1

Vol. 2, No. 5 SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 24th 2019 © International News Organization, 2019

Up Close and Personal: Kuramia Monarchy, War and a

Watery Dispute
By DAUNLAUND
The United States of Flakery is a nation in
the region of Mahakam. In this article we
take an in-depth look into the recent events
that have happened both within the nation
and outside of it.

Presidential election season in Europeia's capital city ended with Kuramia's uncontested re-election.
By WYMONDHAM
Kuramia was recently elected,
uncontested, as President of Euro-
peia. With the Executive Split re-
form recently passing into law,
Kurama will be the last president
of Europeia before the role is split
into the roles of Chief of State, fo-
cused solely on External Affairs,
and a First Minister, focused sole-
ly on internal affairs. With the
split coming into force on
1st March, Kuramia will also serve
as Europeia’s first Chief of State,
with First Minister elections to be
held on the day the law comes into
force. With this in mind, I sat
down to talk to Kuramia on a wide
range of issue, from her early
years on NS to her future plans
for Europeia.
Kuramia has had a varied career
in NationStates, slowly transition-
ing from Roleplay to Gameplay:
“I began playing Nation States
in 2012. I started as most people
do, casually answering issues,
finding a place to roleplay as the
people in my nation – made diffi-
cult by the fact that I preferred
fantasy and medieval roleplay to
the more modern warfare that oc-
curs, and coming up with a pretty
factbook for the region that still
lies incomplete. I stopped playing
for a couple years due to real life
and not finding the kind of political
roleplay I enjoyed. When I came
back, I made a new nation, Ku-
ramia, and began to look through
the forums. That’s when I found
the Game Play forum. I quickly
became engrossed in the political
soap opera that lovely section of…
CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
Background Information
Flakery is a nation that on the coast of the
Sea of Pont Vanis. Reborn in the ashes of
the Tannenreich Empire in 1922 (after 166
years of Tannen Rule), Flakery was re-
established as the 2nd Flakerian Empire un-
der the rule of the Castilov Dynasty. The
Kaiser of the Empire (Otten III) ruled the
2nd Empire from 1922 to 1927 when he was
allegedly assassinated by a Communist rev-
olutionary who was part of the CRPF
(Communist Revolutionary Party of Flak-
ery). After a brutal 15 year long civil war, a
Libertarian Faction came out victorious and
negotiated with the Feudal Government
(which was controlling a portion of Modern
Corea) to partition Flakery. The Feudal Gov-
ernment controlled the South, while the
Democratic faction ruled in the North. How-
ever, the Feudal Government underwent a
revolution in the late 60s, becoming Com-
munist Corea.
Leadup to the War
In October 2019 (RP Date), Flakery began
experiencing major unrest due to the grow-
ing support of the Kaiser’s Restoration. This
all came about in January 2021 when The...
CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

Senate Reforms Expose Divide in NWA

By LLO
The New Western Atlantic is expe-
riencing significant tension amongst
leaders and citizens over a controver-
sial Senate reform that will shake up
the way their legislature is elected.
This comes as part of a raft of chang-
es from the merger agreement with
Norden, which was formalised on 8
February (you can read the previous
article on that here).

The current government system

includes a 25-seat legislature, called
the Senate, which is divided into 10
and 15 seats in groups known as Class
I and Class II respectively. Each of
these ‘Classes’ alternate in elections
every three months, allowing each
member to serve a six-month term
before facing voters once more. The
system also uses proportional voting,
which, although it slightly distorts
votes by only electing half of the leg-
islature at any one time, is generally
representative of the electorate.
One of the measures within the Nor-
den agreement is to increase the Sen-
ate size to 30 seats, while abolishing
the Classes in favour of a more simple
system of all seats being contestable
at each election. King UDR has the
authority to regulate and organize
elections, including the number of
seats in the Senate, and so it is ulti-
mately within their jurisdiction to de-
cide on and implement these changes.
Regardless of this, it was relatively
uncontroversial when initially pro-
posed as most residents saw the need
to expand their government to ac-
commodate for more interested indi-
viduals.
However, as revealed by Senator
Communaccord in a simulation of the
previous election using the proposed
method, only 24 of the 30 seats will be
The NWA Senate discussing the reforms
elected using the current proportional
method. The remaining 6 will be dis-
tributed in a 3-2-1 fashion to the par-
ties with the most, second most, and
third most votes respectively. The
intention of this is to improve the pos-
sibility of majority governments,
avoiding complicated and tense...
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Nathaniel Penrose details the sudden
departure of The Internationale’s found-
er, while Llo investigates deepening di-
vide in the New Western Atlantic over a
controversial Senate reform.
Greylyn reports on Antifa, Wymondham
interviews Kuramia for their weekly
UC&P, and Daunlaund speaks with HEM
about recent changes in the region of Eu-
ropeia.
Daunlaund writes of more controversy
on the continent of Mahakam, where
Flakery is at war with the nation of Ni-
atico, which has resulted in heightened
regional tension and a new state.
Daunlaund reports on their favorite art of
the week from the NS forums, while Llo
challenges you to a crossword based on
this edition’s articles and NS general
knowledge.

