SWR Press Review

[Socialist Commonwealth]

President Trumm congratulates Pelasgia to end of monarchy
Westport Times Online

Stopping in Pelasgia during her global diplomatic tour, President Donna Trumm has congratulated the Pelasgian people on the end of the monarchy, remarking that she "hopes the royal family is punished severely". While this and similiar statements, including calling the abolishment of the monarchy the "first step towards socialism" have caused some discomfort with the right-wing nationalist government in Propontis, her hosts received the President of the World Republic as warmly as the countries before them.

According to both parties, talks focused mostly around trade and regional security, with the Long Sea being one of the most important waterways in the world and the Pelasgian republic being an important cornerstone in securing stability in the region, according to the President.

 

[Socialist Commonwealth]

Redd to Domain: You are betraying Republican values!
First News Online

The Foreign Department under Louis Redd has spoken out against Domain imperialism with harsher words than it had ever done before. Calling the planned interference with civilian ships in the Engelsea an act of piracy, Redd went on to publically question the motivation behind the war of the Domain.

"Is that how the Domain intends to uphold the achievements of centuries of Republican tradition," Redd asked the Domain governments, "by supporting the claims to secession of some ambitious noble over a united republican government?"

Domain forces claim to defend the independence of Neustria, which is a Burgundian province whose duke proclaimed independence. The World Republic has refused to recognize the legitimacy of this secession and supports the claim of the Burgundian People's Republic to national unification under the banners of a free, democratic and independent Republic.

Redd has made clear that the SWR will not be complicit in this war on democracy and that we will oppose this betrayal of Republican values by our Engell brothers. "The rot of oligarchy has festered so deep in the First Republic, it seems only the Final Republic remembers what this word even means."

 

[Socialist Commonwealth]

Trumm urges Nedernesia to take a stand against Domain
Westport Times Online

Breaking with the cordial tone that had dominated her global tour thusfar, President Trumm adressed her hosts in Nedernesia unusually direct, while also seemingly backpedaling from the position she had taken during visits to Domain nations. During a state dinner with Nerdernesian Prince Lamberti, Trumm questioned Nedernesias security policy, urging her hosts to take a stance on Domain activities in the Engelsea.

Following the imposition of a large exclusive zone by Domain forces in the Engelsea, only the World Republic has publically spoken out against this policy. While having been unwilling to comment on this developement just yesterday, during her visit to Azraq, Trumm now urged the Nedernesians, publically, to take a stand as a regional power directly affected by the Domain acitvities in the Engelsea, assuring them that the would not stand alone.

 

[Serenierre]

Private comments of Elisabeth Martinique
"That's rich, why don't they do something about that long frontier they share with those barbarians? My life would be easier if they did."

 

[Socialist Commonwealth]

Bawdy jokes or insulting stereotypes? Trumm in Auraria
Westport Times Online

"Where are the strippers?" Comments like these have left many shaking their heads about Trumms latest stop at her global tour, though few expected better. Invoking the stereotype of a sexually promiscous, but lazy people, Trumm repeatedly insulted her Aurarian hosts with sexual innuendos and bad taste in jokes. Her request for strippers during the reception, in particular, was called out by journalists who pointed out that President Trumm herself was married. An objection the President dismissed by saying: "I am married, not dead."

Surprisingly enough, the visit seems to have yeilded concrete results, with the President urging deescalation between Auraria and the Anti-State after tensions between the two have been running high over an incident of alleged piracy in the Long Sea. Trumm also agreed to lowering visa restrictions and taxes on flights to Auraria, a move that is expected to strengthen the shaken but important tourism sector in Auraria, while being inconsistent enough with Trumms usual protectionist policies that Social Democrats in Congress are not expected to fight it.

 

[Socialist Commonwealth]

Senator Hill: Trumm embarassed the Republic
Westport Times Online

Social Democratic Senator Clint Hill has lambasted President Trumms display on the international stage, calling it shameful and an embarassment to the Republic. During a debate in Congress, Senator Hill claimed that the world had given Trumm a fair chance and she had "squandered it", revealing for all to see that the World Republic is under, what the Senator argues is "unfit leadership".

