Confirmation Hearing: WMS (State)

[Emsworth]

I call the hearing on WMS' nomination as Secretary of State to order.

[jokerman]

Do you intend to pursue a idealistic look at the world such as under President Siege as Sec of State or will you take a more pragmatic look at world affairs?

[PBrunsel]

What is you policy on our ongoing strugle with Chinese Communism?

[Colin]

What do you believe are the main faults in former Secretary Siege's diplomatic plans? Which countries, if any, do you believe were unfairly treated in the former Secretary's foreign policy report? What would you change to the former Secretary's foreign policy? 

[King]

I have no questions on this nomination.

[Gabu]

What are your overall thoughts about what Siege and past secretaries of state have done in Atlasia?

[WMS]

Okay, let's deal with the questions in order:

To Senator Cosmo Kramer: I admire the idealism that Siege used in compiling his list, yet I did have areas of disagreement with it, as anyone who was in the Senate should remember. I intend to steer a middle course between Siege's idealism and the pragmatism of previous Secretaries of State. Although I have my own ideas on how I would revise the Country List, I am open to suggestions from the Senate if they have particular areas of concern.

To Senator PBrunsel: I bow before none in my despite for the oppressive Chinese Communist regime. The trick is how to craft policies that will enable the flowering of political and civil freedoms there. The State Department certainly should not turn a blind eye to ongoing abuses there, yet lines of communication must remain open as a matter of state. While economic policies are not entirely within my purview, I feel that if Atlasia is to have free trade with China, then it must be truly free and not this current charade where massive Chinese government subsidies and a fixed currency have lead to a serious imbalance in trade. If free trade is supposed to reform China from within as some people claim, it has to be actually free to work.

To Senator Colin Wixted: Siege's diplomatic plans were highly idealistic and were a refreshing change of pace from business as usual. By the same token, certain geopolitical realities were ignored, especially in regards to the OPEC countries. There were some inconsistencies, such as Brunei and Saudi Arabia escaping sanctions whereas Oman, Qatar, and Pakistan had full sanctions and Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates had partial sanctions. As much as I may strongly dislike the repressive practices of these countries, the war on radical Islamism and economics does dictate that a lighter approach may be in order. Sometimes you have to do things you don't want to, and this is true for countries as well as for individuals. I would also of course recognize the Republic of Somaliland and end the U.N. - Arab League facade that there is a united Somalia. A complete list of changes will be presented tonight after {OOC: I've gotten home, since it's hard to do this from work *dodges the boss while writing this*} my staff has finished their review.

To Senator King: Thanks, buddy.

To Senator Gabu: I mean no offense to the previous Secretaries of State, but Siege has clearly done the most of any Secretary of State by compiling a Foreign Policy Review. Disagree with his conclusions you can, but you can't say he didn't put a lot into the effort. The previous Secretaries of State may not have done as much, but Atlasia was still young and they were not asked to do more except respond to events from the {OOC: Game Moderator} world at-large. I would say the previous 7 Secretaries of State (including Gustaf twice) did fine jobs, since Atlasia is still standing.

I will of course be willing to answer more questions. I will certainly be on later tonight to assemble the list of foreign policy changes Senator Wixted inquired about. Let me also say that I am quite willing to hear what the Senate has to say about foreign policy as well.

[WMS]

As promised, possible changes I may make to Atlasian foreign policy:

Potential changes to Atlasian Foreign Policy:

Bahrain, Kingdom of; Brunei, Sultanate of; Egypt, Arab Republic of; Kazakhstan, Republic of; Kuwait, Kingdom of *see additional note below*; Oman, Sultanate of; Pakistan, Islamic Republic of; Qatar, State of; Rwanda, Republic of; Tajikistan, Republic of; Tunisia,
Republic of; United Arab Emirates; Uzbekistan, Republic of; Yemen, Republic of.
- While these countries, indeed, have a long way to go towards democracy, geopolitical considerations may make the lifting of military and economic restrictions necessary to one degree or another. Consultations with the Senate and President suggested.

Bolivia, Republic of - While Bolivian democracy is imperfect, the support of the current moderate regime should be ensured by arms sales as needed, given the extreme-left, tyrant-in-waiting Evo Morales' threat to Bolivia.

Bosnia and Herzegovina - At the least, Atlasia should offer partial military aid to the admittedly imperfect Bosnian government in order to establish a stable balance-of-power between Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia. Imbalances in power lead to civil and international war in the 1990's. Pressure against Islamic radicals should be implemented as well as a dedicated attempt to capture the war criminals Karazdic and Mladic.

