[6/10/2021] End Term State of the Region Report

State of the Region Report
June 10th, 2021

Hey there, TEP. It’s your Delegoose and it’s the end of the term! Isn’t that insane?

Anyways, welcome to the second Report on what has happened during my term. There hasn’t been a lot in this second half, so you may notice this Report being noticeably shorter/less detailed than our previous report. But hey- we got some stuff done!

Before I continue, feel free to assess this this color-coded document going over what my administration has managed to complete or not throughout during my term. Both successes and failures- here they are recorded forever! Or until Google Docs crashes.

Now, without further ado, let’s get to it!

REGIONAL AFFAIRS

As it is, Regional Affairs has maintained its activity since the last report (or according to some people, lack thereof). However, we have seen more newer nations joining the Ministry and making themselves known. A good start for the next Delegate to start their recruitment crusade! I wish these new nations the best in their service- it makes me happy to see people getting involved. ^-^

But of course, let’s go more in depth:

Ministry of Culture

The Ministry of Culture has been doing quite well over this past time period. Of note, the Minister has continued with its “Marrabuk Choose Your Own Adventure” and recently ended it. A space-domination CYOA is also in the works! A couple of other polls were also posted to engage the region and ask for its opinions on various matters.

Beyond that, the Ministry has also been running game nights! So far, three have been hosted- one for scribbl.io, and two for Gartic Telephone. In both cases, they were a fun success and resulted in a variety of hilarious images (which can be viewed in the #announcements channel of our main regional discord. The Ministry also hosted two game nights with our friends from The Kingdom of Great Britain! We were also invited to change our regional theme to participate in an Earth Day festival hosted by the The Rejected Realms, and our friends in The Free Nations Region also had us over for a movie night.

Additionally, the Ministry has also gotten itself involved in hosting another edition of a well-known interregional festival that is in the works. The event itself will be taking place after my term, but planning itself has already been well underway. No big leaks, but keep an eye out!

It should also be noted that the Ministry is currently conducting a regional banner contest, so as to suggest a regionally-chosen banner to the next Delegate. We are currently in our first stage of voting in the regional discord- feel free to join the Discord to cast your vote!

Finally, the Ministry has taken steps to reviving Radio Culture (RC). While Radio Culture initially had a run of three days to test some new procedures, it was temporarily halted due to its maintainers having to deal with other matters. However, following a recent poll, the region has proven it wants Radio Culture back! While it is a (bit) too late for me to work with the RC team on this, I fully trust in their ability to bring back RC during the next administration.

I want to thank our Minister of Culture, Technocratic tagalog, for his beautiful work within this Ministry. He has been the main dude responsible for releasing the Ministry’s copious CYOAs and advice on cultural matters, despite having to deal with a lot of IRL matters. I really appreciate his work in this field for sure! <3

Ministry of Information

The Ministry of Information has begun reviving itself, following a Minister switch to our new Minister Albrook (also known as Aurora). Information has mainly focused on updating current dispatches, the region’s NSGP embassy, and other information deposits. Due to Albrook’s recent appointment, the Ministry has yet been unable to show a lot of the fruits of its labor, it has done much work behind the scenes.

While Aurora was not Minister for long, Aurora (with help from previous Minister Eunopiar), released the May Issue of our regional newspaper- which I definitely recommend for everyone to read!

That being said, the Ministry has remained mostly quiet beyond its slow revival back into activity. Due to Eunopiar’s election as Delegate of the Rejected Realms, Information’s podcast projects have (mostly) been put on hold. The Ministry has also decided to at least temporarily ditch Chronicling (weekly updates), due to lack of available manpower to publish them. For now, it has returned to focusing on our region’s newspaper.

Many thanks towards Eunopiar and Albrook for their work as Ministers. Both of them had extensive visions and dedication to their jobs, and I believe it shows with what was managed to be published by each Minister. They’ve done extremely well as Ministers and I could not be more proud of them!

Ministry of Publishing

The Ministry has continued its work in recording Magisterium sessions. However, (as it was two months ago), Publishing continues to work on its historical Delegate-timeline project. Work has already been produced by Minister Nociav outlining the historical Delegacies of One Infinite Loop and Gnidrah, and other researchers continue to pour their effort into tracing a multitude of other TEP Delegates.