"During her tour of the world, Mrs. Trumm committed one faux pas after another, insulted her hosts repeatedly and displayed both arrogance and ignorance. Slowly but surely, she is turning diplomacy of the free west into the comedy show of the global community."

Hills drastic words were echoed even by Social Republican Senator Gutzeit, who claimed that President Trumm was ill-advised, trying to transfer her campaign tactics to the international stage. Gutzeit, who had campaigned for the candidacy during the presidential primaries, seems to still remember being on the receiving end of a smear campaign by Trumm.

Hartmann praises Trumms diplomatic tour
Deliverance Times

Social Republican Senator Hartmann has praised the diplomatic tour of President Trumm, which concluded today with a visit to the nation of Natal in southern Himyar. Praising Trumm for her foresight and diplomatic ability, Hartmann claimed that Trumm had achieved more for global peace within the first days of her office than President Winters had in eight years.

Hartmann called Trumms conduct "refreshing" and during a speech in Congress said that Trumm was bringing an authentic and humane tone to politics, which people around the globe could relate to. "People are tired of politicians who hide behind double-tongued phrases and meaningless wordplay," the Senator said. "Trumms diplomacy throughout the last days has been pleasantly direct and honest."

The media, Hartmann claimed, had failed to pick up on this trait, instead seeking to dramatize it and "try to sell new scandals every day even where foreign dignitaries commended our President."

 

[Socialist Commonwealth]

Admiralty prevented deployment of Thaumantic Fleet
Implarian Times Online

According to sources from within the admiralty, objections from leading admirals and the general staff prevented the deployment of the Thaumantic Fleet to the Engelsea. Trumms administration has been one of the few governments objecting to the establishment of an exclusive zone by Domain forces in the Engelsea as part of their invasion of Burgundy and reportedly, Trumm had planned to deploy the fleet as a symbolic show of force to underline her rejection of the exclusive zone.

The sources claimed that leading Navy officials had serious concerns about possible repercussions of the move, saying that the Cussian military is not considered to be above attacking the Thaumantic Fleet if operating in the Engelsea. Considering the forces involved, the expected result of such an attack would be the destruction of the Thaumantic Fleet and the loss of several thousand lives of sailors of the World Republic.

Social Democrats have harshly criticized the plans, stating that Trumm was now "proving all our warnings during the election" and that she would recklessly endanger the lives our soldiers from the safety of the Red House, if not kept in check by people with more foresight.

 

[Socialist Commonwealth]

Continued silence on Thaumantic Fleet mobilization
Westport Times Online

The Trumm administration continues to remain silent on the sudden mobilization of the Thaumantic Fleet, despite numerous requests from journalists and members of congress alike to explain. Even members of the Social Republican party have voiced their concern over the unexplained move, while speculations run wild that Trumm is forcing a deployment to the Engelsea after all, over persistent objections of the Navy to such a mission.

Currently the Thaumantic Fleet, a medium sized contingent consisting of two cruisers and several destroyers and fregates, is approaching the eastern entrance to the Cassiopeian Sea, according to reports from civilian ships in the area. It seems clear that the fleet is headed for the open waters of the Thaumantic, but little else can be said. Sailors of the Thaumantic Fleet had been mobilized suddenly and without warning in merely a day. Some didn't even make it to their ships in time for the departure, meaning the fleet is currently operating at understrenght.

Experts believe the latter fact makes a combat mission unlikely, but this raises only further questions about the sudden nature of the deployment.

 

[Beautancus]

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CONFEDERATED REPUBLIC OF BEAUTANCUS
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE of the OFFICE for the ADMINISTRATION of GOVERNMENT,
OFFICE for the SECRETARY of DEFENSE
Panopticon, 1477 Albemarle Avenue,
Welmonton, City of Welmonton, CRB, 58362
for
SOUTHCOM -
South Thaumantic-Cassiopeian Sea Fleet (STCSF),
Joint-Armed Forces Command
for the
Greater Deep South Defense District,
Cape Fair, Commonwealth of the Fearful Cape

​

SOUTHCOM will continue to observe those actions undertaken by our counterparts in the Implarian Navy in the sheltered waters of the Cassiopeian carefully, closely and with the greatest of interest. As the conduct of the the so-called Thaumantic Fleet of the Implarian States has remained within the accepted parameters of international maritime custom and law, SOUTHCOM cannot and will not seek to impede the progress of said "Thaumantic" Fleet. Likewise, should the Implarian Thaumantic Fleet find itself unable to successfully navigate the oft dangerous waters of the Mid-Thaumantic in the grips of Hurricane Season, SOUTHCOM is and will remain available to offer assistance in whatever fashion or form is necessary or requested.