A Crisis of Internationale Proportions
The streets of the Internationale have been deserted as the Founder ejected more than 380 nations.
By NATHANIEL PENROSE
The Internationale, one of Nation-
States’ oldest leftist regions, has
faced the latest in their historically
repeated encounters with founder
crises. The Internationale, having a
reputation for excellent political de-
bate and hosting a welcoming, safe,
and politically knowledgeable popu-
lace, has long been a highly influen-
tial entity within the left-wing com-
munity of the world. The region hosts
a direct democratic style govern-
ment, and a 4-person executive entity
alongside a founder who is granted
the title of Custodian – that is, until
their founder retired in a highly unor-
thodox, and very explosive, manner.
The Comrade Custodian Submits
Their Two Second Notice
The Custodian of The Internatio-
nale, Proletaire, is known to many to
be a very knowledgeable, but often
temperamental person. According to
many accounts, they had frequently
expressed dissatisfaction with the
game of NationStates, and in a hope
Senate Reforms Expose Divide in NWA
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
… coalition-forming periods that can
confuse citizens and parties alike.
King UDR said that “it incentivizes
winning”. It appears most individuals
were not aware that this was in the
plan in the first place.
Opponents were quick to speak up
against the proposal. Solborg, the for-
mer founder of Norden and proposed
future Delegate of NWA, claimed that
“it's less democratic because it leads
to unfair results” and “it only incen-
tivizes ‘winning’ among the top two”,
NATIONSTATES TODAY. SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 24th, 2019. POLITICS
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 24th 2019
to pursue more serious things, opted
to retire as the founder.
The retirement of Proletaire was, as
previously mentioned, quite unortho-
dox. Instead of handing the keys over
to the region’s elected officials and
bowing out, Proletaire took it upon
themselves to eject
more than 380 na-
tions that comprised
Proletaire
the populace of The took it upon
themselves to
Internationale (save
for key leaders) and
eject more
left. The reasoning?
To set the region up
for an eventual re-
found and the crea-
than 380 na-
tion of an entirely tions.
new founder.
What Comes Next?
Currently, a large number of the
region’s populace is residing in a pup-
pet region of the allied NSLeft region
of North Korea. Following the retire-
ment of TI’s founder, the TI General
Council convened to assess the situa-
referring to the Activist and Con-
structive parties.
In response to that, UDR conceded
that the proposal was indeed a
“compromise” to appease those wish-
ing to retain the current system, but
insisted that the proposal was fair
and encouraged parties to perform
well in elections.
Deputy Minister of Immigration
Suternia launched a challenge to the
reform in the judicial High Court ar-
guing that it violates a clause in Arti-
tion, choose a new founder, and take
preventative measures to stop such
an issue from happening again.
So far, while the new founder has
not been publicly declared, a member
of TI has stated that they have select-
ed a new founder and that the re-
found and repopu-
lating of TI will
begin soon.
Talks had been
occurring with TI
and it’s NSLeft al-
lies to determine a
new setup for their
founder account to
prevent another
incident. During
these talks, the option of giving the
account to the members of the elected
government, or to an unelected group
of trusted individuals was discussed,
with the latter taking favor. Nonethe-
less, whether TI has chosen to use
their traditional one person, one
founder account system or share
cle X of the Constitution, which
reads:
“The ideal to establish, align, lead or
leave a political party without gov-
ernment interference or discrimina-
tion shall be upheld.”
With the motion supported by Sol-
borg, as well as Prime Minister Re-
formed Badad, UDR was pressured
into backing down and contacting all
political party representatives to fig-
ure out an alternative system with a
wider scope of appeal.
2
Section P
their founder account between multi-
ple persons remains to be seen.
What is the Impact?
So far, the impact to the region
seems as minimal as could be possi-
ble in the circumstances. A TI mem-
ber even stated that this was “the
least stressful founder crisis the re-
gion had gone through.” The only ma-
jor issues seem to be the apparent
loss of some of the more inactive
players, as only a portion of the re-
gion’s populace relocated to the tem-
porary region, along with some tech-
nical issues with the shared NSLeft
bot, Lenin, which was unable to pro-
cess the mass ejection from The In-
ternationale and is currently being
assessed by the TI Comrade Offsite
Administrator, Misley.
In light of the crisis, there has been
an outpouring of support for The In-
ternationale, especially from their
NSLeft allies. Many predict to see
this leader of leftist thought be back
on its feet within the coming days.
Ultimately, if it or another change to
a similar effect is not implemented,
the next election may well see anoth-
er complicated coalition negotiation
period marred by opportunism and
political tactics. It appears the bal-
ance between effective governance
and electoral fairness has not yet
been struck, and a key element in the
democratic structure of the New
Western Atlantic will continue to
hang in the balance until a popular
agreement can be reached.

