From the desk of Winston Jung

[MDFification]

Greetings! My name is Winston Jung, professor emeritus of astropolitics from Kwatee University. In this irregularly updated bulletin, I'll be sharing my thoughts and ramblings on interstellar politics for the curious to pick over. It is hoped that the following publications are informative, or at least entertaining. As has lamentably become my standard, it is requested that should these writings infuriate a reader that that reader refrain from posting bounties on the head of the author.

--Archive--

On the Borderworlder Nationalist Movement
On the Nature of the Border Coalition

 

[MDFification]

On the Borderworlder Nationalist Project

Welcome back, dear reader, to Professor Jung’s astro-political exposition. In this week’s paper, we shall discuss an obscure movement that nonetheless is close to my heart, namely that of the Borderworlder nationalists.

PREAMBLE

An astute observer of interstellar politics first reaction to the notion of Borderworlder union is, as it should be, confusion and scorn. The Outer Colonies are a vast and unreasonably diverse swathe of systems. The region (itself an ill-defined concept) is home to every conceivable category of political ideology, both as domestic creations and imports. It lacks even a vestigial cultural unity or a semblance of an integrated economy – its worlds are largely unrelated and irrelevant to one another. Some have been settled for centuries and cling to their independence fiercely, while the majority are less than a decade old and still consumed by anxiety at the prospect of leaving the sphere of influence of their overlords in the core of the bubble. Clearly, any nationalist project would quickly fail. And indeed, if this question was posed a mere decade ago, before the Frame Shift Drive turned the bubble on its head, no sensible expert would have disagreed that such a project was inconceivably foolish.

The old ways of thinking, however, died with the technology that fostered them. The FSD has changed everything in the field of interstellar politics – it is simply that the people of the bubble have yet to come to terms with the new reality. Achenar and Sol are no longer years away, as they once were. Nor are they even, as they were more recently, months to weeks away. A force from the capital of either superpower can now reach the center of the other in a day or less. The distance between worlds has sublimated like so much biowaste exposed to vacuum, and it has taken the foundation of society with it.

THE POST-FRAMESHIFT FRONTIER

For the Outer Colonies, this means two crucial things. First, the insulating effect of distance from the tribal brutality of inner-bubble politics has eroded; even now, Federal and Imperial capital ships treat our systems as a convenient battlefield to wage war without media outcry at home, black-ops units conquer worlds on the basis that potentially someone else would in the future and political prisoners are deposited in prisons of unscrupulous regimes, never to be seen from again. Secondly, the need for economic integration with the old colonies has vanished, yet the underdevelopment and exploitation of our worlds by the inner colonies continues unabated, tying us to their looming recession. Most dramatically, however, is the effect the FSD had on piracy and warlordism. Previously, the Archon Delaines of the universe could be a threat to onlya single system and a nuisance only to its closest neighbours. With interstellar travel effortless and ubiquitous, however, anyone with a surplus of charisma and a deficit of scruples can become a conqueror. It took the combined efforts of the Empire’s leading factions to prevent the Kumo Crew from overrunning the borders of our most venerable worlds. It took the combined efforts of the Border Coalition and the utter poverty of its region to halt Delaine’s advance at Wadir. Despite the terrifying power Delaine wields, however, he is unremarkable except in daring. A thousand Delaines could have arisen by this point, and only the illusion of the superpowers invincibility is holding them back. An illusion that is fading fast, as they bloody one another over grudges that became irrelevant centuries ago, and as worlds like Lugh and people like Yuri Grom humble them despite the titanic mismatch of resources.

Fringe worlds banding together to resist greater powers is nothing new. Attempts crop up every few years and usually crumble before the decade is out; only one exception the Alliance, has managed to endure and grow long enough to become a credible threat to the other superpowers. Borderworlder nationalists are among the latest expressions of this phenomenon. They are distinct, however, in the scope of their concerns. Unlike other projects aimed at regional unity, the Borderworlders are not merely caught between two warring giants with little concern for their sovereignty. Local conditions are quite unique, and our response must be thus. The Outer Colonies face a multitude of astropolitical concerns, which I shall detail below.

THE THREE CRISES

Firstly, there is the problem of exterior defense. Your typical outer colony simply does not produce enough commanders willing to subordinate themselves to their petty government to be able to protect its sovereignty. Agents of the superpowers, criminal organizations or simple wandering psychopaths with military-grade hardware can and do topple governments that have persisted for centuries in a matter of weeks. Pooling resources for communal defense is the logical response to this problem, but doing so threatens local sovereignty as much as the invaders do. Local factions are thus reluctant to attempt unification, which explains why it took seven years for outsiders to form a communal defense organization for us. This, however, poses our second problem.