Burkina Faso, Republic of; Central African Republic; Congo, Republic of; Côte d'Ivore, Republic of; Djibouti, Republic of; Gabon, Republic of; Haiti, Republic of; Togo, Republic of.
- Change the economic restrictions to partial restrictions in an attempt to encourage improved behavior and to attempt to kick-start the regional economy. Consultations with the Senate and President suggested.

Burundi, Republic of - Military and economic sanctions shall be downgraded to partial instead of full in hopes of supporting the highly fragile democratic peace agreement.

Cameroon, Republic of - Impose partial economic sanctions against this de facto one-party regime. Possibly expanding to full sanctions if necessary.

*edit* No changes to Chad, Republic of, for geopolitical considerations.

Colombia, Republic of - The popular government of Uribe must be supported against the narco-guerrillas, who have ties to anti-American organizations such as Hezbollah. Colombia is also a bulwark against the efforts of Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro to
destabilize Latin America and drive the U.S. out. So I merely suggest that no aid to Colombia be cut at the least, and increased if possible.

El Salvador, Republic of - Lift the military restrictions as they are not needed at this point in time.

Eritrea, Republic of - Full military and partial economic sanctions are to be levied on this totalitarian one-party state. Consultation with the Senate and President suggested.*edited*

Ethiopia, Republic of - Change the military sanctions to partial, as a shaky democracy does not need a full arms embargo. But monitoring of the situation there will continue following disturbing reports on the last election.

Fiji Islands, Republic of - Impose partial military restrictions over the lack of a fair democratic system and bias against non-indiginous Fijians.

France, Republic of - If the Senate wishes to lift restrictions, they can vote to do so. I will keep the current ones on until such a vote.

Georgia, Republic of - No economic and partial military restrictions shall be the base policy towards Georgia, a staunch ally of Atlasia. Even the military restrictions may be lifted if deemed geopolitically necessary. The highly repressive ethnically-cleansed state of Abkhazia shall not be supported, and Georgia's claim shall be recognized. Consultation with the President and Senate suggested.

Ghana, Republic of - All restrictions shall be lifted on the free and democratic republic of Ghana, an Atlasian ally.

Guinea-Bissau, Republic of - Following a democratic election, restrictions shall be downgraded to partial military and no economic.

Indonesia, Republic of - All economic restrictions shall be lifted in order to improve the economy of this wild republic. Military restrictions may be lifted for geopolitical reasons - consulation with the President and Senate suggested.

Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of; Moldova, Republic of; Morocco, Kingdom of; Tanzania, United Republic of; Uganda, Republic of.
- Economic sanctions will be lifted for geopolitical reasons. Military sanctions are a matter of geopolitics as well - consultation with the President and Senate suggested.

Kenya, Republic of; Madagascar, Republic of; Niger, Republic of; Paraguay, Republic of; Seychelles, Republic of; Sierra Leone, Republic of; Sri Lanka, Republic of; Turkey, Republic of.
- Democracy should be supported and in recognition of the last, free election there all economic restrictions shall be lifted. Military restrictions are, yes, geopolitical in nature and consultation with the President and Senate is suggested.

Kuwait, Kingdom of - In addition to the military considerations mentioned above, geopolitics demands that all economic sanctions be lifted on Atlasia's second-strongest ally in the region (after Israel).

Kyrgyzstan, Republic of - In support of the democratic revolution, military restrictions shall be downgraded to partial and for geopolitical reasons there shall be no economic restrictions at all.

Laos, Democratic People’s Republic of; Libya, Great Socialist People's Arab Jamahiriya of; Vietnam, Republic of.
Military restrictions shall remain in place for the time being but for geopolitical reasons there shall be only partial economic restrictions.

Lebanon, Republic of - Events are in flux here so at the moment economic restrictions shall be downgraded to partial instead of full.

Liberia, Republic of - Following some tentative positive developments economic restrictions shall be downgraded to partial instead of full.

Mozambique, Republic of; Zambia, Republic of.
- Economic restrictions shall be lifted in an attempt to stabilize these fragile democracies.

Nigeria, Republic of - Economic restrictions shall be lifted for geopolitical reasons, although greater transparency is highly desired. Military restrictions may be lifted for geopolitical reasons - consultation with the President and the Senate is suggested.

Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of - If the Senate wishes to change this policy, they may vote for it on the record. Until then, for geopolitical reasons the policy remains despite the atrocious regime there.

Singapore, Republic of - Like Saudi Arabia's policy, but the regime there is not nearly so bad and they are a better ally than Saudi Arabia has been. I would keep the current policies in place for the moment.