Antifa: A Closer Look at the Prominent Anti-Fascist Initiative
Antifa members rally in the streets against the WA proposal to condemn their group.
By GREYLYN
DISCLAIMER: The author of this re-
sides in Antifa-associated region.
Amidst criticisms resulting in pro-
posals like the one which will be ad-
dressed in this article, I decided to
speak to a member of the region
known as Antifa to better evaluate the
recent developments. The proposal in
question was a condemnation submit-
ted before the Security Council which
may or may not move on to become a
resolution for World Assembly na-
tions to vote on. After seeing said pro-
posal, I spoke with Courelli, who is a
member of leadership in both Antifa
and the Red Fleet. The first thing I
inquired was what Courelli thought of
the proposal Condemn Antifa.
“In short, I think it’s ridiculous. if
you’d like more detailed answers, feel
free to ask.”
I proceeded to ask in-depth ques-
tions about the inner workings of An-
tifa. Excluding the obvious (fascist
regions), I asked what sorts of re-
gions Antifa have its sights set on? I
also asked whether Courelli would
consider Antifa a “raider” group.
“We target regions which are fas-
cist; we liberate regions held by fas-
cists. We raid and defend in accord-
ance with the very simple policy set
forth above. I am Admiral of the Huey
P. Newton Squadron of The Red
Fleet. as an interorganizational
group, the senior leadership of mem-
ber organizations serve as leaders in
antifa; there are no ranks, positions,
etc in antifa aside from one’s position
in their respective organization.”
Courelli later told me what he thought
of this clause: ENRAGED by the fact
that Antifa invades peaceful regions
and complains when others (of a dif-
ferent ideology) do the same.
“In regard to the clause, it’s funny.
they’re complaining when others of a
different ideology raid regions. bit
hypocritical, eh?”
I pressed on to ask whether Antifa
has ever raided a non-fascist region
and what regions fit their criteria for
NATIONSTATES TODAY. SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 24th, 2019. GAMEPLAY
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 24th 2019
invasion. Courelli explained a bit
about Antifa’s mission.
“I can’t speak to “ever,” but in my
tenure in the organization, we only
attack fascists. Sure, one may say,
“That fascist region did nothing to
provoke you,” but the mere act of be-
ing fascist is enough. it’s kinda in our
name. We target fascist regions. gen-
erally by evaluating tags, dispatches,
rmb, wfe, flag, embassies.”
I asked if Antifa targets other right-
wing groups and what Antifa seeks to
promote on NationStates.
“We have a very narrow mission:
eradicate fascism on NationStates. If
you don’t want your region targeted,
then don’t tolerate fascism in your
region and you won’t be. that’s it;
that’s the one rule.”
I asked Courelli to expand on that
statement and the criteria Antifa has.
“In my experience and in my opin-
ion, just a few fascists in an otherwise
peaceful region isn’t enough. howev-
er, if the fascists have overrun the
place, run the government, etc — If it
is a fascist region in all but name —
then it doesn’t matter if it’s called
“the happy sunshine assembly,” it
may be a potential target.”
I asked Courelli to respond to claims
Antifa is an “alt-left extremist group”.
“Under no circumstance. It is not
radical nor extreme to realize, in the
simplest, that fascism is bad and has
no place in our world — both in real
life and in a button clicking browser
game that takes up more of my time
than it probably should.”
Finally, I asked Courelli if they had
any closing statements.
“Impartiality takes the side of the
oppressor. Anyone seeking to join the
anti-fascist cause is invited and en-
couraged to join one of the member
organizations. A lot of NS fascists
claim to “just be roleplaying” and
thus, in their minds, their words and
actions are excusable. I suggest they
pick a better ideology to “roleplay” —
one that isn’t founded upon oppres-
sion or murder of people because of
racial superiority and the like.”
While writing this article, a nation
associated with The Red Fleet’s Ad-
miralty Board reached out to me with
this official statement.
“The Red Fleet has policies in place
that regulate the types of regions that
are eligible targets. Antifa has an
