currently operates that require improvement:
  • There needs to be a strong push for Executive Staff recruitment, as the biggest problem right now appears to be a lack of contributors. My hope is that Home Affairs will be able to assist in this project.
  • The Ministry needs to have a firm direction in which it wants to take The Northern Lights, so that contributors will have a better idea of what they should contribute and what is expected of them.
Do you believe there are any ministries which ought to hold more or less influence in determining executive policy? If so, which ones, and why? As stated above in my rescinded WA Affairs application, no, I believe all ministries should hold equal influence in determining executive policy and that executive policy determination in close consultation with the Cabinet is desirable.

If you are not selected as minister, would you be interested in serving as Deputy? Sure.

Which part of the term (May-September) are you available to serve? The entirety of the term.
 
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