State of the Region Address (1)

Today, October 1st, 2019, marks the midway point of my term as Secretary-General. More importantly, today marks the day that, nearly a year and a half ago, our region was founded by Achipel. Since then, we have grown steadily and arduously, creating a community few could have realized when it started. Regions are created and destroyed every day on NationStates, and we – standing since March of 2018 – should remain grateful for our rare longevity.

Our government, as should any community’s leadership, remains thoroughly committed to making ours as fun for as many people as possible. To accomplish this goal, we have heavily implemented pro-growth strategies, such as aggressive recruitment and increased diplomatic influence, in order to expand our activities. As a result, we now sit at 105 nations total in our region, an increase of 14% from the 92 at the beginning of my term. Additionally, our citizen count has increased by 24%, from 54 in July to 67 in October.

However, the numbers do not holistically speak to our success. Sending over 4500 recruitment telegrams or establishing a number of new embassies matters little compared to the diamonds in the rough that we find as a result. Twelve Titans, a premier General Assembly writer and legislator, found us via advertisements in the forums. Celestiam, an expert legal analyst and legislative thinker, found us via a diplomatic mission to Janus. Our current General Assembly President, Reno Sheriffs Department, was recruited via a manual telegram. Many of our newest and most effective roleplayers, such as The Greater Iran, Joshenia, and Libertana, came to the region because of forum posts, recruitment telegrams, and a continual dedication to make our region the best it can be.

In that vein, my office and government have exercised a number of policies to turn our region into the hottest sh\*t on the market. Specifically, the Office of the Secretary-General created the Welcome Dispatch, which provides a detailed regional overview and links resources to new members. Our Department of Internal Affairs revamped the citizenship application, making the process even easier for prospective nations. Our Department of Foreign Affairs created the official Embassy Policy and has maintained a stricter view of embassies, showcasing our seriousness in establishing connections and developing permanent interregional relationships. Finally, I understand that the Secretary-General, the highest executive office in the land, is not removed from the civic and participatory responsibilities of a citizen. Therefore, I have personally created social polls, contributed to social discussion, and offered many legislative ideas in the General Assembly. While the buck stops with me, my personal involvement in the region does not.

Through these policies and steady involvement by many of our most dedicated members, our region has grown to new heights. However, with new success comes new obstacles, and our region is not spared from this reality. There are those who do not embody the values of our community. Electorate, while active and ambitious, sought to make our community more about his endeavors than including others in that success. Even worse, that mindset correlated with graphic content, offensive language, and a continuous effort to undermine our very essence. More recently, Farechia was found to have stolen multiple accounts in an attempt to influence our elections in his favor. Similar to the former case, he made our activities – meant to be complex and enriching – into a selfish escapade for political gain. These two former citizens do not represent our values, nor represent the rest of our population, for I see a majority that is committed to everyone’s success.

To further strengthen that resolve, our government will continue to grow our community and our influence. My office will consistently utilize manual recruitment to attract prospective nations, new and old. Cymiopolis and the rest of the Department of Foreign Affairs will further develop our current interregional relationships as well as expand those relationships where opportunities arise. I will personally cooperate with the new General Assembly President on key legislative initiatives and how the government can best enforce our laws. Finally, I also have plans for a new project – establishing an official embassy thread on the forums that will disseminate regional activities and developments to the rest of NationStates. Through this collaborative effort between the Department of Foreign Affairs and me, we can expand our name recognition, increase recruitment, and further cement our place in the NationStates world.

However, our region’s success does not only lie in competent leadership. It lies in all of you. There are those who showcase via their actions (or lack thereof) that voting every quarter is good enough. While electoral participation is important, it is no substitute for civic and community engagement. I want everyone to always be asking themselves: How can I contribute to the community? It need not be strenuous either – your contribution could be a roleplay post every week, a discussion on the discord, or a new idea in the General Assembly. Everyone has a place in the New West Indies, but every individual has a responsibility to determine the torch they carry.