even stricter set of policies restricting
targets. The most recent failed at-
tempt to “Condemn Antifa” is an obvi-
ous attempt by fascist-aligned na-
tions, through puppets, to convince
uninformed people that Antifa is a
leftist military that attacks regions
wantonly. Pursuing this story legiti-
mizes a fascist position and tarnishes
the name and reputation of Nation-
States Today as a media outlet, which
should abide by the principle of “no
platform” as do most other respecta-
ble media groups on NationStates.”
Up Close and Personal: Kuramia
President Kuramia seeks to continue being a leader as the new Chief of Staff.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
our forums has always been. I liked
this kind of politics, and I grew com-
fortable with how R/D played out.
When I received the invite to join Eu-
ropeia, I didn’t know I was getting
into a political simulator unlike any
other. I absolutely loved it. I had next
to no experience with law or actual
government structure other than
what little education I’d already ab-
sorbed and a Business Law class in
college. I decided what I wanted to
accomplish in Europeia: Senator and
Minister of Foreign Affairs, and I
worked toward those accomplish-
ments. Neither were easy to get, but
that’s what made getting them even
better. President has never truly
been on my agenda, so reaching this
pinnacle of Europeian politics is
shocking…and humbling. I hope I
never get used to the feeling.”
Despite having been in Europeia for
nearly 4 years now, Kuramia felt that
this time, everything came together
perfectly for a run at the presidency:
“The most important thing to a suc-
cessful campaign is having every-
thing lined up for that campaign. I
felt like everything came together
perfectly. I was ready, the region felt
ready, and the timing aligned. I real-
ized I had the time and energy neces-
sary for the job’s full scope. I had
people who could step into needed
roles for my cabinet. Also I had a
great person to act as a support and
advisor in Pierce, who ran with me as
Vice President. I approached people
for my cabinet and as people accept-
3
Section G
I attempted to reach out to the au-
thor of the proposal, but they declined
to be interviewed. Nevertheless, we
have gotten some insight as to how
the organization known as Antifa op-
erates.
Upon hearing the response to some
of the issues brought up in the pro-
posal, it appears as though we have
learned more about this organiza-
tion’s mission in its pursuits to eradi-
cate fascism on NationStates. Ex-
tremist group with radical tactics, or
crusaders looking out for our world’s
best interests?
I think it’s safe to say the latter. Per-
haps there is something everyone can
take away from this situation and that
is dialogue to get a better understand-
ing of people you might not know
much about. It seems as though this
was a case of a snap judgement made
based off a lack of an understanding
of said organization’s motives.
ed positions, I became more solid in
my decision. My campaign finally
formed in my mind and I set to writ-
ing my platform. I guess the biggest
reason I ran was because it was final-
ly an exciting prospect for me and not
something to be unsure or scared of.”
With the new reforms taking effect
on the 1st of March, Kuramia’s role
will become that of Chief of Staff. This
role will be solely focused on Foreign
Affairs. Kuramia feels that the posi-
tion will be just perfect for her and
her passion for Foreign Affairs:
“I am most excited for the shift in
the role of President to two separate
positions: First Minister and Chief of
Staff. I came into the role of Presi-
dent fully aware I would then transi-
tion to Chief of Staff. As a long-time
lurker of NSGP, I know a lot of names
and seen a lot of action from regions
and people alike. My passion in Na-
tion States has always been Foreign
Affairs, and coming into Europeia
and seeing an entire portion of it de-
voted to FA just makes sparkles
shine in my eyes. I am excited to see
what an Executive position devoted
entirely to Foreign Affairs can do,
and I am eager to test it. I’m just
overall really excited! I think so
much can be done, and the pressure
to as much as possible is encourag-
ing.”
Kuramia is a strong supporter of
the executive split as a whole. She...
CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE →

Up Close and Personal: Kuramia
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4
feels that it will halt the decline in in-
dividuals willing to lead the region:
“Before the split was being dis-
cussed, I didn’t want to step up to be-
come President. It took so much time
and energy that was split between
two focuses. Even with help it was
becoming apparent that being Presi-
dent either left one focus ignored or
caused a critical crash in the system,
so to speak. It felt like no one wanted
the job anymore, and the effect was
being felt throughout the entire re-
gion, especially in ministries where
participation trickled to a stop. When
the idea of the split was proposed, it
felt like the region sighed with relief.
This split is going to allow two people,
working together for the good of the
region, to focus on what the region
needs to be successful inside and out.
I think it’s just the beginning of what
we can do with this system, and it’s
going to be a thrilling start.”
One of Kuramia’s main goals are
Chief of State will be re-establishing
Europeia’s presence in Gameplay:
“I well remember an article that
came out, declaring us as a great re-
gion to play politics in. I want to re-
mind people we are still that kind of
region. We have been developing
tools to use outside our region that
will continue to be used, but I also
want to revisit tried and true methods
that have fallen to the wayside,
though not through a lack of effort. To
that end, the Europeian embassy will
step back into the Game Play forums
spotlight. I also wish to explore Inde-
pendence in this new age of social
media and a constant need to balance
it with forum activity. I want to reach
out to our Independent allies and fig-
ure out where we’re going. I think
we’ve grown comfortable with where
we were in the past, but I also think
there is awareness that the new way
people are forming connections has
also shifted what Independence can
be. I want to see if that shift is some-
thing to pursue. It seems like it
should be. I also just want to be pre-
sent in Game Play among other peo-
ple and regions. I think former Presi-
dent Sopo did a great job of opening
that door, and now that I’m allowed
total focus there, I see no reason to let
it shut.”
Kuramia believes that WALL
(World Assembly Legislative
League) is far from the evil monster
it is portrayed as by some people of
NS. Kuramia feels that WALL pro-
vides an excellent opportunity for like
minded people to project their opin-
ion into one large voice that can
be heard across NationStates:
“I actually first learned of this “flak”
in new political party that I helped
found in Europeia. That party first
had some anti-WALL feelings in it. I
didn’t know much about WALL at the
time or why it was given so much
grief, and my first move, if we were
going to be some kind of Anti-Wall
political party, was to find out exactly
why it was so bad. The only thing I’ve
gotten out of the discourse is that it’s
a voting block, and voting blocs are
bad. We did retract our position as
well, unable to settle on a good argu-
ment against WALL. I just disagree
NATIONSTATES TODAY. SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 24th, 2019. GAMEPLAY
that voting blocs are bad. It’s natural
for people to gather around, discuss
options and opinions, and collate
those opinions into a singular voice.
Now not everything natural is neces-
sarily good, but I haven’t yet seen a
argument against WALL that hasn’t
just been ‘voting blocs are bad’. May-
be I’ve missed the detailed analytics
occurring in the WALL debates, but
so far I’ve seen nothing that convinc-
es me WALL is an evil menace. What
I do see is a group coming together,
discussing the issues, and agreeing
on a path forward. Seeing regions
work together for a single cause is a
great benefit and worthy of any “flak”
Europeia might be
getting – from peo- Now we can be
ple who’d still give
innovative,
us flak without
WALL in all likeli-
hood. It just shows
come up with
that something like
this can work, espe-
solutions, but
cially when some- sometimes the
political game
one wants to argue
how groups like
these usually fail.”
will supersede
As the new Presi-
dent and then Chief
those solutions.
of State many regions who are allied
to Europeia are anxious to know
who Kuramia feels Europeia is clos-
est to as a region. However, Kuramia
believes that Europeia has many
close allies, not just one:
“Anyone we have a treaty with is
going to be a closest ally. Treaties
aren’t the only thing that make allies
close though, even if that closeness
comes in just a moment. We have the
The Bealtaine Accord, an agreement
between different regions to just hold
cultural events together and share
cultural events in our regions with
other regions in the accord. Also close
allies are those that work with us to-
ward a common goal. In that sense,
we have a multitude of close allies in
organizations such as WALL and the
Anti-Pacific Coalition as well. Espe-
cially where it concerns APC, there
are some different ideologies rubbing
elbows together. Even if, as it has
been said, that effort might have dif-
ferent specific goals for how to com-
plete our shared task. I think it’s a
wonderful show of what more we can
do together in Nation States, even at
different ends of the R/D spectrum.”
As Kuramia doesn’t see a closest
ally, neither does she see a greatest
enemy, in terms of regions, for Euro-
peia. Rather she feels that ideologies
such as Francoism are Europeia’s
greatest enemy:
“When I think of how enemies ap-
plies to Nation States, I don’t actually
list regions or people. Those tend to
shift and few people who play this
game stay with one persona through-
out their career. While at the moment
there are specific people and groups
who work against what Europeia
works towards, I would rather focus
on the ideas that are the enemies of
Europeia and a lot of Nation States
