[IC] National Leaders Debate

OOC: For those who missed these on the discord. My apologies



Question 4: How do you combat the growing threat of terrorism in the known world? What do you believe is the best approach to handling this issue? Is your approach balanced to also protect the human rights of your citizens?

Question 5: What do you see as the greatest national security challenge for your nation at this time? Will this be an evolving challenge for the coming decades? What is your approach to the national security needs of your country?

Amira placed down her glass of water upon the podium once more and hoped that her voice would be a reasoned addition to this important topic.

"The greatest security threat that we face lies within our own borders and in some respects within the long memory of our people. Our own storied history, culture and complex family arrangements must all be understood to be important factors too. It is the influential allure of the divisive rhetoric of a once trusted voice. The voice that calls out to their disciples and tells them to do what they had never before contemplated. Such rhetoric is employed by the enemies of my people, who wish to sow division and to direct anger towards the institutions that be. For those once trusted voices, the anarchy that may ensue is a ladder for the ambitious to climb.

It has been the actions of subversives forces that have fostered these social divisions. This has included members of the aristocracy, duly elected civilian officials, and members of my own family. Some motivated by a lust for power, others by revenge, and others out of a lack of trust in the powers that be.

Unfortunately, matters transpired to the point where it has required a firm grip upon the reigns of state to correct the course. I am here today representing this firm grip upon the reigns of power. It is the duty of the Monarch to ensure that the Nation remains on course. In McMasterdonia, we are winning our war and restoring faith in the system.There are few still who call for the end of the Kingdom and for it to be replaced by a less-secular state. A Kingdom that has survived longer than the greatest Empire to have ruled upon this earth, will never allow itself to fall into ruin at the hands of theocratic sycophants.

Those who desire to rise like a Phoenix from the ashes of this great state do not have the answers the people seek, and it seems, nor do they even pretend to know the answer any more. The people's eyes are wide open now to their transgressions. They will rise up against those who attempt to displace the Kingdom and ensure that order is restored. The recent use of chemical weapons and car bombs against a famous tourist establishment has only fostered the steely resolve of the McMasterdonian peoples.

Times are changing. Our people today are more educated now than any previous generation. They have greater access to resources and technology to suit their needs and wants. Their expectations of their government have changed accordingly. So too have the threats to their security. Cyber attacks pose a unique challenge for the modern state to grow and adapt to. The security of even our more traditional methods of national defence rely upon a strong cyber attack defence and offensive response by the state, as does our financial and economic security. As McMasterdonia has seen, the paradigm of old national security measures is no longer enough to protect the vital interests of the state.

The media too, especially that of foreign extraction plays a significant role in undermining the institutions of the state. By sowing doubt in the minds of the people, by encouraging belief in conspiracy, and by seeing oppression, violence and corruption where objectively none truly exists, these media institutions are in turn serving their own incredulous agenda. Further readership. Greater access to the media market. A dedicated and unquestioning base of followers. This is the price they demand. As national leaders, it is our duty both to protect ourselves and our states from the attacks of media organisations sponsored by unfriendly foreign governments.

In McMasterdonia, we rely upon our close allies, largely former states of the Kianese Empire to assist us in protecting our vital national security interests, without violating our national sovereignty. Nations must be allowed to act within their own borders as they see as necessary to preserve and protect the people. Our close partners further abroad have also been of vital assistance in ensuring that our food security and water security during the recent civil war was accounted for by freer and more efficient trading relationships.

Some national leaders here today have expressed a clearly unyielding aggression and desire to torment their own people, for no reason, or no reason that stands up to any factual analysis. While they are free to act as they see necessary within their own borders and the confines of the limits of their national sovereignty, no action of this nature can transpire without an equally strong response from their own people. It may not happen today, or tomorrow, but a decade or more from now, these actions will play strongly into the arguments of their enemies.

These national governments are more than prepared to encourage the very social divisions of which I spoke of earlier. To further divide and weaken those they perceive to be their enemies, who are often their own people who are crying out for better government. In so doing, they are weakening their own institutions and damaging their own national security in the long term. They are defiling the trust in the institutions of state and encouraging the burning fires of rebellion within their own cities, towns and villages. It will not be long and they too will be thrown into the fires of war and civil strife where only the strongest may survive. Those who have had to fight every day of their lives against these oppressive regimes, will prove to be far more challenging than those in the Ivory Tower thought possible. By defiling the trust of their own institutions they are ensuring the unravelling of their national security establishment and are themselves posing a long term existential threat to the survival of their nations.

Mrs. Shailaja nodded.

"Thank you, esteemed leaders. Let us shift gears."

