(Abandoned) Filling the Void

[Sil Dorsett]

The Phoenix Union was no more.

Claidie never wanted to see her principality leave the union, but a power-sharing bargain with her sister left open the door for its withdrawal. Threats from the First Peoples Republic of Cogoria instilled fears of war and turned the public against the collective defense agreement. A botched apology fractured the union on ideological lines. The protests over peace and sovereignty grew day by day, and a now empowered Chamber of Law had the means to force Claidie's hand if they gathered the support from her sister and the Prime Minister. While Princess Alice was consistently against the Phoenix Union, the Prime Minister, Madeline, was a swing vote who now had to balance the monarchy's goals with her own vulnerability created in the power-sharing agreement, re-election.

As the months went on, the principality's delegation chipped away at the collective defense agreement and eventually broke out of it. But, with the threat of being dragged into a war not of their own mitigated, the Prime Minister realized what little use the union to the nation after having opted-out of every major agreement. With this in mind, she finally relented to the demands of the legislature and signed a withdrawal decree knowing Alice would sign and the Chamber of Law would assent to. Knowing she was defeated, Claidie signed the decree herself as not to start another round of debate in the legislature that she knew would result in a loss for her.

While the principality was now out of the union, no one in the government expected the withdrawal of Maloria to immediately follow the election for Grand Presiding Officer, or the withdrawals of Xentherida, Arrandal, Highton, and finally The [Syrixian] Empire itself. Claidie hoped her nation wasn't the catalyst for the union's demise, but it felt that way, as no other legislative action other than the election followed the principality's withdrawal.

Claidie wasn't about to let her idea of a continentally or even globally connected principality drift away. She knew the Phoenix Union had to be replaced, but perhaps in a way not as intrusive to a nation's sovereignty, which was what ruined her efforts before. With that in mind, she drafted a letter to The Empire with an idea.

Spoiler: Claidie's letter to Syrixia (Repost from the Embassy of the Syrixian Empire)

​

To Secretary of State Rahul Khanna, greetings,

I was disappointed to learn of the final dissolution of the Phoenix Union not too long ago. Although I ultimately signed the decree separating the Principality from it, I wasn't left with many alternatives. With my Prime Minister finally giving in, I chose to have my Chamber of Law be productive in other matters rather than go through the motions for what appeared to be inevitable. The people stood against me and my vision of a principality standing together with the region rather than remaining alone.

I did not anticipate that others would follow suit. I believed that the issue was a matter of fear among my people, not that the bonds between all the members of the union had been so fractured. Was the determination of sovereignty that much of an issue? Were the disputes between our representatives egregiously offensive to the point that it shattered any trust between us? What lessons could we learn from all of this and what can we preserve from what we had before?

I have not given up on my vision entirely; I only recognize that I was too ambitious before. The idea of participating in an international federation, where laws and military demands could be imposed on the principality without the consent of principality residents, was apparently the wrong approach, at least here. I have been contemplating ideas to correct that flaw. I believe I may have a solution to preserve the spirit of the union without nations having to sacrifice their sovereignty in favor of any union, alliance, or federation.

If the purpose of the union was cooperation, especially regarding trade and mutual defense, then let those who wish to cooperate on specific matters do so. Let those who do not feel it is best for them step aside. That is the crux of my new plan: to give nations an open forum to develop multilateral treaties between the willing in a moderated setting. This idea of mine is still in its infancy, and I ask for assistance in developing it further.

I humbly request a personal meeting with officials from The Empire to discuss the causes of the demise of the union, what we can retain, and what we can do to bring our nations to the table once again, even if with different expectations. I look forward to seeing if there is interest in this endeavor.



Graciously yours,

Claidie didn't feel bringing back the Phoenix Union was viable, but if she could provide the framework for something else, something less intrusive to national sovereignty but a means to encourage greater cooperation with the nations of Craviter, it might be worth pursuing.

Within a couple of weeks of receiving acceptance from the Syrixian Secretary of State, Claidie found herself face to face with Rahul Khanna in a conference room in the Golden Palace, nervous as hell, about to begin her greatest trial as a stateswoman thus far.

 

[Syrixia]

Rahul Khanna, the Imperial Secretary of State, had a nigh-impeccable track record.