regions and players. Anti-UCR
thought is a constant plague now that
I don’t really recall seeing so much
when I first played the game. Franco-
ism is not only a call-out to real life
atrocities, but is a concept in Nation
States that makes my eyebrows
twitch whenever I read about it. Na-
zism is definitely an enemy of every-
one, and I’m proud to be a part of a
region that actively fights against
even someone thinking it’s “cool” to
pretend to be part of. Those are eve-
ryone’s enemies in Nation States and
definitely Europeia’s.”
Kuramia believes that the thing Eu-
ropeia does best is welcoming and
integrating new arrivals:
“I feel we’re the best at being wel-
coming. When someone new comes
into the region with questions, not
only do our citizens step up to greet
them, but we
guide them to-
wards their inter-
est, answer their
questions, provide
mentorship, and
even reward them
quite quickly
when they show
initiative to do a
job or come up
with an insight or
idea themselves
that shows
they’ve taken the
time to research our culture and laws.
We’re love to give second chances
too. They don’t always work out, but
many people have broken our laws or
just trolled too hard and have come
back to rejoin us and get right back
into the political game. I just feel like
our community is a really good one –
supportive and intelligent – and we
work hard to keep it that way.”
However, Kuramia is also aware
that Europeia does have areas it can
improve on, namely its habit of get-
ting tangled up in its own internal pol-
itics:
“Sometimes we get tangled up in
our own politics. There’s an easy so-
lution and we have to consider our
current laws. Now we can be innova-
tive, come up with solutions, but
sometimes the political game will su-
persede those solutions. As a political
region with a lot of people well versed
in legalese, we can have some big
egos. The debates can be infamous
and well worth a read or getting in-
volved in, but sometimes they can get
heated, and it can be hard to draw
back from them. I always advocate
not being glued to the region 24/7. It’s
okay to say ‘I need a break’ and step-
ping away from your computer or
phone screen for a bit. The debate
isn’t going to vanish in that amount of
time.”
Kuramia thinks the best way to
combat this is for individuals to step
up to the plate and make things hap-
pen, rather than squabbling about it:
“When I ran my Star Wars Roleplay
Guild, we had the same problem. Dis-
cussions would turn into debates and
then arguments and then nonsensi-
cal, just plain mean words would be
said. The other person would respond
in kind, and before I knew it, the con-
versation started with the intent to
improve things left people upset and
taking LOAs for days at a time. I see
the same thing with Europeia. The
best way to show that something can
work is to step up and do it. The Pres-
ident’s role in Europeia, and indeed
4
any role that has Foreign Affairs at
its center, is tense. That’s why the
Executive Split has occurred. Still
things are going to happen. I want to
show that you don’t have to always
be calm. You can have a situation in
front of you and just want to smack
the ‘oh gods no button’. What I was
taught was that being ‘always on’ is
not healthy. You need to step back. If
you’re having to take LOA’s to step
back, maybe teaching yourself how to
step away in the moment is important
for you.”
Kuramia sees herself similar in
style to hands-on Presidents like
HEM, Sopo and Writinglegend. How-
ever, she also feels she differs, mainly
in the fact that she took time to finally
make the step up to the presidency:
“I started out slower than a lot of
past presidents. People have been
asking me for a couple terms now to
step up to the Executive in this role,
and I just didn’t feel ready at the
time. I was needed elsewhere or the
specific needs of the role weren’t
something I was strongly suited for at
that time. I believe a lot of past Presi-
dents stepped into the role as soon as
it was a clear upward step for them.
It’s hard to say right now how I’m
similar. I’ve never been President
before. I’d say I’m similar to those
Presidents like Sopo, Writinglegend,
and HEM in communicating directly
with my staff. I want to be in the mix
and have them feel comfortable
speaking to me.”
Kuramia believes that the biggest
threat to regions across NationStates
in general and Europeia specifically
is anti UCR sentiment and the grow-
ing regionalism in the game:
“This idea that UCRs and their
members are an invasive species is
one of the most ludicrous and appal-
ling ideas I have read. Francoism
stinks of fascism, and like fascism is a
true threat to the game. They cannot
seriously and effectively reason that
UCRs and their people are a threat to
them. Not when, in truth, UCRs and
GCRs are the same. We both put gov-
ernmental systems in place. We both
worry about the security of our re-
gion. We both have established cul-
tures. How are we different? It’s the
same argument that fascism and Na-
zism brought forth to further their
causes. As said by Hermann Goering
at the Nuremberg Trials: ‘The people
can always be brought to the bidding
of the leaders. That is easy. All you
have to do is tell them they are being
attacked and denounce the pacifists
for lack of patriotism and exposing
the country to danger.’”
I found this a highly engaging inter-
view with Kuramia. Kuramia seemed
highly knowledgeable on a range of
topics. I see a bright future for Euro-
peia, with the new reforms coming
into force in the coming weeks and
with Kuramia at the helm one cannot
fail to see a renaissance for Europeia
on the horizon. I wish to thank Ku-
ramia for giving up so much of what
must surely be a hectic schedule to
give me this interview and hope you,
the readers, find it as engaging and
informative as I have.
 NATIONSTATES TODAY. SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 24th, 2019. GAMEPLAY 5

