[SC - Passed] Commend Duxburian Union

The Security Council,

Acknowledging that while the prototypical candidate for a commendation is well-known internationally, despite being of less renown, the nation Duxburian Union is worthy of acclaim, having made immense contributions to both their own region, and to the international community;

Lauding the significant role that Duxburian Union played in refounding their founderless home region European Union, freeing its 100-nation population from the fear of raid and destruction by enemy forces;

Noting Duxburian Union’s ongoing dedication to protecting European Union from external threats, including raiders and other enemy forces, through frequent region-wide inspections to identify enemy nations, and by training inhabitants in ways to identify such nations;

Highlighting the various positions that civil servants of the nation Duxburian Union have held within the government of the European Union, since the nation's inception in 2006:

• Chief Justice on the European Court of Justice for 4 months between 2011 and 2012, 4 months in 2013, 4 months in 2015, and 4 months between 2016 and 2017. The civil servants of Duxburian Union that served in this capacity are seen as some of the most prolific judges in European Union history.
  
  
• Speaker of the European Council for a total of 36 months, overseeing the largest volume of legislation in European Union history, as well as compiling the most comprehensive record of council proceedings at the time.
  
  
• Commissioner of Internal Affairs for 7 consecutive months in 2012 as well as 4 months between 2013 and 2014. In this capacity the civil servants of Duxburian Union were able to keep the population of nations in European Union at a stable level.
  
  
• Foreign Affairs Commissioner for 4 months between 2016 and 2017, as well as 16 months between 2018 and 2019. In this capacity the civil servants of Duxburian Union advocated for and pursued a more open foreign affairs platform for the region.
  

Cognizant of the notable achievements of the Duxburian Union by virtue of Vincent Drake, a proxy nation and contributor to the aforementioned regional refounding, and not to be confused with the former European Union official of the same name;

Appreciating the efforts of the technical engineers of Vincent Drake in the development of defender tools, specifically the advanced piece of defender tech codenamed Breeze++ that allows defender forces to react more quickly to raider threats;

Celebrating the many top-level positions held by Vincent Drake within the Defender region The Order of The Grey Wardens, including:

• Chamberlain, whose duty it is to keep and update records of missions undertaken by Warden operative nations.
  
  
• Constable, whose duty it is to lead defender forces into battle against raider forces as well as to train new defender nations.
  
  
• First Warden, a critical command position, whose duty it is to lead the region to victory.
  

Emphasizing their participation in actions against raider forces throughout NationStates, numbering a staggering 6,556 operations, and including 3,822 defenses, 374 liberations, and 2,076 detags to clean up raider propaganda. Notable among these:

• The liberations of The Monarchist Entente, St Abbadon, Souls, Boston, Belgium, Japan, Eireann, Philippines, and Anontia when all faced occupations of over 30 raider nations.
  
  
• One of the leading roles in the refounding of Greece, which had lived under the despotic rule of Yauna for almost 10 years before being freed. Greece now sits as a peaceful and open region to all, without the fear of regular purges undertaken by the disgraced founder nation.
  

Believing that all of these actions for the betterment of the international community make Duxburian Union more than worthy of recognition by this Assembly;

Hereby commends Duxburian Union.

Co-authored by Candensia, Deadeye Jack, and THX1138.

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Voting Instructions:

• Vote For if you want the Delegate to vote For the resolution.
• Vote Against if you want the Delegate to vote Against the resolution.
• Vote Abstain if you want the Delegate to abstain from voting on this resolution.
• Vote Present if you are personally abstaining from this vote.

Detailed opinions with your vote are appreciated and encouraged!

IFV

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I am curious to hear about the votes here, this seems like a solid commendation, why not vote for it?

Pallaith:

I am curious to hear about the votes here, this seems like a solid commendation, why not vote for it?

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As the author I am also curious as to why. I know I'm not a TNPer, but I would like to know why people are against commending Vinny.

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for

By my count it’s 5-3. Voting For.

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Going to go ahead and officially add my vote now.

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My vote is for, but I am curious to the arguments on both sides.