The Navy of the Confederated Republic wishes to reiterate once more, however, that any violation of TEZ Engelsea can and will only be greeted with the full might of the military force available to BURCOM, as any such willful violation of this legally instituted Total Exclusion Zone must be interpreted as an outright declaration of war.

The Confederated Republic appreciates that Deliverance is accustomed to operating under its own special set of rules within the shackled confines of the Implarian States-proper. Her Excellency, President Trumm, should be reminded that her administration and the Implarian States are still bound by, and will be held accountable for any such flagrant disregard for long-standing and universally accepted international legal conventions and maritime customs. Should the Thaumantic Fleet of the Implarian States persist in this ill-advised course of actions, it will have been proven to the Confederated Republic and the community of nations at large that President Trumm is resolved to the role of Imperialist Malefactor and Misadventurer. This is perhaps not so clear in Deliverance as it is for the rest of the world, the League most of all - do not then fail now to heed this latest of several clearly stated warnings.

The Implarian States have not in the past, nor do they at present hold any natural interests in the affairs of the nations of the Engelsea, specifically those of West Burgundy (formerly Neustria). It has long since become clear that President Trumm is perfectly willing to exploit the misery of strangers half a world away in order to strengthen her domestic position - which is itself quite the feat when considered against the relatively recent inauguration of her administration. Neither the League, nor the Confederated Republic of Beautancus will tolerate this indecent violation of the liberty of a people already beset on all sides, including by their very neighbors and former countrymen. West Burgundy will be and shall forever hence remain free, from the horrors of proletarian dictatorship and the gluttonous excesses of self-interested monarchs alike and all the same.

The Confederated Republic has no desire to wage war with their immediate Southern kindred - but if we are forced to prosecute such a war as a result of the irresponsible actions undertaken by the Trumm regime, rest assured that the Implarian States will be reduced to such a state that it shall never be able to challenge the Civilized Order of the Far West - or any other region of the world, ever again. Her Excellency may be willing to take this lopsided bet for the sake of her own power, but how long will the Implarian people care to suffer for the sake of her grandiose and mad schemes? Do not test our resolve in this matter, you know much of the measure of Welmonton's capabilities and resolve, as we know your own.

​

Admiral Franklin Semmes,
Navy of the Confederated Republic -
Commanding Officer STCSF/SOUTHCOM ACTUAL;
Conf. Rep. of Beautancus ~ League of the Four Nations of the Thaumantic Domain

 

[Socialist Commonwealth]

President Trumm sailing with Thaumantic Fleet
Deliverance Times

Following days of silence on the mobilization of the Thaumantic Fleet, the Red House has issued a press release today revealing that the President herself is aboard the flagship of the fleet. As the Thaumantic Fleet has left the Cassiopeian Sea, the Trumm administration said it was now able to disclose this fact to the public and reveal more information about the deployment of the fleet. According to the press release, the silence was due to fears of Cussian interference as long as the ships were still traversing the Cassiopeian. A circumstance which the Red House asked the public to apologize.

President Trumm will sail aboard the Thaumantic Fleet to make a public stand against the imposition of an exclusive zone by Domain forces in the Engelsea. "It is her intention to undertake a symbolic show of strenght and commitment to the cause of peace in Burgundy and freedom of the sea, a public rejection of Domain tyranny," the press release elaborated, confirming international suspicions that the Thaumantic Fleet was headed for the Engelsea.

Such a mission had, according to a leak in the Navy, been previously rejected due to concerns in the command staff. The presence of the President aboard the Thaumantic Fleet may both be a way to ease such concerns, gambling that the Cussians will be considerably less likely to create an international incident with the presence of such a high-profile individual, as well as a reaction to Social Democratic critics who had accused Trumm of being willing to risk the lifes of others for her own gain.