Somalia, Republic of - *A-HEM!* THE FREE AND DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF SOMALILAND SHALL BE RECOGNIZED! No economic restrictions shall be in place to irritate the Arab League and their spiteful embargo on Somaliland's goods. Partial military restrictions will be the most that will be in effect, although Somaliland's cooperation in the war on radical Islamism may necessitate no military restrictions at all - consultation with the President and the Senate is suggested on the point of military restrictions only. As for the rest of the so-called state of Somalia, no change at the moment is required although if a functioning government is set up with at least some popular support I would then back a shift to partial economic restrictions.

Timor, Democratic Republic of, AKA East Timor - All sanctions will be lifted on the free and democratic republic of Timor.

Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of - All sanctions will be lifted on the free and democratic republic of Trinidad and Tobago.

Venezuela, Republic of - The increasing anti-Atlasian hostility of Hugo Chavez is worrisome, as are the large weapons purchases they have made from Russia and China. Therefore full military restrictions are in effect. For the time being the economic restrictions shall remain partial. Consultation with the President and the Senate is suggested.

[The Duke]

On Sudan:

Eritrea agreed to stage forces in the event of a conflict.  To get them to agree to this, we had to sell them some military patrol ships.  Having honoured this agreement, I feel no need to argue that we do anything further for them.  They have an unpleasant leadership who made us bribe them in order to end a genocide.  Sanction them if you wish.

Ethiopia agreed to help, I believe by the use of their air space.  I don't remember the details of the arrangment.  They weren't too excited about it and their help offer was not substantial, so I'd say do whatever you wish.

Chad was a real help, the biggest help of all the nations.  Home to refugee camps for the dislocated victims.  Also would have been the primary base for Atlasia air strikes and a staging point for Army Rangers.  I do feel we owe them a bit.

[ilikeverin]

Somalia, Republic of - *A-HEM!* THE FREE AND DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF SOMALILAND SHALL BE RECOGNIZED! No economic restrictions shall be in place to irritate the Arab League and their spiteful embargo on Somaliland's goods. Partial military restrictions will be the most that will be in effect, although Somaliland's cooperation in the war on radical Islamism may necessitate no military restrictions at all - consultation with the President and the Senate is suggested on the point of military restrictions only. As for the rest of the so-called state of Somalia, no change at the moment is required although if a functioning government is set up with at least some popular support I would then back a shift to partial economic restrictions.

Timor, Democratic Republic of, AKA East Timor - All sanctions will be lifted on the free and democratic republic of Timor.

Those are the best two paragraphs Atlasia has ever seen!

[WMS]

On Sudan:

Eritrea agreed to stage forces in the event of a conflict.  To get them to agree to this, we had to sell them some military patrol ships.  Having honoured this agreement, I feel no need to argue that we do anything further for them.  They have an unpleasant leadership who made us bribe them in order to end a genocide.  Sanction them if you wish.

Ethiopia agreed to help, I believe by the use of their air space.  I don't remember the details of the arrangment.  They weren't too excited about it and their help offer was not substantial, so I'd say do whatever you wish.

Chad was a real help, the biggest help of all the nations.  Home to refugee camps for the dislocated victims.  Also would have been the primary base for Atlasia air strikes and a staging point for Army Rangers.  I do feel we owe them a bit.

Thanks for the information, I'll adjust as needed.

[WMS]

Somalia, Republic of - *A-HEM!* THE FREE AND DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF SOMALILAND SHALL BE RECOGNIZED! No economic restrictions shall be in place to irritate the Arab League and their spiteful embargo on Somaliland's goods. Partial military restrictions will be the most that will be in effect, although Somaliland's cooperation in the war on radical Islamism may necessitate no military restrictions at all - consultation with the President and the Senate is suggested on the point of military restrictions only. As for the rest of the so-called state of Somalia, no change at the moment is required although if a functioning government is set up with at least some popular support I would then back a shift to partial economic restrictions.

Timor, Democratic Republic of, AKA East Timor - All sanctions will be lifted on the free and democratic republic of Timor.

Those are the best two paragraphs Atlasia has ever seen!

I figured you'd like them.

[Emsworth]

Senators may now vote on the confirmation of WMS as Secretary of State.

All those in favor, say Aye; those opposed, say No.

[PBrunsel]

Aye

[MasterJedi]

Aye

[Sam Spade]

Aye.

[King]

Aye

[Colin]

Aye

[DanielX]

Aye

[Emsworth]

With six votes, WMS is confirmed as Secretary of State.

Senators who have not yet voted may still do so, for the record, although (of course) the result is final.

[WMS]

With six votes, WMS is confirmed as Secretary of State.

Senators who have not yet voted may still do so, for the record, although (of course) the result is final.

Hurrah!

Thanks, Senators!

[MHS2002]

Aye for the record

[Gabu]

Aye.

[jokerman]

Aye

[No more McShame]

Aye for the record