Personally, I love walls. They establish shelter, are a good place to hang Taylor Swift posters, and even keep out all the immigrants I don't want coming into my country. However, a new treaty in front of the Senate right now is proposing another use for these wonderful objects: fostering international cooperation. At first glance, this seems counterintuitive, because walls, traditionally, are more barriers than bridges, but I'll bite. What makes this wall so special?
The aim of this treaty is, as it tell us, to recognize our "prolonged friendship... foster closer cooperation with one another... promote our shared ideals in the World Assembly... and bolster our influence in the World Assembly to the joint benefit of our regions." The name of the treaty stands for the "World Assembly Legislative League" or W.A.L.L. I assume that's because "Supreme Headquarters, International Espionage, Law-Enforcement Division" or S.H.I.E.L.D. was already taken. Regardless, this treaty is designed to improve our region's, as well as our ally regions', presence and benefits in relation to the World Assembly. In this article, I'll be looking at who this treaty involves, how it will work, and the current consensus in the Senate.
So, who exactly would this treaty involve? According to the section titled, "Membership and Administration," subsection b), this W.A.L.L. will be built of "International Democratic Union, the Realm of Balder, the Region of The North Pacific, and the Republic of Europeia." For these members to become a part of this, in accordance to subsection c), they must ratify this treaty "according to their internal laws and procedures" and be "approved unanimously by the WALL." Comments on how this sounds more like code for some sort of WWE initiation program than an international treaty have gone unanswered. As far as how Europeia, or any region, would be represented, subsection a) says,
"Each signatory is entitled to one Ambassador seat on the WALL. Each signatory may appoint and remove persons to fill their own Ambassador seat according to their internal laws and procedures. No individual may personally occupy more than one Ambassador seat on the WALL."
This means that somehow, a W.A.L.L. ambassador, likely the World Assembly Delegate, would be selected, by each individual region, and as long as each individual only represents one region, everything's good. In case you are wondering where these ambassadors will conduct their meetings, subsection f) tells us "the headquarters of the WALL shall be situated on the forums of The North Pacific."
Now that we know who's involved, how is this going to help our region in the World Assembly? Other than the fact that we now have three other regions to blame in case something goes wrong, we also have more resources to draw from when we want to draft or promote a piece of legislation. Looking at the section called "Functions" subsection a),
"The WALL shall collectively exercise all powers and functions available to each signatory's Minister of World Assembly Affairs or equivalent official, and in place of that official, for promoting voting on a World Assembly resolution proposal in a certain manner. These include, but are not limited to: starting a regional off-site poll; producing an analysis and vote recommendation; telegramming World Assembly nations and World Assembly Delegates across NationStates, and using regional mass-telegramming infrastructure to facilitate these actions; creating and editing NationStates dispatches; lobbying the signatory delegates for rapid votes; and posting on the NationStates World Assembly forums."
Needless to say, this is very exciting, not just for those involved in the World Assembly, but also those who have wanted users not involved in our forum to be more involved in the community. Lastly, in case anybody out there was worried about this treaty hindering our region's ability to make its own decisions, fear not. Subsection c), of the section titled, "Sponsorship and Opposition," assures us,
"Notwithstanding any other provision of this treaty, the signatories reserve their sovereign right to determine the final vote of their respective World Assembly Delegates on all World Assembly resolution proposals according to their internal laws and regulations."
So, don't worry all you people out there who hate cooperation. If you want to stand up against your friends and yell a big "Screw you!" This treaty gives you every right to do so... notwithstanding any other provision of this treaty.
Now, as far as the general consensus in the Senate on this matter, there has not been much in the way of actual discussion. What there has been is a few influential members voicing their approval. Anumia and r3naissanc3r co-authored the treaty, so they support it. Our President Kraketopia, who introduced this treaty to the Senate, supports it. And, in case you needed any more persuading, our recently elected World Assembly Delegate, Mousebumples, supports it.
To conclude, this treaty will unite Europeia and three of its allies in a combined effort to improve our dealings in the World Assembly. It also gives us room for our sovereignty, and has the support of many of our most influential members of government. So, while this article is taking a neutral stance on this issue, as this paper tries to on every issue, the region seems united in its approval of this treaty in a manner not seen since that time a regional poll was taken that asked, "Who likes cookies?" As always, I encourage those of you who want to find out more to go the Senate discussion thread titled, "W.A.L.L. Treaty" or to ask any of the users mentioned in this article any questions you may have via PM. Until next time, this is Calvin Coolidge, suddenly wanting a cookie.
