Foreign Concerns Gazette/Year 454 - 455

*Main article: Grand Strategy 1*
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***Tripartite Peace Ends Alusian-Shantine War***

**Economic News:**

* "International Investment Position" *Under Treaty of Ahlam, Bank of Valdos Receives Limited New Investment Rights in Shantine Empire: Following Model of Saldanese Investment, BoV Agrees to Submit to Kirvan-Led, Valdosian-Advised Court of Appeals and To Withhold From Entering Into Soul Contracts With Kirvans.*
	+ "Guarantees At Ahlam" *Valdosian Investments in Conquered Territories to Be Converted to Sole BoV Proprietorship. Aeldrum, Shantine and Imperium Recognize Legal Right of BoV to Investments in Alusia Proper.*
	+ "Mirroring the Shantine" *Valdosian Enclaves in Shantine Economy to Follow Tradition of Shantine Merchant Neighborhoods Throughout Cosmos. Shantine Empress Gives Leave for Local Economic and Political Autonomy for Pentacle Communities Within Strict Boundaries, Answerable to Kirvan Rulers.*
* "Enshrining the Model" *Aeldman Parliament Passed Constitutional Amendment Formalizing ISC Board. Agreement Represents Major Political Compromise Between Serene Doge Emiir, Largely Industrialist Cabinet and Neoconservative Majority.*
	+ "Leadership Selection" *Serene Doges Will Choose ISC Board Chairs For 5-Year Terms with Option for One Renewal. ISC Board Chair Appointments and Renewals Must Be Confirmed by Majority of Parliament, Majority of ISC Board. If ISC Board Rejects Chair, Two Month Negotiating Period to Follow, With Increasingly High Share of ISC Board Required to Oppose Serene Doge's Chair Pick. ISC Board Will Consist of Presidents or Chosen Representatives of Boards of Constituent Companies.*
	+ "Defining the ISCs" *ISCs Receive Privileged Contracting Rights to Fulfill Aeldman Government Demand for Key Goods and Services, Protection of Vertical Integration Measures. ISC Board Will Determine Legal Standing of New ISCs. Current ISC List Includes General Etheric Corporation, Mossag Industries, Ursa Arms Consortium, Nebai Technnologies, Aeldrum Mechatronics Corporation, Aeldrum Pharmaceutical Consortium, Aeldrum Industrial Export Consortium, Aeldrum Colonial Development Corporation. Subsidiary Enterprises Such as Aeldrum Hotspot Corporation Will Also Retain ISC Protections and Obligations.*
	+ "Regulating the ISCs" *ISC Auditing Committee to Answer to Aeldman Finance Minister, Receive Extensive Funding and Occupy Administrative Structure Parallel to ISC Board. ISC Board Will No Longer Be Responsible for Auditing and Regulation, Freeing Administrative Capacity to Form One or More Additional Consortia.*
	+ "Taxes... Dueling Distortions?" *ISC Amendment Provides Maximum Tax Rate of 25% on ISCs, with Minimum Rate of 18% After Deductions and credits.* *ISCs Receive Enumeration of Tax-Creditable Activities, Including Providing Financing For Extending ISC Operations or Creating New ISCs. Effects of ISC Tax Are Expected to Shift Economic Balance Further Toward Conventional Firms Struggling to Compete with Preferential Contracting and High Scale Efficiencies of ISCs. Taxation to be Implemented Gradually, and ISCs to Receive Special Accommodations to Roll Earnings and Losses Year-to-Year Penalty Free.*
* "Too Big to Fail?" *International Posture of Tripartite Powers Focuses on Systemic Economic Risks from End of Military Demand for Products of Aeldman ISC Industries. Sermayean Director of Sermaye-Aeldrum Control Board,* "Aeldrum's Rising Tide Lifted Many Boats, and If They Crash There Will Be a Contagion to Smaller Economies."
