Artanian Union

The Artanian Union (AU) (Dundorfian: Artanische Union; Lorman: Artaniskas Uniōni; Kundrati: Artainek Batath) is a continental cooperation body whose aim is to protect the interests of its member states and to promote freedom and democracy throughout Artania. The Artanian Union differs from many other regional cooperation organizations in the sense that it permits in a variety of different ideologies and does not ask member states to give up their sovereignty in order for membership. The union was first founded in 3284 by members of the Democratic Party of Dorvik and their leader Trajan Petrov, who is considered the founder of the union.
The Artanian Union has undergone many re-orgnaizations, the latest was underneath the leadership of Felix Stahl who is credited with the current structure of the Artanian Union. The Artanian Union has largely been dominated by Dorvik throughout its history; the Dorvish have played a very large role in the upkeep of the organization as well as the development of the AU as a whole. The Imperial Commonwealth was once considered to be a leading member while Rutania in recent years has taken a more active role. The AU has fluctuated in members since its founding, it currently has 4 member states with Dundorf considering joining the organization again, this is the smallest it has been since its founding.
The AU is broken into four major parts: the Supreme Artanian Council (SAC) which is the primary leadership body of the organization with overall direction of the AU being controlled by the SAC. The Board of the Artanian Commission (BAC) which is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the AU as a whole, the Court of the Artanian Union (CAU) which is responsible for handling disputes between member states in all fields and the Artanian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIID) which is a regional bank dedicated to infrastructure development of Artania.
==History==
The Artanian Union was one of the first continental unions to be firmly entrenched in place in international affairs, the Majatran Union had undergone several unsuccessful periods but recently the Zardic Federation has been able to stabilize the situation of the Majatran Union and many nations have begun to partake in the Majatran Union. The Artanian Union was developed first as the brainchild of several influential Dorvish politicians who saw it as their duty to assist in the development of their continent rather than just their nation. The first political party to have a pan-Artanian ideology was the Artanian Federal Democrats which became a poliitcal group of the Artanian Union. The Artanian Union was first pushed by Trajan Petrov, a descendant of Raymond Petrov and an influential member of the Communist Party of Dorvik. Trajan, a noted pan-Artanianist believed that only through mutual cooperation could the Artanian continent take its place as chief continent among the continents of the world. The Artanian continent was formally unified when Dorvik ratified the Charter of the Artanian Union on October 3284, other nations such as Rutania and Beluzia had made attempts to ratify the treaty and the Rutanian legislature passed the charter and officially became the second member state of the AU, the Beluzian ratification failed as it met fierce opposition at home. The acting Director-General Gotthilf Siegel had gone a massive recruiting trip to ensure that the success of the AU was not limited to a few states.
The Artanian Union continued to fluctuate in membership with various countries in Artania attempting to join the union. Countries such as Luthori, Darnussia/Narikaton, Hobrazia and others have joined the union and have left, few states have remained permanently in the AU such as Dorvik and Darnussia who have committed large amounts of money and resources to the Artanian Union. The AU was successful in meditating an end of a dispute between Aloria and Dundorf when the Majatran nation Zardugal setup a puppet government in Dundorf, which caused a huge uproar on the Artanian continent, it was this uproar which gave the AU its authority and power. For the first time the AU suspended a member and protected the Aloria nation against Dundorfian belligerence, many outside political commentators stated that this had been one of the most successful regional organizations that had come to fruition. The AU continued on until one man, Kuzman Vaseliv, would launch a massive reformation of the AU and make it one of the largest and most effective regional organizations to date. Vaseliv would eventually become President of the Artanian Union and develop a new structure for the AU which made it very similar to a functioning parliamentary democracy.
With the resurgence of the Dorvish Federation in the late 3700s the Artanian Union again became a centerpiece to its international relations, the Dorvish Federation has been one of the largest supporters of the Artanian Union and has continually pushed it. In October 3748 the AU became a member organization of the Collective Security and Cooperation Organization which is a growing international organization. Felix Stahl was chosen as President of the Artanian Union on October 3751 and announced that the organization would be undergoing another massive reformation which would remove the influence of political groups to ensure that the process was fair and free to all member states.
The Artanian Union pressed on underneath various leaders with close ties to the Urban Party of Rutania as the Dorvish Social Nationalist collapsed, underneath the leadership of the various leaders the Artanian Union saw the creation of one of its first institutions after the initial founding of the new AU underneath Felix Stahl. The Artanian Space Agency (Dundorfian: Artanische Weltraumorganisation) which was placed underneath Department of Technical Services and Scientific Cooperation of the Board of the Artanian Commission. It was at this time that the Artanian Commissariat for Ibutho Reconstruction (Dundorfian: Artanische Kommissariat für Ibutho Wiederaufbau) was founded, it was placed directly underneath the Board of the Artanian Commission's authority and was responsible for the oversight of funds and reconstruction efforts of the new Federal Republic of Ibutho. The Commission was successful in its mission and the 1 billion ART (the new currency) was dedicated to the project. Artanian Commissioner Vitus Birnbacher announced the end of the Artanian Commission following the Artanian board declaring that the nation was stable enough.
During the International Finance Crisis in Lodamun, the Artanian Union responded with the creation of the Artanian Central Bank (ACB). The Artanian Central Bank would produce the Artanian Mark (ART/ARM), and it would be pegged at the same conversion rates as the Lodamese Dollar. Preference was first given to states within Artania, and as such they were the first to receive fixed rates of exchange. Several foreign nations signed on to use the Artanian Mark including Vanuku, Dolgaria and Cildania. The President of the Artanian Central Bank in 3883 offered Narikaton and Darnussia a 5b Artanian Mark loan with a 1.37% interest rate to help stabilize the Narik and Darnussian economy which has seen years of mismanagement and neglect underneath various governments.