@Kuriko
@Pallaith
@Fregerson

The proposal itself doesn’t seem to feature any subject material that especially warrants a commendation for the nominee. That being said, I do believe that the nominee in question (Duxburian Union/Vincent Drake) deserves to be commended, however this laundry list of a proposal is not the resolution to do just that as it provides insufficient support in my opinion. Make no mistake, the proposal itself is written will enough. By no means is the author’s quality of work being called into question here, as the language itself is serviceable for the purpose intended. However, when looking to get the nominee commended (which I do think we should do), I think that it’s important for proposals to include clauses that support the motion being presented. In this case, the motion presented before the World Assembly is to commend Duxburian Union/Vincent Drake. That’s why we, the World Assembly, would be passing this resolution in theory. Instead, what World Assembly voters seem to be presented with is a neatly formatted rendition of past accomplishments the target nation possesses.


I will admit that these accolades are impressive and that the longevity for which the nominee has has this level of an impact is significant. But commendation proposals should contain material that demonstrates excellence and prowess in a nominee’s undertakings (whatever those undertakings may be). For this proposal specifically it seems as if the first half of the resolution is unrelated to the second half of the resolution. By that I mean, for the first four clauses of the proposal it provides a detailed record of past positions the nominee operated in the capacity of; while the next five clauses reference their world as a defender in the Order of the Grey Wardens and elsewhere.

Particularly, the following two clauses stand as being especially good to me:

‘Commend Duxburian Union’:

Emphasizing their participation in actions against raider forces throughout NationStates, numbering a staggering 6,556 operations, and including 3,822 defenses, 374 liberations, and 2,076 detags to clean up raider propaganda.

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‘Commend Duxburian Union’:

Appreciating the efforts of the technical engineers of Vincent Drake in the development of defender tools, specifically the advanced piece of defender tech codenamed Breeze++ that allows defender forces to react more quickly to raider threats;

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^^ In both of these clauses we can see clear connectivity between the idea that the nominee ought to be commended and that they ought to be commended for these exceptional deeds. In large part, the rest of this resolution revolves around past position citations and while it’s an extremely detailed record of former service it’s not something that warrants international recognition for being especial. Would that service be especial to a particular region or sphere? Absolutely, it would. But nothing here shines out in a way that flows with what the rest of the proposal is highlighting.

Once again, that is my opinion and subject to my judgement. Of course, you are free to disagree with me and to say the nominee is deserving is a fair stance to take. I too believe that the nominee is deserving, but this is not the resolution to accomplish that.

Additionally, I would suggest that the author focus more on the second half of the proposal as opposed to persisting on with the first half of this proposal. The sheer amount of defending that Vincent Drake has done is noteworthy and should be admired. Elaborate on that in a way that’s similar to clause 8, and if must then I suppose the mentioning of high-ranking positions in the Order of the Grey Wardens is acceptable. But don’t list every posting they had in a user-created region and then proceed to say that keeping a region’s population at a stable level while Commissioner of Internal Affairs is something that an international community should recognize.

This is becoming more a lengthy post then I’d intended, but basically what I’m saying is that there a far greater deeds done by the nominee with much more impressive outcomes then what’s mentioned. To have those types of clauses be included here would make for much more supportive material when trying to get a commendation passed and wouldn’t be overly reliant on a laundry list to establish merit. Restructure the resolution so that gameplay becomes the main course and UCR region loyalty and longevity is subsidiary.

Lastly, I believe that the target nation of this resolution need be adjusted. The second half mentions Vincent Drake almost exclusively, not Duxburian Union who we’re supposedly supposed to be commending. Sure, I understand the two go hand and hand, but don’t you think the name ‘Vincent Drake’ is more internationally relevant and reputable? By making the nation of Vincent Drake the actual target nation for a commendation resolution you could eliminate the need for clause one and instead open up more space for you to write about their impacts as Vincent Drake. Just establish the central point and be consistent in the means to achieve that point. This proposal is too region-specific and because it focuses so much on Europeian Union I feel as if it excludes other material that’s more commendable internationally.

That, in detail, is why I’m against

FOR

Per Standing Policy,

Aganst

Against.

For