Europeia: HEM Talks Recent Changes

By DAUNLAUND
HEM, is the figurehead and founder
of Europeia, a region at the time of
writing with over 1,000 nations. Being
a former member of Europeia myself,
it was very exciting to talk to him. We
talked about Europeia’s past, present
and future.

I first wanted to ask HEM for a

summary of recent events that had
happened in Europeia. HEM feels
that the new reforms passed by Euro-
peia will help prevent burnout from
occurring among it’s leadership:

“Sure, we recently passed a major

reform package that represents the
first substantial change to our execu-
tive branch since 2007. Starting next
month we are going to have two lead-
ers of the executive branch: one who
focuses on foreign affairs, and anoth-
er who focuses on domestic affairs.
To the outside world this won’t be a
huge change, but domestically it will
really help us divide up the workload
of our “President” to ensure citizens
don’t burn out leading our region.” HEM sees great interregional interest: “Our navy is more active than ever, our citizens are more interested in foreign affairs…”

I went on to ask HEM about some of
the changes I had noticed
in Europeia. Such as the delegate po-
sition which had changed back and
forth recently:
“We’ve only had five Delegates in
the last four years, so I think the of-
fice has been stable. We did recently
changed our selection system: the
Delegate was previously elected, but
are now appointed, so I’m not sure
whether the new system will create
more turnover or less. We’ll see!”
I went on to ask him about Europe-
ia’s recent presidential elections and
how they went:
“They went well. We had some good
debates and discussions, though
there was only one Presidential ticket
running. Next month the executive
split reform will kick in and we’ll have
elections for First Minister who will
lead the domestic side of the govern-
ment, which I suspect will be fasci-
nating.”
Going back to changes I had no-
ticed, I was intrigued as to why some
embassies such as Europe had
closed:
“I don’t think it’d be very interest-
ing to your readers to go through eve-
ry embassy closure ever, but in re-
gards to Europe that embassy was
closed by them because their founder
after a long hiatus and initiated the
closure due to our war with the New
Pacific Order. The founder apparent-
ly was longtime buddies with the
NPO, and so overruled their actual
government and had the embassy
shuttered. My understanding is that
most if not all citizens in Europe were
pretty outraged by that.”
Following up on the war with NPO I
wondered how it affected Europeia:
“Our navy is more active than ever,
our citizens are more interested in
foreign affairs, and we’ve seen some
significant victories for our side and
our ideology. St Abbaddon is back in
the hands of the rightful ruler after
the NPO’s occupation, the NPO is
moving away from the anti-UCR ide-
ology of Francoism, etc. So we are
thrilled with how things have gone –
it’s definitely a safer and warmer
world for UCRs.”
As the interview began to draw to a
close, I decided to ask HEM what he
feels made Europeia so successful:
“It can be a ton of different things,
but I think overall it’s our exciting
political system. Europeia is a place
you can come as a newcomer and as-
pire to be at the top. Positions aren’t
handed out like candy, you have to
work and have to campaign, but that
makes it that much more rewarding
when you win and come out on top.”
From this interview we can see that
Europeia’s navy and armed forces
are again a force to be reckoned with
and that Europeia is going in a new
direction. The war with NPO has not
as heavily affected Europeia as I first
thought, instead it seems to have
made the region more active and for-
midable. The delegate’s position has
so far stayed stable but major chang-
es have been made, it is yet to be seen
if these are for the better but HEM
seems positive that they are. The
presidential elections were a success
and we are yet to see how the elec-
tions for first minister will go but i am
sure they will be on trend with the
presidential elections and go very
well. I found HEM’s description of
why Europeia was successful ex-
tremely interesting and as a co-
founder of a region myself, quite in-
spiring. I would also like to
wish HEM the best for Europeia and
himself.

Do you have an idea to

improve the Gameplay section?
Message @bogieoone#3478 on Discord!