The aim of this treaty is, as it tell us, to recognize our "prolonged friendship... foster closer cooperation with one another... promote our shared ideals in the World Assembly... and bolster our influence in the World Assembly to the joint benefit of our regions." The name of the treaty stands for the "World Assembly Legislative League" or W.A.L.L. I assume that's because "Supreme Headquarters, International Espionage, Law-Enforcement Division" or S.H.I.E.L.D. was already taken. Regardless, this treaty is designed to improve our region's, as well as our ally regions', presence and benefits in relation to the World Assembly. In this article, I'll be looking at who this treaty involves, how it will work, and the current consensus in the Senate.
So, who exactly would this treaty involve? According to the section titled, "Membership and Administration," subsection b), this W.A.L.L. will be built of "International Democratic Union, the Realm of Balder, the Region of The North Pacific, and the Republic of Europeia." For these members to become a part of this, in accordance to subsection c), they must ratify this treaty "according to their internal laws and procedures" and be "approved unanimously by the WALL." Comments on how this sounds more like code for some sort of WWE initiation program than an international treaty have gone unanswered. As far as how Europeia, or any region, would be represented, subsection a) says,
"Each signatory is entitled to one Ambassador seat on the WALL. Each signatory may appoint and remove persons to fill their own Ambassador seat according to their internal laws and procedures. No individual may personally occupy more than one Ambassador seat on the WALL."
This means that somehow, a W.A.L.L. ambassador, likely the World Assembly Delegate, would be selected, by each individual region, and as long as each individual only represents one region, everything's good. In case you are wondering where these ambassadors will conduct their meetings, subsection f) tells us "the headquarters of the WALL shall be situated on the forums of The North Pacific."
Now that we know who's involved, how is this going to help our region in the World Assembly? Other than the fact that we now have three other regions to blame in case something goes wrong, we also have more resources to draw from when we want to draft or promote a piece of legislation. Looking at the section called "Functions" subsection a),
"The WALL shall collectively exercise all powers and functions available to each signatory's Minister of World Assembly Affairs or equivalent official, and in place of that official, for promoting voting on a World Assembly resolution proposal in a certain manner. These include, but are not limited to: starting a regional off-site poll; producing an analysis and vote recommendation; telegramming World Assembly nations and World Assembly Delegates across NationStates, and using regional mass-telegramming infrastructure to facilitate these actions; creating and editing NationStates dispatches; lobbying the signatory delegates for rapid votes; and posting on the NationStates World Assembly forums."
Needless to say, this is very exciting, not just for those involved in the World Assembly, but also those who have wanted users not involved in our forum to be more involved in the community. Lastly, in case anybody out there was worried about this treaty hindering our region's ability to make its own decisions, fear not. Subsection c), of the section titled, "Sponsorship and Opposition," assures us,
"Notwithstanding any other provision of this treaty, the signatories reserve their sovereign right to determine the final vote of their respective World Assembly Delegates on all World Assembly resolution proposals according to their internal laws and regulations."
So, don't worry all you people out there who hate cooperation. If you want to stand up against your friends and yell a big "Screw you!" This treaty gives you every right to do so... notwithstanding any other provision of this treaty.
Now, as far as the general consensus in the Senate on this matter, there has not been much in the way of actual discussion. What there has been is a few influential members voicing their approval. Anumia and r3naissanc3r co-authored the treaty, so they support it. Our President Kraketopia, who introduced this treaty to the Senate, supports it. And, in case you needed any more persuading, our recently elected World Assembly Delegate, Mousebumples, supports it.
To conclude, this treaty will unite Europeia and three of its allies in a combined effort to improve our dealings in the World Assembly. It also gives us room for our sovereignty, and has the support of many of our most influential members of government. So, while this article is taking a neutral stance on this issue, as this paper tries to on every issue, the region seems united in its approval of this treaty in a manner not seen since that time a regional poll was taken that asked, "Who likes cookies?" As always, I encourage those of you who want to find out more to go the Senate discussion thread titled, "W.A.L.L. Treaty" or to ask any of the users mentioned in this article any questions you may have via PM. Until next time, this is Calvin Coolidge, suddenly wanting a cookie.