* "Spoils of War" *Fialta Imperium, Shantine Empire Seize Estimated 40% of Alusian F2s. Relatively High Development of Alusian Territories Ceded Suggests They May Become Crown Jewels of Industrial Policy for Conquering Powers, Similar to Profitable Integration of Fialta Union by Thalranese Last Year.*
* "Critical Industrial Base Intact" *Alusian Territorial Preservation at Reilla Ensures Empire Keeps Vital F3s Within Borders, Keeping Alusian Productive Capacity for F2s at International Forefront.*
* "Chellanomics?" *Top Aeldman Think Tanks, Academic Societies Appear Split Over Differences in Economic Philosophy, as Economic Works of Chella Nebai Gain Significant Academic and Media Traction, Even More With Nebai's Public Disquiet on Emiir Administration Policies. Nebai's Values, Expressed in Campaign for Estonne Dogeship, Frequently Invoked in Criticism from Some Aeldman Think Tanks of Bachelier Doctrine as* "Diluting Aeldman Excellence." *Nebai's Emphasis on* "Technology-First" *Economic Policy with ISCs as Chief Drivers of Innovation Merges with Her Calls for Aeldrum's Public Talent to be Unlocked Through Improved Social Mobility.*
* "An Economy Fueled by the Church?" *New Nation of Istomir Enjoys Enviable Currency Position. Apparent Risks of Currency Volatility and Import Collapse Mitigated by Vast Inflows of Foreign Currency from Foreign Powers to Shantaran Church. Shantarans Join Thalranese In Vast Profiteering from Conflict, as Question Remains Whether Either or Both Nations Can Translate Windfalls to Stable Economies.*
* "Absorptive Capacity" *Istomir Poised to Accept Immigrants from Former Union Territories Equal to Half the Resident Population of Its Worlds, Putting Considerable Strain on Infrastructure but Promising Economic Base May Grow to Fill Large Space of Istomir's Enormous Import Volume.*
* "With Aeldman-Alusian Integration, Potential for Vast Economic Union" *Aeldman-Alusian Negotiations Over Customs Union, Investment Rights Entail Questions for Both Powers and their Secondary Partners, Sermaye and Deutschreich. Sermaye Signals Strong Interest in Investment and Capital Flow, Deutschreich Offers Some Reticence as Early-Stage Discussions Underway. If Economic Restrictions Lifted Among Four Nations (With Possible Addition of Druz to Aeldman Economic Plan After End of War), Resultant Bloc Could Represent Majority of Imperial Space Economy. All Four Nations Show Medium to High Development, But Varied Economies That Could Produce Profitable Synergies.*
* "Shantine Integration to Celestial Space?" *As Nipponese Move Into Restored Planetary Concessions, Aeldman Merchants Begin Taking Advantage of Basing and Residency Rights. Possibilities of Shantine Trade with Celestial Space Mediated Through Large Nipponese and Aeldman Holding Companies Suggest Significant Economic Growth May Be In Store For Historically Underdeveloped Imperial-Celestial Frontier.*
* "Debt Crisis?" *Alusian Interest Rates Soar to 12% Under War Pressure, Fiscal Restrictions, State Risk; Shantine, Drawing More Heavily on Church and State Treasuries to Finance War, See Interest Rates of 9% With Rates Expected to Decrease on Success of War Effort. While Extenuating Factors Explain Rates in Alusia, Prevailing Cosmic Rates of 7 to 8% Are Common, Up to Double the Interest Rate of a Decade Prior. Fears of Currency Instability Lead Lenders to Prioritize Debt Denominated in Ducats, Crecibles, Further Aggravating Credit Crunches in Some Nations as Debt Begins to Loom Against Historic Levels of Growth Throughout Cosmos.*
* "Intellectual Property Regime Underway" *Saldan, Valdosians, Aeldmen, Sermayans Announce Forward Movement on Budget Agreements, Expect First Hires of International Intellectual Property Corporation Imminent.*