The Minister of Publishing has also released this handy and detailed guide, exploring what Publishing does, historical resources within TEP’s forums, and how one can choose to get more involved with Publishing’s history projects. Needless to say, the Guide will prove to be an effective resource for Publishing staff to come.

A last thing to note is that Publishing has begun re-working on regional podcasts, thanks to Canadian Technocrats. Unlike previous plans for podcasting, these podcasts will remain around 10 minutes long and will explore various aspects of NationStates and our region for those less educated in the game. While it saddens me to not see this project through as Delegate, I am extremely hopeful for this podcast’s success and wish Canadian all the luck in getting this done! I’ll still be along with him on the microphone. :D

It is clear that Minister of Publishing Nociav’s work is legendary, with him having breathed life into what was a dead Ministry. I really appreciate all he’s done here and I know for sure that he has a powerful future ahead of him, both in this Ministry and beyond. <3

Ministry of Education

The Ministry of Education has also been doing well. First to note is that it has completed changing its structure, with a flattening of hierarchy and allowing Professors (or staffers) to participate in more than one Department. In short, this has simplified the Ministry’s structure and made it more efficient.

Beyond that, the University continues to be a spotlight for just what a University can be. Discussions still occur everyday regarding a high wreath of topics like psychology, philosophy, or NS issues. Professors continue to remain engaged in asking questions and seeking answers. I think it’s safe to say that if this pace continues, the University may one day be its own fully-fledged community.

The University has also continued to acquire new works, which can be accessed here. The University also has planned to hold a small podcast on psychology, which will probably occur during the next term!

The Minister, New Leganes, has definitely done well for themselves in this Ministry. It’s pretty safe to say that New Leganes has made this rendition of the University the most successful iteration it has ever achieved! I am super thankful to New Leganes and his Deans for the work they pour into Education to make it a place of discussion and learning, because it honestly shines brilliantly.

Ministry of Immigration

Sadly one of the weakest points in my administration, Immigration has simply not done well at all despite all that was thrown at it. Due to a focus on other areas, recruitment initiatives were rarely discussed. Citizens who noted interest in the government were reached out quite a while after their application was accepted. In short, Immigration remains slow.

This is not to say that recruitment has not happened- I’ve been attempting to reach out personally to multitudes of nations during this second half of the term. It has resulted in some success (as such recruitment tends to do). Additionally, the Concierge program and STEP have continued to do well as valuable resources for new players, and we have seen newer players constantly popping up in our roleplaying communities and (a few) in the government itself.

While Immigration is not a lost cause, it still needs work. I apologize for being unable to do much about Immigration as a whole. It is my hope that whomever the next Delegate is, they will be empowered to change Immigration and finally help our region achieve a strong level of engagement.

Despite the multitudes of set-backs, I’d like to thank former Ministers Great algerstonia, The bedford initiative, Eunopiar for their attempts at changing Immigration for the better. Also much gratitude to East Malaysia, and Libertanny for their work in this regard. It is truly my firm belief that with those two’s caring leadership (or at the very least, advice), and a focus on recruitment that the next upcoming Delegate candidates promise to bring, that Immigration will turn-around and mayhaps become the shining star of Regional Affairs.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Foreign Affairs has continued to do well at its job. While there are not many changes to report, the Ministry has continued to accept new diplomats to its ranks, monitor foreign regions, and discuss occurrences in said regions. The Ministry also quite successfully sent the recent regional newspaper issue to all our related regions- showing the Ministry’s efficiency and thoroughness.

Some relation changes to report:

• A consulate was established with Krasnaya;

• Embassies with Force were closed;

• A treaty with a (for now) unspecified region is in the works.

Regarding Force

In short, it came to the Executive’s attention that Force’s Founder had made some concerning jokes and statements. An official statement later released by Force caused further concerns due to the content within said statement which alluded to Force potentially opening relations with problematic regions, due to wide-spread sanctions being enacted against Force at that time. (Read this thread for more information.)

