”We all become a well-disguised mirror image of anything that we fight too long or too directly. That which we oppose determines the energy and frames the questions after a while. You lose all your inner freedom.” – Richard Rohr, O.F.M.
In the past few weeks, and especially during our recently concluded elections, there has been considerable debate about whether Europeia ought to declare war on the Greater German Reich, as several of our allies have already done. I have avoided publicly expressing an opinion until now, partly because I was conflicted myself about what we should do. Although I respect the decisions by our allies who have declared war and the opinions of citizens here who believe we should do likewise, I have come to the conclusion that Europeia should not declare war on the GGR.
To be sure, Nazi-themed regions and those who associate with them are no friends of ours. We have long taken a hard line against working with Nazis, or with working with those who align themselves with Nazis. This uncompromising stance was not always popular abroad, but we rightly viewed it as a non-negotiable expression of our values. Recently, we have intensified that stance by offering key support for the liberation of a Nazi-occupied region, by leading offensive military action against a prominent Nazi region, and by tightening our citizenship procedures in an effort to ferret out Nazi sympathizers who might seek quarter here. Some regions at “war” with GGR have not taken a similarly strong stance.
There are a number of tactical reasons to avoid a war with the GGR:
-- The GGR is a weak (but foundered) region, with just 2 nations, that recently had its offsite forum deleted by its service provider. It is not clear that we have the capability to weaken GGR any further. Put another way, it is not clear that a war on GGR would have an achievable objective. It is a mistake to enter any war – especially a preemptive war – without a plan to achieve victory.
-- We already turn away Nazi sympathizers who apply for citizenship. We already refuse to have diplomatic or military relations with Nazi regions. The only practical consequence of a declaration of war would be to make it a crime to give aid and comfort to GGR and other Nazi regions – a goal which could be achieved by a simple amendment to the Criminal Code.
-- The broader NationStates community would inevitably conflate an ideologically based “war” on GGR with the casus belli of other regions at war with GGR, some of whom are at war based on narrow, particularized grievances that are only peripherally connected to contempt for Nazism.
Ultimately, however, my opposition to war is not based on tactical considerations; it is based on what a declaration of war would do to us. Our allies who have declared war on defender organizations are defined to some degree by that conflict. They are not free to ignore an insult from the FRA or UDL; they do not distinguish between defenders who are potentially friendly and those who are implacably hostile; they will not countenance the possibility of open cooperation with defenders on matters of common concern. Of course, being opposed to Nazis is quite a bit different. We are not open to the possibility of “friendly” Nazis coming here as citizens, nor are we willing to contemplate any sort of cooperation with Nazi-themed relations.
But if our distaste for Nazis makes us less leery of closing off avenues for dialogue and cooperation, we should be more leery of the risk Father Rohr describes – the possibility of becoming a mirror image of our enemy. We have long recognized that our raider and imperial allies often get trapped in a raider/defender dynamic that we describe with adjectives such as “tired” and “predictable.” The adjectives used to describe a war with Nazis could be far less flattering – if you believe opposition to evil automatically makes you good, think of Dresden.
As the summer lull rolls in, there will doubtless be concerns about dropping activity levels. I understand how appealing it would be for our leaders to direct our energies toward an external enemy. War would be good for activity in the short run. In the long run, however, it places our core identity and values at risk, just so we can show how much we hate a withered region. We should continue to oppose GGR and other Nazis at every turn, but war is not the answer.
In the past few weeks, and especially during our recently concluded elections, there has been considerable debate about whether Europeia ought to declare war on the Greater German Reich, as several of our allies have already done. I have avoided publicly expressing an opinion until now, partly because I was conflicted myself about what we should do. Although I respect the decisions by our allies who have declared war and the opinions of citizens here who believe we should do likewise, I have come to the conclusion that Europeia should not declare war on the GGR.
To be sure, Nazi-themed regions and those who associate with them are no friends of ours. We have long taken a hard line against working with Nazis, or with working with those who align themselves with Nazis. This uncompromising stance was not always popular abroad, but we rightly viewed it as a non-negotiable expression of our values. Recently, we have intensified that stance by offering key support for the liberation of a Nazi-occupied region, by leading offensive military action against a prominent Nazi region, and by tightening our citizenship procedures in an effort to ferret out Nazi sympathizers who might seek quarter here. Some regions at “war” with GGR have not taken a similarly strong stance.
There are a number of tactical reasons to avoid a war with the GGR:
-- The GGR is a weak (but foundered) region
-- We already turn away Nazi sympathizers who apply for citizenship. We already refuse to have diplomatic or military relations with Nazi regions. The only practical consequence of a declaration of war would be to make it a crime to give aid and comfort to GGR and other Nazi regions – a goal which could be achieved by a simple amendment to the Criminal Code.
-- The broader NationStates community would inevitably conflate an ideologically based “war” on GGR with the casus belli of other regions at war with GGR, some of whom are at war based on narrow, particularized grievances that are only peripherally connected to contempt for Nazism.
Ultimately, however, my opposition to war is not based on tactical considerations; it is based on what a declaration of war would do to us. Our allies who have declared war on defender organizations are defined to some degree by that conflict. They are not free to ignore an insult from the FRA or UDL; they do not distinguish between defenders who are potentially friendly and those who are implacably hostile; they will not countenance the possibility of open cooperation with defenders on matters of common concern. Of course, being opposed to Nazis is quite a bit different. We are not open to the possibility of “friendly” Nazis coming here as citizens, nor are we willing to contemplate any sort of cooperation with Nazi-themed relations.
But if our distaste for Nazis makes us less leery of closing off avenues for dialogue and cooperation, we should be more leery of the risk Father Rohr describes – the possibility of becoming a mirror image of our enemy. We have long recognized that our raider and imperial allies often get trapped in a raider/defender dynamic that we describe with adjectives such as “tired” and “predictable.” The adjectives used to describe a war with Nazis could be far less flattering – if you believe opposition to evil automatically makes you good, think of Dresden.
As the summer lull rolls in, there will doubtless be concerns about dropping activity levels. I understand how appealing it would be for our leaders to direct our energies toward an external enemy. War would be good for activity in the short run. In the long run, however, it places our core identity and values at risk, just so we can show how much we hate a withered region. We should continue to oppose GGR and other Nazis at every turn, but war is not the answer.