The question asked in this title is one that we have not had to seriously consider at any point in recent Europeian history. The Director of the Europeian Intelligence Agency has been North East Somerset for roughly a decade and during that time has served continuously and without much public concern. Obviously, there have been moments during reconfirmation or the rare public intelligence debate that we focus in on his role and duties more carefully than others, but the question "What if NES weren't DEIA?" has never seriously been asked. Now, however, NES is retiring from his position and a new nominee has been presented to the Senate. So, the question is less of a philosophical one than a very real concern that has been placed in front of the region. What has the DEIA been? Without NES will we still have that? What should we expect from the DEIA going forward? I wanted to dig a little into these questions in this piece and try to answer them the best I could.
Let's start first with: "What has the DEIA been?" This question is probably the easiest one to answer because we have a clearly defined answer in our law. I even wrote a piece breaking down the Intelligence Act back in 2014 if anyone wants to read some of the early work from The Panda's Pen. The law has obviously been updated since then, and my analysis was more broad than I want to be in this piece, though, so I'll highlight the key points we need to know.
To begin, let's establish what the EIA is. According to the Information Act (2019):
So, there you have it. This job is incredibly important when done right because it provides the President with the information they need to keep Europeia safe. Who determines what information is important and what isn't? Well, the only people who would know about the information at all are the EIA and the President.
That leads us to the next question: "Without NES will we still have that?" The job of the DEIA only functions as it has because we trust them to be doing the work we want them to without us ever seeing much evidence of it. I do not think it is a stretch to say that NES is one of the most respected figures not only in Europeia but across NationStates. Even those who hate him admit he is a competent individual with an impressive track record and deep connections. Having someone like that in a position like this is not just ideal, it's downright required. The level of oversight for a position like this as it currently stands is next to nothing. The duties of the job are to process information that protects our region from threats. What is that information? It's classified. Who sees it? The person who classified it. If there is ever a doubt that the DEIA is not protecting our region, there is almost no way to assuage that doubt because of the nature of their work. You pretty much need to have the reputation of NES to be able to pull off this job, particularly in our new oversight happy culture.
That brings us to the last question: "What should we expect from the DEIA going forward?" We have been told that NES will have no role in the EIA going forward, so anything he brought to the role is now gone. The current deputies are Peeps and Kazaman, and the latter has of course been nominated to step up as Director. He has said there will essentially be no changes in structure if he takes over, and this has, understandably, prompted some pushback from the public and the Senate, who has since opened a new thread about possible changes to the way that the EIA and DEIA operate in our region. The expectation that Kazaman would like us to have (i.e. the same expectation that we had under DEIA NES) is clearly not the one he has been greeted with.
I think that speaks mostly to what NES specifically brought to the role and how he filled it, but the case could be made that Kazaman specifically would invite more oversight and doubt regarding private information regarding his recent low approval as Minister of Foreign Affairs (a rather similar role dealing with a lot of intel and connections behind closed doors) and the backlash to the Dakota/ERN incident that Kaz oversaw as President just two terms ago. Maybe there is nobody who could ever inspire the same confidence as NES. There are few figures that are so widely respected and well-connected, after all. What is clear, though, is that if there is someone, it's likely not Kazaman, as far as appearances are concerned. At least not now with the case that's been made by him and President Lime so far.
Stepping back from my perch as a writer here, I want to speak a little more personally about what NES has done for me as President. I have been elected President on four separate occasions now. Each time, NES will pull me aside on Day One to give me a briefing of the most important thing that nobody is talking about, how it will affect us, and our options moving forward. These briefings continue as often as they need to, with some terms being a lot busier than others. When NES comes to me with something I don't always accept it with no questions asked, but by and large he is able to answer my questions, provide immaculate sourcing, and speak from years of experience in a way that makes it so even if I don't agree with him 100% I am glad we spoke, and I value his opinion immensely. I have a great amount of respect for NES and what he has brought to the table over the years.
This is different from the EAAC, who will also provide advice and history because NES has been actively seeking out information, connections, etc, in a way that makes him and his office the most useful and informative member of the panel that a President could have. As I alluded to earlier, that is a tough job and not everyone can it pull off. Do I think Kazaman can do it? I don't know, I haven't really had that kind of relationship with him to speak to his skills in that way. I would actually love NES to come out and speak on this matter and endorse Kazaman in this realm. Without that, I have a lot of hesitancy because I haven't seen that from him, and I don't know if his career fills in enough of the gaps for me like NES' does. Regardless of who is picked I would have a lot of concern about the NES-shaped hole left in the intelligence infrastructure just because I have seen first-hand what role he plays in keeping us all safe.
Going forward, I predict the EIA will fundamentally change. Either it will cease to exist because the required level of trust left with NES or what we look for out of this institution will change and the post-NES EIA will look so different that it won't even be same role. Or Kazaman will surprise us all and become the next NES seamlessly. I don't know what route history will take because there's a lot of discussion left to be had. For now, though: What is the DEIA without NES? I think the answer is... really up to us. Until next time this is Calvin Coolidge, not the most intelligent.
