The Fourth Monarchist Conference
Communique, 2 October 2016
Between 23rd September and 30th September, representatives of leading NationStates monarchies have been assembled at the Fourth Monarchist Conference in The Land of Kings and Emperors. This communique is the official report of the Conference.
The previous three Monarchist Conferences revolved around renewing a ceremonial treaty between the participating regions. While this treaty successfully promoted friendship amongst monarchist regions, experience has shown that it is impractical to have a multilateral treaty of this kind without some kind of central apparatus to set direction and manage affairs. We believe that unnecessary centralisation could potentially damage the ability of individual regions to make policy choices which reflect their own interests. As such, the Conference resolved that we would not create a fourth monarchist treaty. Instead, following each annual conference in The Land of Kings and Emperors, we will release a communique or collective statement of intent which summarises the conclusions from our discussions. This will enable our meetings to focus on addressing topical gameplay developments and issues of concern to our regions.
Our discussions reflected on the recent efforts from the Order of the Grey Wardens to undermine the sovereignty of monarchist regions. The Grey Wardens have embarked upon unprovoked political and military aggression against monarchies, from a campaign of subversion against the Kingdom of Alexandria to the seizure of the Osiris territory Islamic Republics of Iran. We note recent claims by the Grey Wardens that they are only hostile to raider regions. We believe that these protestations lack all credibility when we consider the policies and actions pursued by the Grey Wardens so far. Apart from their disgraceful behaviour towards the Kingdom of Alexandria, we note that the High Constable of the Grey Wardens threatened to "torch" the LKE, at the head of a Grey Wardens invasion, should it ever fall founderless. Rather, the Grey Wardens must be understood as an opportunistic group which is willing to employ a range of tactics to threaten any sovereign region which refuses to conform to their ideology.
The Grey Wardens should understand that we are in a position of strength. Individually and collectively, monarchist regions have the diplomatic and military power to robustly uphold and protect our interests. With vigilant and well-designed security policies, the internal political foundations of NationStates monarchies are impervious to any methods of attack they might use. Ultimately, their activities are futile. They merely represent another mutation in a long line of idealistic defender political organisations which have engaged in wanton aggression against gameplay regions which wish to retain autonomy over their foreign and military policies. If the Grey Wardens continue to behave like a latter-day United Defenders League, showing no respect for the sovereignty of game-created and user-created Independent and raider-aligned regions, then our regions will not hesitate to take appropriate measures in response, either collectively where warranted or individually according to their own policies and in a way which best serves their regional interests. The same warning applies to other regions and organisations which would seek to follow the example set by the Grey Wardens. If these groups conspire to undermine us, they will gain nothing in the long run except the enmity of our regions.
We are united in affirming and defending monarchy as both a political system and a cultural theme against all its detractors. Monarchies come in all varieties and should not be regarded as a monolithic group to be labelled as tyrannical. Regions should cooperate based on shared interests and principles rather than closing doors because they object to another region's internal choices about their constitutional structure. In particular, according to their own rules, game-created regions must have the prerogative to select whatever form of political system which they feel best suits the needs of their community. Balder and Osiris have both experienced criticism which has included objections to their choice of monarchist political systems in principle, as opposed to critiques simply focused on the processes under which these decisions were taken. Monarchism must be regarded as a legitimate choice for all regions to adopt. A monarchist structure can be one of several effective ways of constitutionally defining the role of an in-game founder or WA delegate as a figure within a region. Equally, we recognise that are there are successful and practical non-monarchist structures which also achieve that objective. Unlike those who criticise monarchy, we believe in a plurality of political systems which can accommodate regional needs and attributes.
Finally, while we are moving away from cooperation based on the specific terms of a multilateral treaty, we remain committed to cultural collaboration based around the theme of monarchy. Every participating region shall have an opportunity to host a Monarchy-sponsored festival in their region to be attended by other participating regions, with a schedule based on the alphabetical order of the signatories on a monthly basis starting in November and with a break in March. Participating regions may exchange their slots according to this schedule with each other. This system will ensure that monarchist regions are engaging with each other throughout the year, rather than only on the occasions of the annual conferences. Each of our regions is also issuing an open invitation to the citizens of the other regions attending to participate in their public Discord channel and the equivalent platforms maintained by some regions. This will encourage and facilitate greater cultural and social interaction between the citizens of monarchist regions, as opposed to confining communication to monarchs and leading government officials. We have also discussed creating a joint monarchist presence and involving our citizens in initiatives to achieve this. Overall, we have developed a strong, practical programme for cultural cooperation amongst the monarchies of NationStates.
Onder Kelkia, Emperor of The Land of Kings and Emperors
Rach Eriksen, Queen of Balder
Cormac Rahl-Sethos, Pharaoh of Osiris
Hyacinth Ravenclaw, Queen and Sovereign of the Kingdom of Alexandria
MagentaFairy, Queen of Albion
George VI, King-Emperor of The Kingdom of Great Britain
Christian I, King of The United Kingdom of The Netherlands
George Mountbatten, Prime Minister of United Kingdom
