Recommendation drafting: Commend Yohannes

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Description: The Security Council,

Noting the reputation of The Kingdom of Yohannes as a nation epitomising neutrality and diplomacy, and that it maintains a stabilising presence in ten regions including Ellorea, Gholgoth and Greater Dienstad via its overseas territories;

Further noting that Yohannes' foreign policy and extensive overseas relations create a network of strong diplomatic ties, which dissuade war and promote peace and commerce, and realising that currently over 500 embassies are hosted in the Empire;

Acknowledging the willingness of Yohannes' government to conduct peace talks and to engage freely in diplomacy with other nations, as well as the generosity of the imperial treasury towards nations it considers less fortunate, including, but not limited to, donations to countries enduring crises such as that afflicting Panzara, wherin the treasury donated the sum of 756,000,000,000 Universal Standard Dollars to the Panzaran government;

Admiring Yohannes' strong opposition towards slavery;

Approving of the fact that Yohannes is a signatory of the Amistad Declaration on Slavery and the Rights of Man, a slavery-prohibiting document, as well as being deeply committed diplomatically and financially to the World Anti-Slavery Organization;

Recognising Yohannes' establishment of the Sovereign League, an international organisation which aims to empower those nations which may suffer from having a first language other than English, and to provide a platform for trade and diplomacy among such nations, promote the teaching of other members' languages at university level and preserve "its member-nations' respective cultures, history, linguistic traits as well as traditions";

Aware of the importance of many Yohannesian firms as major exporters and market-defining institutions with significant influence within the global economy, including the "Big Four" of Yohannes' corporate and industrial companies:

VMK Defence & Steel Works, which has defined the perception of modern armoured vehicles, selling products to an export base of over 300 nations and investing across more than 400 nations,

Royal Beaufort Shipwrights Guild, furthering interregional trade by providing overseas commercial shipping, and a firm which has been noted for its generosity to such aid organisations as the Santherese Humanitarian Society, to which it donated 8 Ardfontein-class multi-purpose vessels to assist in the Society's selfless efforts,

Yohannesische Börse AG, among the largest international stock exchanges, providing listings of numerous major corporations and selling stock, bonds and commodities, and which, due to its strong importance for the international community, is the model for many other stock exchanges, and

Yohannesische Bundesbank, the monetary authority of, and largest financial institution in, the Empire of Yohannes, which provides banking services to many of the world's major firms and governments and has a presence in over one hundred nations, in addition to acting in a capacity as monetary aid and donor to countless nations of the international community,

and recognising the importance of these, and other, Yohannesian institutions to innumerable international businesses, noting the vital roles fulfilled by these firms in the furthering of international commerce;

Believing Yohannes to be a positive example to the entire world;

Hereby commends Yohannes.

Co-authored by Milograd and Unibot III.

This one is coming up next in the SC. It will go to vote tomorrow minor.

While those who have posted in our forum thread (Nierr, Sanc) seem very enthusiastic about this, there are a few things I dislike about this proposal.

First, it wasn't posted in the SC forum, something that I strongly dislike.

Second, after looking at previous RP commendations, the content of this one seems by comparison to be considerably weaker. I have zero experience in NS RP, so the RP commendations are the only source I have to create a frame of reference. And going by that frame of reference, I do not see much that is commendable here. I do not necessarily mean this as criticism of Yohannes' contributions, and it is very likely the fault of the authors who are not adequately describing these contributions. So in this sense, it is a weakness of the draft, not the nominee.

Third, if I interpret them correctly, a few parts of the resolution appear to be commending Yohannes for his work as an NS RP mentor (he is no longer a mentor but he used to be). I believe that the convention in SC is that NS staff (admins, mods, mentors, issue editors) should not be commended for doing their job as staff. I may be mistaken, but this is what I have picked up from conversations with some notable WA authors. If my belief is correct, then that's another issue with the resolution.

Finally, in the interests of full disclosure, I should mention my dislike for the two co-authors. I know, it would be too cynical to vote against this just because I don't like the co-authors, but I am just mentioning it as an intrinsic bias factor to my evaluation of this proposal.

I'd like to hear from the rest of the Ministry staff on this. I am also for now abstaining from voting in the forum thread, until I see what you guys think.

From what I've heard of Yohannes, they're a very prolific roleplayer and highly respected within that community. However, I agree with your assessment that this proposal is light on details as written (or at least details that are considered worthy of a commendation). From an in character perspective, having several successful multinational corporations is definitely not worthy of recognition. And while an active dedication to peace and diplomacy is noteworthy, it's given only three clauses, one of which only introduces the issue and provides no evidence. However, one could also interpret this as an out of character commendation of the player behind Yohannes and their contributions, written within the confines of in character roleplay, in which case, a vote for would make sense. I personally plan abstaining, but how others should vote depends on how they look at the Security Council. If they want to maintain the in character integrity of a commendation by the World Assembly, then a resolution as weak as this one would undermine that. But if they vote from an out of character perspective and simply see the Security Council as a tool that blurs the lines between IC and OOC and is used to reward players rather than in character actions, then I would recommend a vote in favor.

Thanks Scion.

I think a recommendation to abstain would be appropriate here. I will draft an IFV based on Scion's and my comments and send it out after the vote begins.

IFV posted here.