**International Relations and Affairs:**

* "A Treaty Imposed" *Shantine Empire, Fialta Imperium, Serene Duchy of Aeldrum Issue Tripartite Resolution to End Alusian-Shantine War. Treaty Calls For Immediate End to War, Assignment of Alusian Territories to Fialta Imperium, Shantine: Bishant to Receive Lechtus, Ahlam and Hinterworlds, Fialta to Receive Del'Mar and Hinterworlds. Tripartite Decree Demands Abdication of Illyana, Aeldman Approval of Successor.*
	+ "Freedom of Movement" *Bishant, Fialta Agree to Freedom of Movement and Resettlement for Pentacle and Kirvan Faithful in Conquered Territories, on Zanevuela Model.*
	+ "Enforcement Measures" *Fialta Imperium, Aeldrum Pledge to Enforce Treaty With Trade Sanctions, End of Materiel and Credit Support to Alusia. Aeldman Serene Doge Promises to Pursue Act of Parliament for Military Intervention if Alusia Does Not Undertake Regime Change.*
	+ "Economic Terms" *Aeldrum, Alusia to Pursue Economic Integration; Bank of Valdos Investments to be Protected In-Country. Tripartite Agrees to Economic Controls for Managed Drawdown of Military Spending to Ensure Cosmic Economic Stability.*
* "By Right of Discovery" *Aeldrum Affirms Colonial Rights of Alusia in Recently Explored Territories, Rights to Claim and Secure New Territories with Priority to First Discovery.*
* "New Government, Bringing Back Old Ideas?" *Illyana of Alusia Abdicates, Not in Favor of Bishop of Reilla as Anticipated but for One of Alusia's Most Senior Surviving Generals, Alekai Chevik. Emperor Chevik Follows Accession with Appointment of Nikki Yevozh, Successor to Late Chief of State Department Lavrency Beriak, as Heir. Neither Emperor nor Crown Princess Related to Alusian Royal House by Blood or Marriage, Following Instead a Largely Untested Policy of Adult Adoption. Close Coordination Between State Department and Alusian Top Brass Signals Reemergence of Governance Norms of Alusia Immediately After CW1, With Key State Organs Leading.*
	+ "The Government Aeldrum Wanted?" *Criticism of Serene Doge of Aeldrum from Aeldman Politicians and Within His Own Party of Character of Aeldman-Alusian Agreements in Contrast With Direct Territorial Gains of Fialta, Shantine.*
* "The Greatest We Have Ever Been" *With Treaty of Ahlam, Bishant Is Restored to Maximum Extent of Shantine Imperial Power Since 2nd Century. Only Hybern and its Hinterworlds Are Among Territories Held by Shantine in Definite Recorded History Not Currently Under Theoboda's Rule.*
* "We Are Satisfied" *Empress Theoboda Expresses Publicly and in Diplomatic Venues Desire for Shantine Empire to Encompass Kirvans Who* "Want Our Rule," *Disinterest in Populations (Such as Hybern) That Would Reject and Resist Shantine*
* "Uneasy Reconciliation" *Shantine Empress, Aeldman Patriarch Give Curt Remarks of Mutual Acknowledgment, Embrace in Public Display of Reconciliation at End of Alusian-Shantine War. Empress Gives Public Address Emphasizing Multiple Paths to Kirvanism, Appreciation for Aeldrum's Protection of Kirvans. Patriarch of Aeldrum, Empress Give Joint Statements of Mutual Recognition. Observers Comment on Apparent Trade of Shantine Legitimation of Aeldman Kirvan Church for Right of Shantine Kirvanism to be Practiced in Aeldrum. Amidst Reconciliation, More Permanent Schism All but Confirmed in Careful Delineation of Rights and Powers.*
* "The Succession Secured" *Crown-Princess Irboda Celebrates Birth of Daughter, Leandra Irboda Theoboda Kataph. Princess Leandra Is Also Named Crown-Princess of Bec, Formalizing Union of Houses of Kataph and Bec.*