The Outer Colonies have attracted throngs of independent pilots, each of them capable of defining a colony’s economic and political future on a whim. Local governments depend on these new Cossacks for security, but have little to no capability to enforce a code of conduct on these pilots on their own. If it were not for imported demagogues inspiring benevolence in this all-important class, each of these pilots could be a new Delaine. The independent pilot is a double-edged sword, and the local governments of the outer colonies are incapable of safely wielding it. Pure luck and the benevolence of strangers has saved us, but this balance of power could crumble at any time without a foundation of realpolitik.

Our third problem is economic in nature. The advent of the FSD has, to be quite frank, threatened to ruin the interstellar economy. Trading concerns have found themselves made irrelevant as transporting cargo was rendered as easy as asking a transient commander to deviate from their route for a couple minutes. Investments across the bubble, once strategically vital, have become irrelevant to their backers. In the Outer Colonies, a plethora of systems have found themselves largely abandoned by their distant overseers as shifting conditions in the core worlds have rendered their development inconsequential. Our more developed worlds have found themselves stuck with a different problem. These worlds, founded under centuries-old economic precepts, are cripplingly overspecialized. With imports increasingly expensive and exports to the core worlds increasingly devalued, poverty and resource shortages will be the norm in the Outer Colonies within the next decade. A shockingly simple solution is available – most worlds in the region are not integrated with one another. Integration, in addition to settling new worlds to balance out shortages, could and would advert the region’s economic doom. The biggest barrier, other than the interest of the core worlds, is once again the patchwork sovereignty of local governments. Integration would elevate some worlds over others, undermining the petty statesmen who make their living here.

A CAUSE WITHOUT REBELS

A discerning reader will notice the common theme of these three issues. In every case, it is the need to maintain sovereignty of individual systems that prevents application of the obvious solution. To the Borderworlder nationalists, the solution is simple. If sovereignty is an obstacle to prosperity and security, it must either be altered or cast aside. Why then has no movement coalesced to bring this seemingly obvious solution about? Though pro-unification sentiment is present on many words in the Outer Colonies, it commands a majority or even an empowered minority on most. A concrete proposal for a Borderworlder state has not yet been agreed upon by unionist groups, and thus the question of which worlds will benefit the most and at who’s’ expense has yet to be answered. Many hurdles remain in the way of any such proposal to be satisfactory to the parties involved.

The Outer Colonies will never agree to union if it is not in their best interests, and only then if union would not violate what beliefs they hold most strongly. Economic integration would put some worlds at the mercy of others, leading ideological disagreements (rife within the region as it is) to escalate to full blown conflicts if one party does not simply dominate the other. Any proposal for integration will need some mechanism for preventing this state of affairs, but the nature of the mechanism will doubtless favor specific parties over others. In addition to this, there are polities in the Outer Colonies that will resist unification regardless, due to their degree of integration with the core worlds. Corporate overlords will resist losing their investment regardless of the wishes of the local populace, and patriots to the various superpowers will likewise be willing to suffer rather than give up their allegiance. How this resistance is overcome will shape any emerging nation in the Outer Colonies, as it will show how such a state will deal with its own dissidents in the future.

For the movement to solidify and overcome these obstacles, it needs to first come to a consensus amongst itself. It shows no sign of doing so.

HOW UNIFICATION COULD EMERGE

Unification remains possible, despite these mind-straining obstacles. The plethora of problems facing any such state proposal can be overcome, but only if accord is reached among potential members beforehand. If regional consensus on the ideal relationship between the free pilots and local polities, the practice of slavery, ideal trade relationships between regional systems and ideal government structure is reached, unification will change from a fringe ideology to a real possibility. It is unlikely, however, that such an accord will simply be reached on its own. Dialogue must be fostered, and preliminary economic integration must progress at its own pace. This entails a greater degree of regional cooperation and integration emerge than currently exists, which itself will not occur if not deliberately brought about.

One potentially good omen for unionists is the emergence of the Border Coalition. Though it is not a unionist group, the Coalition does allow for consensus to emerge among the free pilots of the Outer Colonies as to their position versus any unification proposal. If the Coalition opposes a unification proposal, its implementation becomes impossible, but without the approval of a body like it such a proposal would fail anyway. Winning the Coalition, however, is not synonymous with unification. The mandate of the Coalition is limited, and its influence over local polities far from absolute. Unification will most likely be preceded by the formation of various other joint efforts among the region’s inhabitants, and these too must be in accord with any proposal.