Both supporters and critics were stunned by the revelation. Vice-President Harry King commended Trumm on her "personal bravery", while former President Winters called it a "foolish publicity stunt". Meanwhile, just hours before the announcement that Trumm was sailing with the fleet to the Engelsea, the Cussian government issued a threat of war over the World Republican refusal to accept the exclusive zone, threatening to reduce the SWR to "such a state that it shall never be able to challenge the Civilized Order of the Far West - or any other region of the world, ever again."

 

[Socialist Commonwealth]

Federal Court defers Clarenthian media lawsuit to Supreme Court
Deliverance Times

Federal Court has announced it can not make a ruling on the lawsuit by the Clarenthian Palmerton Post against the federal government, instead defering the case to the Supreme Court.

The Palmerton Post had pursued legal action after an executive order by the Department of Security had restricted the distribution of an issue of the Clarenthian newspaper in the World Republic. Chief Secretary of State Gareth Hall had judged an article in the Palmerton Post, which aggressively defended the quasi-slavery called "Human Commodity System" in the Domain nations to be in opposition of constitutional values and endangering the youth. The restrictions meant that the issue of the Palmerton Post could not be advertised publically, nor sold above counter.

Observers agree that the lawsuit is not financially worthwhile for the Palmerton Post - which sells only a limited number of issues in the World Republic and those mostly to subscribers unaffected by the restrictions. Meanwhile the lawsuit, for which the prestigious law firm Van Daalen Wakefield Pryce from Nedernesie was hired, promises to become an expensive endeavour, as the claimants will have to travel to Deliverance to testify before court, but as foreigners have no access to financial assistance
by the Republic to pursue their lawsuit against the government.

With the case in front of the Supreme Court, it is also shaping up to be a legal battle not only about the legality of this particular restriction, but about legal restrictions of media in the SWR in general and on support for the Human Commodity System in particular.

 

[Socialist Commonwealth]

Military Reform Commission presents results
Deliverance Times

The Military Reform Commission implemented by President Trumm has presented the results of their investigation into defense readiness of the SWR to Congress yesterday. Over the course of the last weeks, the commission has gathered and analyzed an extensive list of data, coming to the same conclusion as the Social Republicans during their electoral campaign: the World Republic has fallen behind her neighbours, the Thaumantic Domain in particular.

Its long list of suggestions include mainly an expansion of the armed forces: additional airborne and marine divisions, expanding the Army Aviation branch, increasing the number of main battle tanks, raising the number of fleet carriers in the Navy from two to three and doubling the size of the submarine fleet. In addition to these active units, the suggestions also foresee an expansion of the reserve forces. The number of new units to be created alone would be an ambitious undertaking.

Furthermore the commission suggests the developement of new equipment, stating that a new jet fighter would be the most urgent purchase. In addition to these strictly military purchases, the commission has also criticized the increasing dependency on foreign electronics, stating that aggressive investments into the domestic electronics industry is necessary. The commission also proposed an expansion of national stockpiles, such as the Republic Fuel Reserve and the State Grain Reserves, both of which had last been expanded in the early 1980s.

Lastly, the Military Reform Commission did also not shy away from the hot iron that is the question of conscription, suggesting to reintroduce it.

Social Democratic representatives have called the plan "unaffordable" and a "veritable bucket list of wishful militaristic thinking", while President Trumm, still aboard the RNS Hope in the Thaumantic Sea, has had a statement read in Congress, announcing her intention to implement all of the suggested changes.

 

[Socialist Commonwealth]

Cooperatives, the enfant terrible of Socialism
The Republic

Over the course of the last two decades, small business cooperatives have experienced a veritable boom in the World Republic. Closely associated with urban millenial culture, many in the younger adult generation sought income independently from employment with one of the great state-owned corporations that had ruled the domestic economy largely unchallenged since the 1950s. Artisan manufacturies, smaller restaurants and food trucks, software studios and online services, the thriving businesses that arose and the many crevices of the market were a testament to the creativity of young citizens of the republic.