* "Lands Restored" *Fialta Imperium, Bishant Annex Alusian Territories According to Historic Precedent: Bishant from Ancient Crusader Territories, Historic Despotate of Alusia, Fialta From Historic Extent of Fialta States, Imperium to Border World of Gnoll.*
* "A New Era for Etheric Colonization?" *With Major Territorial Shifts in Imperial Space and Widespread Distribution of Translane Technology, Experts Hopeful that Deep Ether Exploration, Colonization May Provide Pressure-Release Valve. Alusia Appears Poised to Continue Leadership, With Experience from Prior Exploration Missions, Demonstrated Capability to Produce Modular Exploration and Colonial Facilities (Applied In Valdosian Territories in* "Conduit Space"*), But Thalranese Enthusiasm, Early Valdosian Conquests and Burgeoning Populations of Shantine Empire Suggest Deep Ether May Soon Become Crowded.*

**Military, Criminal and Disaster News:**

* "Total Industrial Mobilization: A Terrifying Glint of the Possible" *Alusian-Shantine War Showed Potential for Colossal Losses in Engagements Using Null-Bombs. Millions of Deaths Did Not End War, and Without Tripartite Intervention Shantine and Alusian Economies May Have Borne Several More Years of Conflict, Possibly Order of Magnitude More Deaths.*
* "After War, A Reckoning" *With Ceasefire and Leave, Military Memoirs Spill Onto Market. Officers on Both Sides of Alusian-Shantine War Attempt to Make Sense of Conflict, Some Through Poetry or Fiction, Many Through Lengthy Discourses on Strategy, Logistics.*
	+ "The Hagiography of Saint Arren Kane?" *Memoirists, Theologians Write Copiously About Knights of Adarnum Grandmaster Arren Kane, Seen by Many as Chief Architect of the War's Beginning. Calls for Kane to be Canonized by Empress Theoboda from Leading Voices Among Millions Who Served with KoA in Ahlam Insurgency, Citing Divine Intervention at Moment of His Death.*
	+ "The New Model Navy in Action" *Though Pushed into Action Well Ahead of Scheduled Absorption of Extant Naval Functions, Lord Ontario's New Naval Command, Training and Supply Structure Provided Decisive Edge in Shantine Naval Victories.*
	+ "The Church Armed" *Fully one Quarter of Shantine Forces Were Equipped and Trained at Church Expense and Initiative, Producing Vast Administrative and Industrial Apparatus for Kirvan Church to Raise Military Forces.*
	+ "A Generation of Veterans" *Writers Comment on Scarred but Also Galvanized Character of Returning Soldiers.* "Alusia Returns from Foundries of War with Millions of Fresh-Forged Soldiers, Their Inexperienced Scoured"
	+ "They Never Stopped Coming" *In* "The Demographics of Defeat" *Anonymous Alusian Officer Writes of Psychological Effect on Alusian Soldiers of Seeming Shantine Implacability.* "The Propaganda Image of the Shantine Hordes Running Right into Our Guns Was a Lie, And We All Knew It. The Shantine Took Greater Losses Than We Did, But They Did Not Spend Lives Frivolously. The Trade Was Calculated. I Learned at Lecthus That the Awful, Inevitable Fact Was That We Were Killing Two of Them for Every One of Us, But It Had to Be Three."
* "Victory at the End of the Cosmos" *Twin Monarchs of Veran Execute One Thousand Perfect Prince Renegades in Mass Sacrifice Celebrating Victory of Veran Over Naga Space Rivals. Trade, Navigation Expected to Remain Secure Via Pin Jump as Aeldman Ships Provide Vital Support to Kingdom*.
	+ "Not Quite Over" *Assassination Attempt on Twin Monarchs Fails in Dramatic Closing Episode of Veranian Uprising. Attempted Killer Remains at Large, Instigating Release of Dreaded Veranian Man-Hunters.* "Woe and Wail Will Bring to Us this Offender."