IN SUMMATION

While the triumph of the unionists is a distinct possibility, one cannot overemphasize how far their dream is from becoming a reality. Unification of the Outer Colonies is, regardless of its desirability, unlikely to occur without a decade or more of sustained and widespread political will. Much could be done to hasten its far-from-inevitable occurrence, but who is to do it and how are as always up in the air.

 

[MDFification]

On the Nature of the Border Coalition

PREAMBLE

The Border Coalition is, as was the network of prior agreements that preceded it, the dominant force in its local neighbourhood. Lamentably, however, it remains poorly understood in the eyes of the public, both inside and outside its sphere of influence. For the sake of those who live in its shadow, I intend to clarify herein what exactly the Coalition is and how it came to be, so all may respond to it in an informed if not appropriate manner.

THE COALITION ON THE BORDERS

Rumor and hysteria surrounding the Coalition, only months old at the time this paper was written, are rife with hyperbole and blatant falsehood. The Coalition is frequently interpreted by the public at large as a new Alliance forming in the Border Worlds, a bloated international organization, a confederation of warlords or a thousand other rationalizations of what many believe may well be the galaxy’s least known and youngest Power. The truth is, as ever, considerably more mundane, as will be demonstrated by a cursory glance at the Coalition’s history.

The Coalition’s members call a region informally known as the Border Worlds home. For the sake of time, a full history of this region cannot be included within this paper. Relevant to the Coalition, however, is how the region has transformed in the past decade. With the advent of the Frame Shift Drive, what was once a backwater between suddenly became inundated migrants from the Federation and Empire. As with the region, most of these groups deserve a history in their own right, but individual distinctions aside what is relevant to one seeking to understand the Coalition is that their arrival completely overturned the prior status quo. These migrants consisted not only of colonists seeking economic opportunity, but included legions of starship commanders capable of overthrowing governments and demagogues capable of building empires. Within the past two years, these later two categories of migrant have utterly dominated and reshaped the Border Worlds, sweeping away all relevant opposition and transforming the local economy and geopolitical landscape at a frantic pace that, to a local such as myself, is simultaneously welcome, unsettling and irresistible.

The Coalition may be only months old, but in truth its origins are almost a year old. The earliest known precursor to the Coalition was the series of treaties between local demagogues. The Border Worlds has changed much over the past two years, but surprisingly the inevitable conflicts this has created have been rapidly resolved by the vigorous diplomatic efforts of the regions leadership. This state of détente only occasionally broken by conflicts would likely have continued to the present day if it had not been interrupted by arrival of the most significant and least welcome group of migrants to the Border Worlds, the Kumo Crew. The arrival of Archon Delaine and his pirate hordes shocked the region, and the fall of Wadir proved that the status quo was unable to protect the Border Worlds from arrivals that could be more accurately termed invaders than migrants.

THE WADIR CRISIS

The Coalition was formed from many distinct groups, but in the opinion of this researcher the driving impetus behind its initial birth was the diplomatic efforts of Tiberius Darvil. Tiberius and his brother Caius were Imperial refugees who established themselves in Mikunn, soon finding themselves a major local power controlling a vast network of business interests and political vassals through patronage and the liberal application of Tiberius’ considerable mercenary following. Tiberius’ dispute with Delaine began some months before the Fall of Wadir. Mercenaries under Tiberius’ direction infiltrated the Kumo Crew en masse and diverted considerable amounts of resources towards pointless or downright self-destructive projects, in what was one of the first recorded use of ‘Fifth Column’ tactics among the powers in modern times. Tiberius’ reasons for ordering this attack remain uncertain, though it is convincingly argued that he and other local leaders felt threatened by the pirate king’s advance towards their space. Tensions between Delaine and Tiberius almost led to war right then and there, but for a time cooler heads prevailed. This standoff erupted with the invasion of Wadir by Delaine. Borderworlder leadership had previously been assured by Kumo Crew officials that Wadir was to remain free of Delaine’s ‘business interests’, and its acquisition convinced them that the Crew was either unwilling to stay out of their territory or unable to control its membership. War broke out in Wadir, with a vast, informal coalition (most importantly for our readers including the forces of Mikunn and Manite) raced to the system. Wadir was counter-invaded, and though Delaine succeeded in retaining his control, Mikunn’s forces proved impossible to excise from the system entirely. The war looked certain to escalate further as Delaine’s commanders expanded their area of operation and Tiberius’ informal coalition grew increasingly unruly.