Appointed in 2015, or TA 1996 in the Imperial Calendar, under his leadership the State Department had managed to negotiate numerous new agreements and seamlessly fizzle its way out of the failed Phoenix Union. Going into the conference, he was confident, though Diwan Sahab still gave him the usual reminder- mess this up and heads would roll before the Jade Throne.

After a few minutes of waiting, Rahul noticed Claidie walk in. She had been discreetly escorted to the palace, without any pageantry or paparazzi. She appeared nervous. No doubt it was because, though Madeline Ellison often was a swing vote, she was the only member of the Dorsettian Regency Council actively and consistently committed to a Sil Dorsett connected to the rest of the world.

She seemed like she really hoped this would work out. As did he, but his was more of a certain, optimistic hope than a nervous, desperate hope. Specifics aside, here they were. "Miss Dorsett." Rahul spoke, beginning a conversation that could be historic. "I'm glad you could make it. I'm looking forward to hearing your ideas. How was the flight?"

 

[Sil Dorsett]

Claidie was starting to feel more comfortable with the relaxed atmosphere and the individual attention she was receiving from Khanna, and especially enjoyed the lack of attention from outside. Khanna's staff had done well to make this a much of a low-key visit as possible. The flight to Syrixia, though, was still one to forget, and she made sure to point out that while her acceptance of flying, privately or commercially, was improving, the feeling of helplessness and the loss of control was unsettling. She was glad to be done with it for the day.

With the small talk out of the way, it was time for business. Pulling out her chicken-scratch notes from her laptop bag, she took a brief moment to recall what she wanted to say. As the thoughts returned, the words flowed just as she remembered them before.

"Secretary Khanna, If you don't mind, I'd like to go through all of my thoughts all at once and then take any questions you have.

"After the collapse of the Phoenix Union, I thought about why it had failed and what could be salvaged. From the principality's perspective, the risk introduced from being in a mutual defense agreement proved to be too high. Because we were the smallest nation in the union, and quite honestly one of the smallest nations on Craviter population-wise, I think that if we had committed a force proportional to forces utilized by other members during a conflict, our involvement would have been a token gesture. Some may have believed that we should have contributed more to bring us up to parity with other contributors, which would have jeopardized an entire generation of our young adults. I think that's why the agreement was so unpopular back home, and why there was a great deal of fear when a threat actually surfaced.

"Now, as to why the rest of the union left, I think it was because of the climate of international affairs in our world. National sovereignty reigns supreme, I feel, with nations unwilling to allow officials from other nations to impose their will over the objections of their own officials. We saw this with my demand of Miss Malorie Allen to conjure up an apology letter to Cogoria that was not agreed upon by all nations of the union yet still supposedly reflected the opinion of the union. If anything, I think that was what set the break-up in motion, and that was my fault. But even then, look at international organizations that have come before and broken up, like the International Association of Nations and that other one that never got off the ground, really, the Society of Nations. I just think the climate is that no nation wants other nations to impose their laws and decisions over the objections of the nation being impacted.

"That is what leads to my plan. What I am suggesting, Secretary Khanna, is an open conference, of Craviterian nations to start, where representatives from nations can come and generate interest for their ideas and gather support, but not be able to impose their will on others who do not feel it best to take part specific ideas. Essentially, an open forum that claims no sovereignty, requires no membership, where nations can come seeking those willing to collaborate, and providing the forum for ideas to mature and flourish."

Claidie settled down a bit, confident her idea was innovative enough to raise an eyebrow. She had more details to work through, but found it fit to allow Rahul to show whether it was worth her time to continue.

 

[Syrixia]

"Interesting." Rahul replied. "While the Phoenix Union was a well-intentioned experiment, national sovereignty does indeed the order of the day in Craviter. And so it failed. I think a more open forum, able to fit within the sovereigntist mold, will suit Craviterian nations more, and will perhaps attract more nations than the Union ever did. Do you have anything more you're thinking about as it relates to such a forum? I'm very keen to see where this could go."

 

[Sil Dorsett]

"I've given some thought into the format of the conferences. If you don't mind me rambling some more, I'll explain." Claidie looked at her notes again; the section she was about to reference being more structured and neat. "In my head, I've divided the conference into three sessions.