* "Where Are Our Dragoons?" *As International Armament Reaches Historic Highs, Aeldman Commentators Suggest Expansion of Aeldman Dragoons Recruitment, Urging Need for Elite Aeldman Forces to Keep Pace with Foreign Militaries Enjoying High Veterancy and Large-Scale Training Programs.*
* "We Have the Technology" *Alusian Chem-Troopers, Deployed Against KoA Seraphim in Coup and Alusian-Shantine War, Become Familiar Face in Alusian Military Propaganda as Military Brass Touts Program. Tens of Thousands of Augmented Soldiers Expected on Alusian Bases as Early as Next Year. Combat Observations of Chem-Troopers Suggest Increased Strength, Endurance and Psychological Resilience Are Key Effects of Unknown Cocktail of Drugs and Conditioning.*
	+ "Look At What They Need to Mimic a Fraction of Our Power" *Captain of Shantine Seraphim Guard Gives Disdainful Reply to Alusian Announcement While Bench-Pressing Shantine Staff Car.*
* "Making Some Changes" *Alusian Emperor Disbands Imperial Guard, Reforms Divisions Into Regular Alusian Military.*

**Culture and General Interest:**

* "Shantaran Auteur Film Polarizes Audiences" *Highly Publicized Debut of Church-Sponsored Istomir Film Industry,* "Doormen XLIV," *About Beings from Interstitial Spaces of the Partition, Offers Insight into Cultural Moments of Major Markets. Four-Hour Long Film Praised by Critics for Its Existential Themes, Nuanced Cinematography and Expert Dialogue:* "No Self-Respecting Cinema Should Ever Dub the Shantaran Elvish... to Ruin the Cadence of the Film Would be Unpardonable."
	+ *Though Marketed as a Tragicomedy in Istomir, the Film Plays Best in Aeldrum as a Quasi-Documentary Tapping into the Nation's Burgeoning Fascination with the Occult.*
	+ *Thalranese Criticize Film:* "Fine Overall, But Not Nearly Enough Blood During the Death Scenes." *Shantaran Lead Counters,* "I Know Precisely How Much Blood Is Produced by the Wounds My Character Makes."
	+ *In Bishant,* "Doormen" *Catches Niche Conventionally Filled by Moody Theater of Shantine Film, Left Absent by Recent Focus on War-Films and Triumphal Lives of Saints.*
	+ *Director Apparently Surprised at Poor Box Office in Alusia After Reading Day Prior That Alusian Audiences Dub Film "*Depressing and Pointless."
* "The Race 'Round the Cosmos" *Aeldman League of Solo Pilots Proposes Grand Cosmic Race Across Imperial and Celestial Space, To Celebrate End of Two Cosmic Wars.* "The Diplomatic Headwinds Might Be Considerable, But the Hope Is for a Competitor from Every Nation to Participate."
* "Mass Movements" *Millions of Members of Religious Minorities in Newly Conquered Territories Prepare for Arduous, Expensive Journeys to New Homes: Relatively More Citizens at Del'Mar Seek Repatriation to Alusia than to Bishant. Overall Population Flow Expected to Favor Alusia, But With Vast Majority of Kirvan Migration to Shantine. Migration to Del'Mar Expected to be Driven Largely from Within Fialta Imperium, as Ethnic Fialta Seek New Land, Enterprises.*
* "A Betrayal of Historic Proportions" *Alusian Teachers Instruct Students In* "Tripartite Treason," *Allege Conspiracy of Cosmic Powers to Dismember and Derail Alusian Progress. Furor Toward Foreign Powers Runs High. Burnings of Heads of State in Effigy Common, Especially Fialta Emperor; Effigies of Empress Theoboda Tend to be Drowned for Religious Symbolic Reasons.*
	+ "Reprisals, Rejections, Reimaginings" *Violence and Discrimination Toward* "Kirvan Traitors" *Condemned by Local Authorities but Common Across Alusian Empire. Many Moderate Alusian Kirvans Make Public Conversions to Idolmarism or Adopt Syncretic Practices to Signal Alusian Loyalty, Rebuff Shantine Kirvanism; Other Kirvans Remain Defiant, or Seek Passage Abroard, Most Often Shantine Territories. Many Alusians Renounce Faiths Altogether, Declaring No God Shall Have Love Owed Their Nation.*
* "A New and Stronger Alusia" *Alusian Nationalism Runs High, With Solidarity Marches Both State-Organized and Spontaneous. Emperor Chevik Lays Out Coordination with Syncretic Churches on Budget and Management Priorities, Signals Coordination of State, Military and Religious Institutions in Managing Economic Recovery.*
* "Schism On... Organized Labor?" *As Aeldman Kirvans Digest Reconciliation of Patriarch and Empress, Many Declare for Shantine Church or Non-Denominational Kirvanism. Some Use Move Away from Aeldman Kirvan Church as Platform to Criticize Church Elites for Preserving Economic and Social Status Quo. While Ethernet Rumors from Legion of K Circulate that Recent* "Moderate" *Kirvan Election Winners Had Much Closer Ties to Radical Kirvans than Disclosed, Some Users and Even Media Publications Answer*, "At Least They Might Bring Back Trade Unions. At Least They Support the Little Guy."