If it were not for the formation of the Border Coalition at this crucial juncture, the Border Worlds would likely be languishing under pirate occupation. Tiberius and his closest allies adopted this moniker for the purposes of easing diplomatic efforts – parties not formally members of the new Coalition could no longer provoke Delaine under the banner of the signatories’ cause, and the expansion of Coalition membership to the fearsome Winged Hussars, a collection of commanders following the nationalist demagogue Matthias Shallowgrave, grew the numbers of pilots Delaine could expect to oppose him by a full third. Peace was restored and the Border Worlds were saved, but they would never be the same.

THE NEW NORMAL

With their brush with pirate domination narrowly averted, leaders of the Border Worlds were reminded of a simple truth – divided we are weak, but together we are strong. It had taken the regions three largest powers to deter Delaine. Though their achievement was remarkable, Delaine remained among the smallest and weakest of the galaxy’s powers, and there was little doubt that it was the poor reward he would have received from a bitter war in the Border Worlds rather than actual fear of defeat that actually deterred him. Nevertheless, the Border Worlds took one crucial lesson from the aftermath of Wadir, namely that deterrence is in the eye of the beholder. Their willingness to come to one another’s aid was little greater than it had been before the war, but it had been proven that their network of treaties and diplomacy lacked the prominence in the public eye necessary to actually prevent conflicts from starting. The Coalition as a publicly visible organization was the solution.

The Coalition de-facto existed at this point, but it would not be formally structured for some months, when the grandstanding of the Dangerous Games brought in new membership and necessitated an clarification of what membership in the Coalition meant. Nevertheless, the Coalition functioned almost identically at this point as it does at the time of this papers writing. Following the publishing and ratification the Border Coalition treaty, the Coalition became codified. With this, and with Tiberius Darvil’s disavowal of his temporary role as the Coalition’s commander in chief, the Coalition demonstrated that it was unlikely to radically change. Thus, we can at last discuss its nature as an organization.

THE COALITION TODAY

The Coalition is in actuality more effective due to the attitudes of its signatories than it is due to formal structure. Theoretically a collective security organization, the Coalition does relatively little to foster security beyond inspire fear in its enemies and act as a forum for a variety of state, non-state and pseudostate actors on already friendly terms with one another. Members are bound not to enter agreements that conflict with the Border Coalition treaty, to negotiate disputes amongst themselves in full view of other signatories and to treat an attack on one as an attack on all – however, in practice, these terms are hardly confining. Any policy that does not directly impact another Coalition signatory need not be discussed at all, and few agreements require binding arbitration in practice. The Coalitions most apparent function, in the eyes of this writer, is in it providing a clear identity for groups already voluntarily supporting one another; the Coalition is a badge to wear with pride, or the interstellar equivalent of gang colours to ward off ones potential enemies. This is not a criticism; like the Border Worlders they’ve come to rule over, the Coalition is short on rules and regulations and tall on respect for one another.

The Coalition’s actual structure is somewhat opaque to outsiders. It briefly sported a position labeled ‘Leader’, but what responsibilities and powers this office entailed were never clarified, at least to outsiders. As this office was only held once, on an interim basis, it is unknown when the nature of the Leader of the Coalition is to be clarified. The highest (and at present, only) decision-making body of the Coalition is the Security Council. This council consists of three founding fembers (consisting of three arguably non-state actors, the Mercenaries of Mikunn, Communism Interstellar and Winged Hussars) and permanent members. Support of founding members must be unanimous for any measure to pass, and the elevation of new permanent members is decided entirely amongst them. Any measure (excluding the elevation of a permanent member) must also have a simple majority of permanent members backing it to pass. In essence, a single founding member possess the ability to veto any measure, while >50% of permanent members must oppose a measure supported by the founders for it to fail. However, the purview of this council is actually rather small, as discussed above. The above rules only apply in matters deemed important, and what is or is not important is at the discretion of the council as a whole.

TO THE FUTURE

The Coalition, as depicted here, is far from a proper hierarchical organization. It is a Coalition in the truest sense of the word – a voluntary association of sovereign members, who conduct themselves in all affairs not explicitly concerning to other members with absolute autonomy. I couldn’t imagine an organization more representative of our home if I tried. It’s nice to know that, despite the turmoil of the past few years, our rulers remain more Borderworlder than the Borderworlders would agree is wise.

Where will the Coalition go from here? It is early days yet, and the Coalition has yet to make it through its first year. There is yet plenty of room for the Coalition to redefine itself, though this writer suspects it would resist doing so without adequate cause. One can suspect that the Coalition will eventually change, becoming more codified and rigid with age, but it is certainly heartening to know that in the Border Worlds, people still come first over policy.