Yet as the sector grew and more and more of these cooperatives found success, resentment against the national economic policies and legislation increased. Progressive taxation aggressively limits growth of cooperatives beyond a certain point, as do limits on size and employment. The most succesful of the cooperatives quickly hit a rock solid wall barring them from the kind of success they could have had in any other country. The vocal right-wing of the Social Democratic party, often attributed with its lack of national appeal during the last election, has almost exclusively grown out of this growing class of independent small business owners.

Politicians from this wing are quick to point out the negative impact this curtailing of growth has on the economy of the World Republic. Not just by directly inhibiting further growth and profits of the cooperatives themselves, but also because entepreneurs fed up with socialist beuraucracy have repeatedly chosen to leave to employ their tried and tested business models abroad. For a number of business-savvy individuals, the SWR ended up as a sandbox, where to test risky business models without fear of harsh consequences for failure: social security would have caught them safely. What had proven to work, they exported to capitalist countries.

But more than right-wing market reformers may realize, these cases also hint to another dimension of the SWR's small business boom and one that is quickly forgotten by millenials: much of this boom rests on a foundation of socialist economic policies.

The extent of social security in the SWR has been criticized by reformers as too costly and as an incentive to laziness, but far from that being the truth, it has encouraged many young creative minds to take a risk by starting their own business. Cooperatives that fail drop their owners softly into a thickly padded net of unemployment benefits, while those that keep running will have their owners sheltered from the ups and downs of life that can spell financial doom in other countries: socialized healthcare lowers the impact of disease, while pregnancy and child raising benefits are a further assistance for young men and women starting a business.

And while many vocal and influental cooperatives, particularily a number of very succesful IT companies, may rage against the strict limits to their size and profits, many other cooperatives have unknowingly benefited from the legislation. Less profitable businesses or those catering to a very specialized market segment or local markets are sheltered from aggressive competition. Where elsewhere small business often means brutal dog eats dog competition, as succesful companies seek to grow further and reinvest their profits, pushing aside competitors, cooperatives in the SWR often hit a stable equilibrium and co-exist peacefully with another on the same market.

Right-wing Social Democrats, who have increasingly dominated their party's official line, had touted further and uninhibited growth of the more succesful cooperatives as a way to counter the stagnation that has gripped many of the state-owned companies. They failed to mention that the success of, say, IT companies is not inherent to their structure as privately-owned enterprises, but to the general growth of this market based on innovative technologies in general.

Ironically, unshackling the cooperatives isn't the answer to the issues that plague state-owned companies. Rather, transforming the most succesful cooperatives with the greatest potential for growth into state-owned companies may help to reinvigorate the national economy and help to overcome the limitations of the current economic legislation without sacrificing its benefits.

 

[Vrijpoort]

Federal Court defers Clarenthian media lawsuit to Supreme Court
Deliverance Times

Federal Court has announced it can not make a ruling on the lawsuit by the Clarenthian Palmerton Post against the federal government, instead defering the case to the Supreme Court.

The Palmerton Post had pursued legal action after an executive order by the Department of Security had restricted the distribution of an issue of the Clarenthian newspaper in the World Republic. Chief Secretary of State Gareth Hall had judged an article in the Palmerton Post, which aggressively defended the quasi-slavery called "Human Commodity System" in the Domain nations to be in opposition of constitutional values and endangering the youth. The restrictions meant that the issue of the Palmerton Post could not be advertised publically, nor sold above counter.

Observers agree that the lawsuit is not financially worthwhile for the Palmerton Post - which sells only a limited number of issues in the World Republic and those mostly to subscribers unaffected by the restrictions. Meanwhile the lawsuit, for which the prestigious law firm Van Daalen Wakefield Pryce from Nedernesie was hired, promises to become an expensive endeavour, as the claimants will have to travel to Deliverance to testify before court, but as foreigners have no access to financial assistance
by the Republic to pursue their lawsuit against the government.

With the case in front of the Supreme Court, it is also shaping up to be a legal battle not only about the legality of this particular restriction, but about legal restrictions of media in the SWR in general and on support for the Human Commodity System in particular.

Van Daalen Wakefield Pryce

We have been busy preparing our case against the SWR government in matters pertaining to the Palmerton Post case. We look forward to when the court date is publicly announced. Our legal team is already underway to the SWR and will be pursuing all legal means to request access to relevant information.