"There are many nations which are at or have passed the breaking point of disaster. Failed states and collapsing governments can have a far reaching effect on the region to which they belong. What can and will your government do to support these countries and handle variables such as refugees?"

Tobias cleared his throat

"We've had experiences with this on both sides. Prydania descended into a civil war that eventually split the country in two. Large parts of it resembled a failed state as the war brought an end to centralized authority in many places."

"The Korova disaster..."
*Tobias turned to Arthur for a moment, before continuing...
"...occurred during the final two years of the conflict, when the Royalist faction had secured eastern Prydania. We had to deal with an influx of Korovan refugees as we were attempting to win a civil war. We did our best to settle those we could on Tempest Holm, as well as in towns in Eastern Prydania."

"I am proud to say many of these people have integrated into their communities. These towns were devastated by the war and Sydnicalist tyranny. Fresh faces and hands of people willing to carve a new life for themselves helped eastern Prydania recover. We also, sadly, still have makeshift refugee camps filled with Korovans who only wish to return to their homeland. So with Arthur Tatarov here? I want to make a promise that Prydania will help in any way we can to help the Stan Yera with the Korova recovery, so those Korovans in our borders can return to their homeland at the earliest possible opportunity."

Mrs. Shailaja nodded at Il Duce Mussolini.

"Thank you all. Issues concerning refugees will continue to challenge all of our governments moving forward. Let us change gears, however. We move on to our next topic, gun control."

"Could you elaborate your stance on gun control. Should adults have the right to carry a concealed handgun?"

The Arc-Wonderess of Sutherland went to speak,

"There are particular places where guns can be used and cannot be used. The densely populated areas of Sutherland such as the Dominions of Scholastic or ArchCentre do not allow residents to own guns since there is no need to hunt game. The sparesly populated areas which include the Territory of Thane, the Territory of Leeden, and some agricultural dominions like Sanuk or Foreveraire allow the use and carry of weapons. Only those employed by law enforcement or defensive federal organizations may carry concealed firearms, and each of these public servants have been through official training to handle such weapons. If a citizen would like to travel from the metro dominions our free carry dominions, then they are more than welcome to rent a storage space in the free carry dominions. There are checkpoints on our highways to make sure no guns are illegally brought into the metro dominions as well as in the airports. I know it is not a perfect solution, but this is the solution our leaders have come to in order to make safety a priority but also allow for the sport of the hunt."

Madeline was stuck with another difficult question and again had to muddle her way through. The Syrixian moderator seemed to be armed with a plethora of questions to which the minister had no easy answer to. While she thought one way on the gun control question, her fellow leading ladies saw things differently.

"The question of gun control, specifically concealed carry, is a matter of risk acceptance. While concealed carry could prove effective in deterrence in the fact that anyone you meet could be armed and thus counter a crime, there are some situations where the risk is too high. For instance, in Norvalle (the capital city), it's too great of a risk to government officials to allow private citizens to carry guns at all, and so only law enforcement and the military is permitted to retain their weaponry, and officers are ever more present and vigilant to watch for threats. Outside of the capital, the risk is not as high, and so private ownership and concealed carry is permitted and more tolerable. For good reason, though, ownership and concealed carry should be highly regulated to ensure that only those of good moral standing, character, and mental health are equipped. Background checks including character testimony are the law. With this, we believe we have a balance between liberty and safety."

Anthony ceased his break from answering questions and stood.

"It is a right for citizens of the Imperial Goyanean Federation to own and use arms. The supreme law guarantees it. It is up to each constituent however to decide wether or not they will permit open or closed carry. Many Goyaneans regularly carry firearms on their person, and it has deterred and stopped many crimes before. In the 2016 Modergen Terrorist Attacks, a terrorist was disabled while attempting to release Sarin by a bystander with a handgun. It is a matter of personal choice to each adult, but we will not infringe on the right to carry."

Tobias turned to Madeline

"It's always refreshing to hear a common sense approach from the Principality."

"Prydania is a mostly rural country, and firearms play many important roles for the majority of Prydanians. Be it as a tool to keep wild animals at bay, as a means for self defense, as a tool to hunt, or as a hobby through which children bond with their parents."

"Who am I, or anyone else, to tell a family that has traditionally lived with guns and practice safe and sane gun ownership each and every day that they should not have this essential part of their household?"

"I don't support any attempt to take guns out of the hands of competent, safe, and responsible Prydanians for whom the gun represents an essential part of their day to day life."

It is now time for our next question on this topic of regulation and law enforcement. Your insights into the matter of gun control have been very interesting - many of you advocating for an approach of deregulation. which is related to this next question.