* "Jubilation at the Golden Age" *Hundreds of Millions of Kirvans Flock to Holy Sites across Shantine Empire in Celebration of* "Great Crusade." *In Some Churches, Empress Theoboda Assumes Semi-Divine Quality, With Offerings Made to Kirva* "Through the Spirit of Her Prophet in This Life." *Shantine Art and Fashion Emphasize Bold Kirvan Styles with Elements of Ancient Tradition: Wildly Popular* "Restoration Line" *Sells Out In Shantine Markets Overnight.*
* "To My Beloved People" *Prince of Yushan, Ailing, Announces His Will That Private Museum be Opened to Public Upon His Death. Death of Prince Reveals Shocking Debts, Conflict Over Museum Legacy As Private and Foreign Buyers Seek Assets. Claims That Prince Willed Museum To Ensure State Assumed Household Debts Punished in Yushan as Lèse-majesté.*
* "Superstructures" *Saldanese-Born Architect Unveils Design for Vast Structures Supported by Highly Efficient Self-Contained Etheric Fields, Proposes That* "Localized Gravity" *May Increase Load-Bearing Capacity of Buildings Sufficiently to Permit Unprecedent Construction Scale and Design, Defying Modern Engineering Principles*
* "A Grand Institution for the Good of All Spirans" *The Count Guillarme du Montreal announces the creation of an official administrative religious institution for the Church of the Spires funded solely by the Count himself. This institution will fully administrate all churches and non-profit organizations that work under the banner of Noloth, and vows to protect the rights of its members to worship freely in Aeldrum and beyond. For his contributions to the Church of Spires, Count du Montreal has been appointed the honorary and life-long title of High Shuttle Bearer of the Great Loom of Noloth.*
* "Remembering the Dead" *Former Empress Illyana Plants Memorial Garden Near Palace Ruins at Ahlam, In Memory of Consort Peter and other Alusian Losses. Garden May Sit In Shadow of Anticipated Cathedral,* "Church of the Manifestation of Lapheraz." *Ex-Empress of Alusia Announces Intention to Devote Remaining Career to Supporting Survivors of the War Dead.*
	+ "Heroes, Victims" *In Alusia, National Mood on War Dead is Sorrowful but Resolute, Vowing Deaths Not in Vain. Mass Funerals Give Way to More Individual Burials, Often with Themes of Valiant Defeat, Betrayal. Civilian Deaths Spark Great Emotion, Catalyzing Nationalist Sentiments.*
	+ "Martyrs" *In Bishant, Dead Treated as Martyrs. Civilian Deaths of Kirvans at Ahlam, Lechtus Entered onto Rolls of Shantine Military Memorials for* "Sacred Insurgency." *Parades Feature Celebrations of Sacrifice: Mothers Who Lost All Their Sons Fêted, Granted Pensions and Private Pews in Church. Patriarch of Korinth Proclaims:* "We Weep Now with Joy That Our Empress Has Won Peace and Security for the Faithful, and With Bitter Sorrow That No Death We Might Make in This Golden Age Will Be the Equal of the Honored End of the Sacred Millions Whose Lives Paid for the Salvation of Billions Now Living and Yet Unborn."