On Regional Sovereignty (http://forum.taijitu.org/foreign-service/on-regional-sovereignty/)
By Eluvatar, Funkadelia, Myroria
Every community deserves sovereignty. By virtue of its very existence, a community, no matter how small, is imbued with the right to continue that existence without interference from outside agents.
This seems like a statement most people would agree with, but when applied to NationStates it is decried by some, and compromised by many. Usually, the compromise sounds something like this, though often couched in many more words:
“It is my community’s right to violate other communities’ sovereignty!”This is to be a manifesto describing a philosophy called Sovereigntism. Now is the best time for Sovereigntists to publish their views and beliefs - as now is the time that the sovereignty of communities is most threatened by external forces seeking to promote their own designs at the expense of native communities.
Before we begin our discussion of how to safeguard a community’s sovereignty, we must address what sovereignty is and who deserves it.
Regions are established by a community for that community. Speaking in terms of “regions” instead of “communities” is an easy way to sooth any cognitive dissonance that may arise from disrupting one. A “region” is a simple gameplay mechanic - no more deserving of independence than a tree.
But just as a tree houses an entire ecosystem, a region houses a community. A region is founded by players seeking a home for themselves to do with as they please and they alone are its caretakers. “Tagging regions”, “taking delegacies”, “clearing RMBs”, and “spreading influence” are all convenient, euphemistic ways of saying the same thing: “disrupting communities”.
Though different methods of aggression cause different degrees of harm, any intrusion into a community’s sovereignty - whether it be “tagging regions” to claim them as one’s own, taking delegacies to exert direct control, clearing RMBs to suppress dissent, or participating in governance on behalf of a foreign power to “spread influence” - all result in harm to a region’s native community.
Sovereigntists are dedicated to preserving the independence of any region and its native community from outside aggression. The only time anyone may safely say a region no longer has a community is when that region ceases to exist. Any earlier, and one infringes on the right of a person or people to make their own decisions.
Are there exceptions to this rule? Are all regions home to a community?
Dominions or colonies established by a region are an extension of the sovereignty of their mother, though dominions stolen by force from a pre-existing community, as Imperialists often do, are not legitimate. They may, and should, be liberated from their occupier. Puppet storage regions, likewise, are exempt from the same guarantees given to other regions; they are more like a lifeless filing cabinet than a thriving coral reef. Other regions, such as those dedicated to Nazism or fascism, are mostly dedicated to cause others grief. These regions, based entirely around real-life philosophies dedicated to the oppression of real people, are hardly deserving of the self-determination other communities enjoy.
Since its birth, every conflict in NationStates has had two sides: those trying to build a community, and those trying to corrupt it.Now that this framework describing sovereignty has been set up, it seems like something most people would agree with. Few people would say that anyone is not deserving of the right to make their own choices, but unfortunately, in NationStates, this view is prevalent. As mentioned above, though, it is often not presented in such blunt terms:
“If a region doesn’t want to be raided, it should just refound itself.”“Imperialism is simply an extension of my region’s foreign policy - we are above the same old R/D game.”“It’s my region’s right to play this game however we want, and people who disagree with us are taking themselves too seriously.”Sovereigntists should recognize these statements, and statements like them, for what they are:
“I think that enforcing my will on other people is fun.”Earlier we discussed exceptions to the guarantee of sovereignty given to all communities. Here is another:
No region has the sovereign right to violate another region’s own sovereignty.In this affirmation Sovereigntism sounds a lot like defenderism. This is no accident, though the reality of the situation is more complex; just as Imperialists and raiders often cooperate to subdue founderless regions, Sovereigntists and defenders cooperate to liberate regions from their occupiers.
In the practical reality of its philosophy, though, Sovereigntism encapsulates defenderism and more. Most defender philosophy falls into two camps: the “defending is morally righteous” camp and the “raiding must be opposed” camp. Sovereigntism, on the other hand, takes a “big picture” view: defenses and liberations are extensions of a policy guaranteeing the independence of any community, rather than simple feel-goodism. This ethical policy is one that remains true to the origins of the defending groups that came before us. These groups were founded as associations of mutual defense, which would reach out to new regions as they were threatened. Much in the same way, Sovereigntism is a policy that is based on mutual defense given the understanding that most regions would like to be protected from invasion. This is a return to the ethos of defenders of the past, one of mutual inter-regional respect.
Sovereigntism, as a rule, postulates the right of every community in every region to make its own choices and decide its own future. Sovereigntists oppose imperialism in all its forms - whether it be the direct methods of raiders and Imperialists or the less direct methods used by many regions and organizations to exert influence in places they don’t belong.
Generally speaking, every community deserves its independence. The only people that should guide a community are those that call it home. Anyone else is simply infringing upon their sovereignty.
Anyone that endorses this position is a Sovereigntist at heart.