Following Force’s statement, embassies were pulled and the Executive released a statement regarding the reasons why. Time will tell if relations will be held again, but for now the Executive feels this is the best move.

The Consortium

The Consortium has been a topic of much discussion during my term- both internally and interregionally. While it has truly taken some time to be completed, I (along with the other regional delegates) had managed to iron out the Consortium treaty during these past four months. It was about to be ratified by our regional legislatures (bar Thaecia, who had recently left) when the situation with Force (a then current but now former Consortium member) occurred.

Safe to say that following the Force dilemma, the Consortium treaty will not be ratified during my term. Internal discussions are continuing on whether to let the Consortium exist as an interregional entity or focus on bi-lateral treaties between member regions. This situation will have to be resolved by the next Delegate, but it is sure that we will see an end to the Consortium’s indefinite planning, one way or another, in the next administration.

While the Consortium may now be facing its end, the fact is that it served as the catalyst for a new era of relations for our region. Whether it be attending events alongside the Free Nations Region or running military operations with Thaecia, the East Pacific did much with the Consortium over my term and over Libertanny’s previous two terms.

Before leaving the FA section of this report, I’d just like to thank Minister Pledonia and all Senior Diplomats (both those currently serving and those who resigned during my term) for their hard work in keeping this Ministry running. Their dedication in training ambassadors, reacting quickly to crises, and representing our region abroad have really made the Ministry of Foreign Affairs one of the best Ministries in the region. <3

WORLD ASSEMBLY AFFAIRS

The Ministry of World Assembly Affairs has continued to chug along. Votes continue to go up whenever a new resolution has reached the queue, and the Ministry is (usually) very quick to vote on said resolutions to guide my in-game vote. Discussion also tends to happen with some resolutions. One thing the Ministry can definitely work on is writing Information-For-Voters dispatches. Those have seen limited production throughout my term, and should be ramped up in the next administration. (One suggestion I have for this is to make IFVs a few simple sentences, rather than two paragraphs.)

On the topic of REWARD, REWARD has also been chugging along. REWARD Awards & Hussar Card Raffles have been continued throughout the term, helping to raise engagement with the World Assembly. Dispatches remain updated on a semi-consistent basis, and overall endorsement levels for the Delegate and the top few Viziers are looking great! So REWARD is doing fine.

While there weren’t many grandstand changes here, I’d definitely like to cast my thanks to Minister Wallenburg for their work in keeping the Ministry, alongside advising the budding WA authors that have popped up at random throughout our region. I’d also like to thank former Deputy Minister Flying Snow for her work in propping up the Ministry during the first month of my term- extremely appreciated. They both have helped this Ministry continue to be, simply put, awesome.

MILITARY AFFAIRS

Speaking of the military, the Eastern Pacific Sovereign Army has continued to conduct (in cooperation with other regions), a variety of operations, including the raid on GENUA (a well-disliked fascist region) and assisting in the Delegacy-transfer of the Rejected Realms and the on-going situation in Osiris. As always, we have also worked with our allies of Thaeica, Europeia, and The North Pacific in numerous operations, although we have also worked with Caer Sidi and The League during the past two months. Overall, EPSA has maintained a solid turnout in multiple operations, showing that we still have an active presence on the battlefield.

However, one major concern with EPSA is its not-so-great engagement with newer players. While there have been a couple of training operations, it is pretty clear that recruits are simply not being engaged with to the next level. This is something I take personal blame for, but nonetheless will have to trust the next Delegate to resolve.

In whatever case, I really wish to thank Overseeing Officer The Atlae Isles, alongside his Commanders Catiania and Philville2, for their hard work this term. Especially in terms of Atlae, who has continuously worked to make EPSA tick and serve as an active battlefield presence. EPSA truly would not exist without Atlae, and I’m super grateful to him for running it!

CONCLUSION

That’s basically everything, folks! I’ll reserve my end of term statement for another dispatch, so not many words here. In the meantime, if you have any questions or just want to talk, don’t be hesitant to telegram me! ^-^ I like talking with y’all!

Regards,
Zukchiva Yura
Delegate