NETO Discussion Thread

[Ceausescu]

As far as Wadiyah's membership, I don't think we ever specifically worked out the post-war process in Wadiyah, just that it was supposed to join NETO. If you want, and if Carp agrees, we can sort of retroactively institute a process whereby Wadiyah joins NETO over time as it stabilizes and gets back on its feet before becoming a full member. In the meantime it could also have an observer status.

And I am serious about the iron fist. I would suggest ensuring that all officers in the military are loyal to the new regime and purging any of suspect loyalty. I can send some Zargistani Republican Guard to help with this. They are experts at this sort of thing.

Wadiyah joining gradually is probably the best option, but it depends on the outcome of the upcoming election. If Hamad Asmar wins, he'll flat-out refuse NETO membership and demand immediate withdrawal of NETO troops from the country. And at the moment, it looks as if this'll be the scenario, as Hamad Asmar has a much larger voter base and would obtain 63% of the votes. This is also the worst possible scenario, since if the Conservative Akhadic Party takes power and carries out its agenda of turning Wadiyah into a theocracy and imposing strict religious law, the west won't stand up to it. Western Wadiyah would rise up in arms and Silistria would outright declare independence.

However, the flip side of the coin is also a very plausible scenario, as the east won't like it if the secularists win and carry out their plan of federalization, as they view them as sinners and blasphemers and simply can't tolerate the idea of secularism. For the east, its either theocracy, or war.

At the moment, what keeps Wadiyah from exploding, is the upcoming elections, but they are also building up tensions. If something isn't done, once the elections are over, we're likely looking at a renewal of hostilities. Violence would also break out if the elections keep getting postponed.

The main problem in Wadiyah is the lack of any form of national cohesion, whatsoever. There are huge ideological, cultural and religious differences between east and west and if one were to visit both regions, it would feel like visiting two separate countries. Even the language is somewhat of a barrier, with east speaking something very similar to what they have in Khanid and the west speaking a Carpathianised version of it, resulting in two different dialects of the same thing, which are distinctive enough to result in situations where people from the two regions would have some difficulties understanding eachother.

Wadiyah's big problem is the fact that its an artificial state, formed by clumping several colonial territories together. What's held it together, so far, was the fact that a class of nobles was in charge of all of it and their only interest was to make a profit. However, that won't work anymore.

Something major would have to be done, and quickly, to prevent Wadiyah from exploding. Either brutal repression by whoever takes power (and if that is the Akhadists, Silistria won't stand for it and they have the firepower to do something about it), or even a two-state solution, breaking up eastern and western Wadiyah into two separate states, which also carries its own risks, as it may trigger a domino effect, with different regions just declaring independence and ending up with, essentially, a clusterfuck of small states.

So, to sum things up, there just isn't an ideal solution for Wadiyah.