Let's start first with: "What has the DEIA been?" This question is probably the easiest one to answer because we have a clearly defined answer in our law. I even wrote a piece breaking down the Intelligence Act back in 2014 if anyone wants to read some of the early work from The Panda's Pen. The law has obviously been updated since then, and my analysis was more broad than I want to be in this piece, though, so I'll highlight the key points we need to know.
To begin, let's establish what the EIA is. According to the Information Act (2019):
What does that mean? Well, basically if there is information out there that would harm Europeia, or that we would be harmed by not knowing, then the EIA is responsible for gathering and maintaining it. And that's not something that is just recommended, either.
If the Director does not report this important information to the President, then they are not doing their job.
So, there you have it. This job is incredibly important when done right because it provides the President with the information they need to keep Europeia safe. Who determines what information is important and what isn't? Well, the only people who would know about the information at all are the EIA and the President.
Meaning that the EIA, and therefore its Director, must be incredibly trustworthy to be handling this information and also being the only one who can really provide any sort of critique on their job performance, outside of the President. Every time we see the DEIA doing any sort of official duties, whether they are defending the President after a large intelligence snafu or just asking confirmation questions we have not seen the large bulk of what they have done to reach that point, we just have to take their word for it (and the word of the Presidents who have served alongside them).
That leads us to the next question: "Without NES will we still have that?" The job of the DEIA only functions as it has because we trust them to be doing the work we want them to without us ever seeing much evidence of it. I do not think it is a stretch to say that NES is one of the most respected figures not only in Europeia but across NationStates. Even those who hate him admit he is a competent individual with an impressive track record and deep connections. Having someone like that in a position like this is not just ideal, it's downright required. The level of oversight for a position like this as it currently stands is next to nothing. The duties of the job are to process information that protects our region from threats. What is that information? It's classified. Who sees it? The person who classified it. If there is ever a doubt that the DEIA is not protecting our region, there is almost no way to assuage that doubt because of the nature of their work. You pretty much need to have the reputation of NES to be able to pull off this job, particularly in our new oversight happy culture.
That brings us to the last question: "What should we expect from the DEIA going forward?" We have been told that NES will have no role in the EIA going forward, so anything he brought to the role is now gone. The current deputies are Peeps and Kazaman, and the latter has of course been nominated to step up as Director. He has said there will essentially be no changes in structure if he takes over, and this has, understandably, prompted some pushback from the public and the Senate, who has since opened a new thread about possible changes to the way that the EIA and DEIA operate in our region. The expectation that Kazaman would like us to have (i.e. the same expectation that we had under DEIA NES) is clearly not the one he has been greeted with.
I think that speaks mostly to what NES specifically brought to the role and how he filled it, but the case could be made that Kazaman specifically would invite more oversight and doubt regarding private information regarding his recent low approval as Minister of Foreign Affairs (a rather similar role dealing with a lot of intel and connections behind closed doors) and the backlash to the Dakota/ERN incident that Kaz oversaw as President just two terms ago. Maybe there is nobody who could ever inspire the same confidence as NES. There are few figures that are so widely respected and well-connected, after all. What is clear, though, is that if there is someone, it's likely not Kazaman, as far as appearances are concerned. At least not now with the case that's been made by him and President Lime so far.
Stepping back from my perch as a writer here, I want to speak a little more personally about what NES has done for me as President. I have been elected President on four separate occasions now. Each time, NES will pull me aside on Day One to give me a briefing of the most important thing that nobody is talking about, how it will affect us, and our options moving forward. These briefings continue as often as they need to, with some terms being a lot busier than others. When NES comes to me with something I don't always accept it with no questions asked, but by and large he is able to answer my questions, provide immaculate sourcing, and speak from years of experience in a way that makes it so even if I don't agree with him 100% I am glad we spoke, and I value his opinion immensely. I have a great amount of respect for NES and what he has brought to the table over the years.
This is different from the EAAC, who will also provide advice and history because NES has been actively seeking out information, connections, etc, in a way that makes him and his office the most useful and informative member of the panel that a President could have. As I alluded to earlier, that is a tough job and not everyone can it pull off. Do I think Kazaman can do it? I don't know, I haven't really had that kind of relationship with him to speak to his skills in that way. I would actually love NES to come out and speak on this matter and endorse Kazaman in this realm. Without that, I have a lot of hesitancy because I haven't seen that from him, and I don't know if his career fills in enough of the gaps for me like NES' does. Regardless of who is picked I would have a lot of concern about the NES-shaped hole left in the intelligence infrastructure just because I have seen first-hand what role he plays in keeping us all safe.
Going forward, I predict the EIA will fundamentally change. Either it will cease to exist because the required level of trust left with NES or what we look for out of this institution will change and the post-NES EIA will look so different that it won't even be same role. Or Kazaman will surprise us all and become the next NES seamlessly. I don't know what route history will take because there's a lot of discussion left to be had. For now, though: What is the DEIA without NES? I think the answer is... really up to us. Until next time this is Calvin Coolidge, not the most intelligent.