==Governance and politics of the Artanian Union==
===Supreme Artanian Council===
The Supreme Artanian Council (Dundorfian: Oberste Rat Artanischen) is the highest organ of the Artanian Union. The Supreme Artanian Council, known commonly as SAC, is made up of the permanent representatives of the members states of the Artanian Union. These representatives are traditionally deputy heads of government or other appointees, the SAC is responsible for the overall oversight of the Artanian Union because they appoint the members of the Board of the Artanian Commission, the day-to-day operators of the Artanian Union. The SAC is also responsible for the integration of the Artanian Union and ensuring that the AU as a whole doesnt encroach on the sovereignty of its member states. The other major power that the Supreme Artanian Council has is the fact that the SAC approves the operating budget of the AU, confirms and deals with policies regarding the hiring of members of the commission and its departments. The Supreme Artanian Council is chaired by a rotating presidency, it is rotated on a two-year basis among member states alphabetically. The SAC makes its decisions by consensus.
===Board of the Artanian Commission===
The Board of the Artanian Commission (Dundorfian: Bord der Artanischen Kommission) is the largest organ of the Artanian Union, the Board of the Artanian Commission, known commonly as the BAC, is the day-to-day operators of the AU and function as the primary leadership of the AU. The BAC is responsible for the overall management of AU policy, management of the departments and policies of the AU. The BAC is headed by an appointed Chairman/woman who is then assisted by 13 other members who are appointed for five-year terms that are renewable once. The Chairman/women of the commission does not have a renewable term and is elected for five-years. The Board functions as the major player in the AU, it is responsible for oversight of the departments of the AU and carries out much of the management of the AU.
The Board of the Artanian Commission controls 13 departments, the departments of the commission are headed by appointed Director-Generals, the Director-Generals are selected from a pool of candidates and no single member state can have successive terms as Director-Generals, the commission controls the hiring and dismissal of Director-Generals.
===Court of the Artanian Union===
The Court of the Artanian Union (Dundorfian: Gericht der Artanischen Union) is the newest creation of the Artanian Union. The Court of the Artanian Union was developed as a means to handle disputes between member states of the AU. The Court of the Artanian Union seeks to settle trade disputes, issues between nations in Artania that would otherwise result in negative actions or consequences between member states. Each member state sends two judges to the Court of the Artanian Union for a ten-year term.
==Economics of the Artanian Union==
The economics of the Artanian Union are dominated by many large post-industrial economies such as Dorvik, Rutania, the Imperial Commonwealth and the Holy Luthori Empire. The collective GDP of the Artanian Union is (LOD GDP OF THE ARTANIAN UNION). The GDP per capita of the Artanian Union is (LOD GDP PER CAPITA OF THE ARTANIAN UNION). Overall, the Artanian Union has one of the largest and most powerful cooperating economies in the world, the Artanian Union has a large natural resources industry as the Dorvish have been able to capitalize on the oil resources that have been found north of Kordusia as well as it would seem to be a plentiful supply of natural gas in Mothar and Dorvan. Many other Artanian nations have a large amount of mineral resources as well as offer many consumer products that are exported throughout the world, the Rutanians are noted for their electronics and light industries with the Luthori Empire is noted for its variety of trade in expensive goods due to their colonies abroad. The economies of the Artanian continent are integrated very closely and they operate with each other well and compliment each other. Member states such as Rutania have discussed the implementation of continent wide currency but the idea failed to take off during the early 3700s but there has been renewed talk about a continental currency to counter the Lodamunese dollar.
The Dorvish delegation to the Artanian Union with the massive restructure of the AU have proposed the creation of the Artanian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) as a means to develop infrastructure projects throughout the Artanian Union and even non-member states. If the idea for the continental currency takes off the Artanian Union could see the formation of a central banking system for the AU as a means to control the currency and potentially supranational monetary and financial policies of the AU. This is however unlikely as the Dorvish and others have stated outright opposition to the lose of their national sovereignty.
==Membership==
Country 	Population	Capital 	GDP 	Head of Government 	Membership Status	Date of ratification
 	99,613,735	Haldor 	1,366,507,264,930 DDO	Frederick Karolinger (DP)	Active 	October 3284July 3596
 	99,672,908	Merenbürg 	2,365,647,205,276 DAR	Blake Caesar (TCP) 	Active 	February 3377September 3555
 	99,717,650	Vanderburg 	283,385,173,296 RUT 	Jonathan Wells (RFP) 	Active 	December 3394
 	99,553,594	Port Tackstov	1,165,593,113,771 BEL	Andrew Stanton VI (SH) 	Active 	November 3500
border|23px Aloria 	99,715,604	Llanymôr 	476,192,202,266 ALO 	Erik Jernigan (CFP) 	Active 	July 3786
Malivia 	99,695,668	Kölinia 	431,609,791,771 MCR 	Katherine Benfield (MLP) 	Active 	April 3787
Holy Luthori Empire	99,715,831	Fort William 	465,561,664,801 LPD 	David May (LPP) 	Active 	May 3787
Dundorf 	99,600,350	Zerlin 	1,353,280,529,287 DUM	Nicolai Stravesky (SED) 	Active 	June 3787
Endralon and Zergon	99,577,790	Régházikó 	424,644,761,235 END 	János Imre (EN) 	N/A 	May 3809
Category:International bodies
Category:Regional organizations
Category:Artanian Union