Monarchy, War, and a Watery Dispute
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Nation of Perokia (which is south-
east of Flakery) became a dictator-
ship and the Flakerian leader at the
time (Gerrikk Nejer) demanded that
the Parliamentary system should be
returned. After the Perokian Presi-
dent denied, the President of Flakery
did not take further action as he had
vowed not to in the beginning. How-
ever, this lead to major strikes, riots,
and protests occurring in Central and
Eastern Flakery against the Govern-
ment. The Riots continued escalating,
putting the nation at a breaking point.
During a Presidential speech inside
Burgess, Flakery (the Capital at the
time), the protesters began getting
very violent against security agents.
It was decided that the President was
to be escorted to a safer location via
Helicopter until the violence had sub-
sided. The President climbed in, but
as a security agent was about to close
the door, a protester threw a hand
grenade towards it. The gre-
nade landed inside and blew the heli-
copter to pieces, killing everyone in-
side, including the President. The
now desperate Government looked to
the military to quell the riots. Howev-
er, the military had turned to the side
of the protesters and successfully ex-
ecuted a coup d’état.
Once in control, they burnt down
the Parliament building, along with
the Presidential Manor inside Bur-
gess, before beginning the process of
reinstating the Kaiser. They found
the Direct Descendant of Otten III, a
woman known as Mallia Castilov,
who, coincidentally, was the leader of
the Monarchist Movement. After es-
tablishing her as the Kaiserina of
Flakery, she went about establishing
very aggressive foreign policies and
drastic increases to the militaristic
strength inside Flakery. She also cre-
ated many authoritarian policies for
the citizens, and switched Flakery’s
capital to Pont Vanis.
One example of her policies was
turning on the other nations of Ma-
improve the International section?
NATIONSTATES TODAY. SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 24th, 2019. INTERNATIONAL 6
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 24th 2019 Section I
hakam and refusing foreign vessels
access to Flakerian waters. Many
ships joined a confrontation which led
to a heated discussion becoming an
outright standoff over who would
leave. Both sides considered firing on
the other, but, in the end, neither did.
After another long call between the
Kaiserina and Medegan Fedges
(Niatico’s president), the standoff
was ended when both sides promised
to pull into port. However, in July
2020, the Flakerians expanded Mili-
tary Presence on the Niaticoan bor-
der. Niatico was quick to spot this
and declared it a precursor to an in-
vasion. The Kaiserina denied this.
The War
Mahakam before the Battle of Rethug. Map by Flakery.
Despite denying accusations of an
invasion, the Kaiserina decided to
order a full scale invasion. At 1:00
AM on Wednesday 7th July, over 100
bombers took off all across the Flako-
Niaticoan border. Their mission was
to destroy key access points, military
barracks, bridges, airfields, and fuel
tanks. One hour later, thousands of
Unterhuaffen-3 tanks rolled across
the border, followed by 1.9 million
men. The largest ground invasion in
the history of Mahakam had com-
menced.
Despite heavy resistance, Flakery
steamrolled in, pushing successfully
throughout the border. Many Flak-
erians in the southwestern portion of
the border had significant issues due
to Niaticoan defenses and harsh ter-
Mahakam after the Battle of Rethug. Map by Flakery.
rain. However, the Flakerians did
eventually break the defenses and
began pushing on this front as well. were airlifted by the Niaticoan Air the Niaticoans, as over 10,000 Ni-
The Battle of Bertugg was a very Force afterward, despite Flakerian aticoans met their ends in this battle.
harsh battle because of the cities attempts to shoot down the helicop- Roughly 6,000 Flakerians were simi-
mountainous geography and troop ters. Many other battles followed, but larly sentenced to their graves.
count. The Battle began when Flak- none were anywhere near as signifi-
erian troops surrounded the city and cant as the Battle of Bertugg – except In conclusion
began setting up large artillery on the one. The Flakerian Forces continued The Restoration War, as it is known,
hills surrounding it. The Niaticoans pushing north, but one Niaticoan is far from over, and many events are
noticed and launched an attack be- commander realized that something yet to happen. If you are interested in
fore their opposition was ready. The had to be done to protect the nation. what happens next in this RP, a sec-
Flakerians were caught off guard and As a result, he ordered the Niaticoan ond part of this article will be re-
took massive casualties, despite win- troops to stop retreating. The result- leased in the near future.
ning the battle. The Niaticoan troops ing battle (The Battle of Rethug) was
who were not overrun in the city the most brutal battle of the war for
Do you have an idea to
Message @balag12#7151 on Discord!

Art of the Week
By DAUNLAUND
There has been lots happening in
the NS Polandball world. Here are
my top picks for this week.
By Narumasang
This well drawn strip is really fun-
ny and excellently done! It makes
no sense, but it makes me laugh.
By Los Ricos
From something funny to some-
thing sad. I wonder what has made
Los Ricos so unhappy.
By Intercosmos
What a rotten day for a rebellion!
But what a great drawing by Inter-
cosmos. It takes quite a bit of skill to
NATIONSTATES TODAY. SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 24th, 2019. ARTS 7
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 24th 2019 Section A
Weekly Crossword
draw a gun like that. By LLO
Have you been paying attention this week? Test yourself with our weekly
crossword, based on the articles in this edition and general knowledge of NS.
By Los Ricos
See the GIF in action here.
Another piece by Los Ricos. This
time it moves! I think this GIF-ball
is really well drawn and animated.
By Intercosmos
You finished it? Congrats! Give yourself a pat on the back — you earned it!
This request by Brussledorf
caught my eye. And I like the little
joke Intercosmos put in relating to
how the art was drawn. A great
piece of Polandball art!
This week’s art concluded
Overall these pieces have made it
into this column not because of how
Want to hear about
well they are drawn or how good
they look. They were picked because
the news first?
of the time and effort these people
put in to make this wonderful art.
Join our Discord server:
https://discord.gg/NsfX7wM
EXECUTIVE BOARD
Chairman: Lewis Kuznetsov-Flood
Chief Content Officer & Editor-in-Chief: Trabardia
Human Resources Director: Precoixious
Director of Graphics & Publishing: Llo
EDITORIAL STAFF
Chief Politics Editor: Llo
Deputy Politics Editor: Prarie
Chief Gameplay Editor: Wymondham
Deputy International Editor: The Doctor