We will now turn to illicit drugs and their regulation within your nation. It has long been contended by experts in the field that the war on drugs has been a tragic and abject failure of public policy. That instead of reducing the harm caused by substance abuse and addiction, it has resulted in a system of treating a medical problem as a criminal problem - costing countless lives, and significant taxpayer dollars, and enriching criminal organisations.

The question I pose is this: What is your strategy for managing problems related to illicit drug addiction? Is your approach the traditional method of the war on drugs, that is, to treat it as a criminal matter with punitive action. Or is your approach focused on decriminalisation, taxation, and regulation of the drug trade within your nation? Which model do you believe has the most effective results in minimising the social harms of drug addiction?

Amira had been well prepared for this question. De-regulation had been a hot-topic in McMasterdonia recently. Sensing that it was now her turn, she stepped forward to the microphone once more and began to speak:

"In the Kingdom of McMasterdonia, the illicit drug trade has caused significant problems that we have been unable to ignore. Our approach over many years has been the old method of crime and punishment. Drug use was treated as any other crime, and often more severely than other crimes. It has been said that drug regulation is often discriminatory across racial and wealth boundaries too. The drugs that are popularised as party drugs for the wealthy are not punished as severely as the cheaper versions used by their countrymen on the poorer side of town.

Further to this, it is the drug trade that has assisted our criminal organisations to funnel money in to terrorist organisations that have worked to undermine the state. These include secessionist movements that have utilised bombs, guns, and crude implements to carry out attacks. It includes the Archbishop Gunrei who has utilised the networks of the church to secure money for his war off the backs of the drug trafficking trade.

Those who traffick drugs in McMasterdonia will be continued to be punished severely. Nevertheless, it is my hope that in the coming months and years ahead we can begin a careful process of regulation of particular drugs. These drugs will be rigorously tested and sold through approved vendors. Entertainment venues will have drug testing facilities so that people who choose to use them, can test them to ensure that they are not laced with bleach and other terrible chemicals some drug manufacturers insist on placing in their drug cocktails. There will be tax implications. We believe that this will be a more effective method of regulating the drug trade. "

We will also decriminalise drug use related offences. We do not need to exacerbate the problems of drug addicts by throwing them into cells with other severely addicted individuals. There is no benefit to this type of segregation from society. From this separation that will severely affect their future opportunities to find gainful employment. This is an area where my thinking has clearly evolved over my decades of public life. There needs to be a paradigm shift in McMasterdonia. What we are doing now simply isn't working. We need to try something different and innovative that will hopefully solve the problem.

"We will now turn to what is perhaps an irregular topic of law enforcement. While this issue does not effect every nation, it is a matter of concern to a fair number of governments."

What strategies will your nation employ to combat the vampire menace?

For our next question under the category of economics, we turn to political and economic ideologies that may motivate your approach to economic management.

With this in mind, the question I pose is this: is it your view that a communist, capitalist, socialist, fascist or an anarchist position offers the best ideological framework for the economy? If you prefer a different approach, please explain your position and why this is better than the alternatives.

"It is the belief if the Sutherland Federation that all of these systems are flawed in some way or another. Sutherland rathers an approach that emphasizes the community above the individual or the state. Each dominion is divided into governing districts of around 10,000 people. These 10,000 people act as a direct democracy. Given, only those above eighteen years of age among the 10000 are able to vote on motions, but the leaders elected among the them lead the communities and form the governing body for the entire dominion. With community and selfless aid of one's neighbor being the primary emphasis of our system, our economics still utilize bartering if both parties can agree on a fair trade. Currency is still used as a foundation of our economy, especially when dealing with out of dominion transactions, but we do not want greed to corrupt our systems and push us toward rampant corporatism. We foster the creation of goods for the people of our nation before we look to production for other nations. I think the greatest benefit Sutherland has in this approach is the ability to have strong local bonds and transparency which builds a strong forum at the national level. If this is a new concept to some, we call for any questions or concerns in the spirit of learning about our differing economic systems. Thank you."

"I would say that Sutherland's primary ally at the moment is Tommatito, but we are always looking for allies from any corner of Eras who support the upholding of the common good and the virtues of peace and diplomacy. We do not wish to aid any militant nations who wish to begin wars in order to expand their borders or destroy a weaker nation. Therefore Sutherland's diplomatic arm, the Ambassadorship, and our international society representing an international conscience, the Eras Society of Honorable Nations (ESHN), would be more than happy to begin a dialogue with nations that share in our values of assuring the common good."

The Panama Coalition is a friendly nation, always looking for other nations to establish trade and cultural and political friendship. We are open to all nations, and we are tolerant and warm welcome no matter their culture, way of thinking, political ideas, races or origin. As long as they come peacefully. We also offer military and industrial cooperation for those nations that wish to be our friends.