"The first is a brainstorming session, where delegates can propose ideas to the others to see who's interested. They don't need to be complete bills or treaties or anything like that, just something to gauge interest. Delegates commit to working out the details later on.

"The second is actually a bunch of sessions - breakout sessions, where delegates that were interested in each idea work together to work out the details into an actual treaty, whether it's something specific to the members that were interested - a multilateral treaty - or something that's open to everyone else - an open treaty.

"The third is a session to finalize the treaties that were worked on. Delegates who worked on multilateral treaties can announce their approval of it, and those who worked on open treaties and then propose it for others to join in.

"There is no forcing of treaties upon any nation that does not consent. Ever. Thoughts so far?"

 

[Syrixia]

"It sounds good." Rahul replied. "I do have a few questions, though- just for clarification."

"Firstly, who can call these conferences, and where and how will they be hosted?"

"Secondly, what if a conference is called just for the purposes of discussion? Are the second and third sessions mandatory?"

"Thirdly, in order to judge who is and isn't eligible to come to and/or be invited to meetings, how do we define what is and isn't Craviter? As you may know, the exact definition of what countries are and aren't a part of the continent in a geopolitical sense is debatable."

"And finally, how will sessions be administered? Perhaps the state that called the conference acts as a chair figure? Plus, how will all these rules we have discussed and are about to continue discussing for how the conferences work be both executable and recorded? Will there be some sort of document that lays it out, perhaps approved by the first conference? And should that be the case, will the first conference utilize these rules in a de facto manner or will there be another set of rules for that specific conference?"

 

[Sil Dorsett]

The line of questioning worried Claidie. She wasn't sure what to make of Rahul's thoughts. Was it that he was trying to make something more of it than she wanted, or was it that she neglected the basics of organizing an event as she imagined? She didn't know the answer, and she was left thinking on the fly.

"Well, I think it wouldn't be a matter of calling for a conference, but instead that they're planned in advance. Maybe on a quarterly basis? Maybe the principality and The Empire host the first two just to test the waters and then see who may be interested in hosting the next one. Maybe by then we'll have a good measure on whether the idea actually works. If it doesn't, it would be simple enough to discontinue."

"As far as discussion-only conferences, I don't see those actually being a thing, to be honest. Discussions may happen on the side, but I think the hope is that there would be something to pursue and work out. If nothing came out of the first day, then it wouldn't be a good sign for future conferences. If that happened, I'd suggest reducing the frequency of them or abandoning the project altogether. If people aren't coming to the conferences prepared with ideas, that's a problem."

"I'm a bit confused on your third point. Didn't the Phoenix Union limit itself to Craviter too? How did it define the boundaries? Either way, I'd suggest being a bit relaxed on that. I'm not opposed to others participating. I was just thinking Craviter as a suggested scope to start out with."

"For your fourth point, I really do not want the first conference to be wasted setting up the rules. I want it all decided ahead of time, even if it means just the two of us drafting them. If you think others might be interested, maybe we can give them a call and see what they think. I also don't want us bothering with votes to change conference rules either. If something needs to be changed, maybe the organizer for the next conference gets a phone call or an e-mail with suggested changes. The point is that fixing conference rules shouldn't take up all the time, because that doesn't lead to the conference being productive. I'm trying to get away with less bureaucracy."

"As far as who administers the meeting, yes, I'd say the hosting nation has a chair position to help the conference flow, but it needs to be clear that they don't have any real power over anything. All they really should be doing is recognizing when someone wants to speak, organizing the breakout sessions, and setting the schedule for final votes on agreements."

 

[Syrixia]

"I think those are solid roles regarding hosting nations chairing the proceedings." Rahul replied.

"I agree that it definitely shouldn't be more than what you've specified. As for setting up the rules ahead of time, I think we should opt for what you said about writing a first draft ourselves. Then, the two of us can probably make some phone calls, to get input from other governments. Bureaucracy was one of the causes of the Phoenix Union's demise- the less, the better."

"Once everything's set up and we have a final copy of rules to go off of, we can hold the first conference in Norvalle, since these conferences were your idea. The second can be held in the Empire or any other interested nation."