Greetings, r/GlobalPowers.

Given the ongoing arms race between ourselves, r/Geosim and r/WorldPowers as to who can be the first modern day r/xPowers community to drive themselves fully and completely into the dirt, I figure we should probably try and keep pace by presenting an update and, yes, finally, some action.

I'll be upfront about it. I have no information for you regarding the future Season 20; what it will contain, what it will do differently (if anything), what it will look like or when it will be. The past four months have seen no progress made and no plans finalized, largely because the mod team (what's left of it) has been busy, distracted, or generally too apathetic or demoralized to begin to claw ourselves out of the pit we now find ourselves in. This most certainly includes me; on a personal note, the failure of Season 19 has hit, uh, rather hard. I find myself incredibly scared of committing to any future plans and in something of a mental funk regarding r/GlobalPowers, despite my love for it. I'm terrified that messing up again might mean I finally bury this place for good and end up with GP's blood on my hands. And, y'know, look like a jackass. Again.

Luckily for you all, I am a young, freshly minted adult male—which means I have a bottomless pit inside me into which I can simply bottle up all that fear. This will have zero repercussions or side-effects for me later in life.

Moreover, the mod team has been charged with guiding this fair kingdom through whatever miserable future the twisted, bitch-ass hands of fate can conjure up for it, regardless of whatever personal hang-ups we might have about it. GP is not done yet. We are not done yet. This place is resilient, and it has a life left to live. And even if I am wrong in my assessment, and this place is to go down, I aim to see it go down swinging. So it's time to put a cork in that bottle, dust ourselves off, bandage our wounds, get back in the ring, and fight those fucking hands until the fighting is done.

The first step of actually doing so, of course, is to reconstruct the mod team. As you will have no doubt noticed, the mod team—what's left of it—has been reduced to about five people, myself included. Although the mods are committed to doing the best they can even with such a small team, this is not exactly a viable size even in the best of circumstances (and we are far from the best of circumstances); more mods are vitally necessary to both run the future Season 20 and spearhead whatever plans/community action items we decide to do in-between now and then. To this end, we've decided to go ahead and open another round of Mod Applications. I will now repost the requisite spiel:

#GLOBALPOWERS SEASON 20 MOD APPLICATIONS

REQUIREMENTS:

• Be At Least Vaguely Mature
• Speak English
• Be Active in the Community
• Don’t be Garbage

If you feel like you meet these very strict requirements, please don't hesitate to fill out the following questions and post your responses in the comments. These comments will serve as your application. Applications will be displayed in random order and upvotes/downvotes will have no bearing on our decision.

APPLICATION QUESTIONS:

Please removed bracketed notes from your responses.

• How long have you been a part of the r/GlobalPowers community?
  • [Rough estimate is fine.]
• Do you have any Moderator experience? If so, where and for how long?
  • [Non-xPowers/non-Reddit experience is also accepted and welcomed.]
• Why do you want to be a Moderator?
• What do you bring to the Mod Team? What skills do you have/what roles could you fill?
• What makes you a good candidate overall?
• How active can you be as Moderator?
  • [We understand life is unpredictable. Go based on averages and estimates unless you are certain you can provide specific detail.]

The above questions are the only mandatory details required from applicants, and the specificity to which you answer is up to you.

Usually we would also ask other, optional questions about specific in-demand skills here, but given the situation we're in whatever applications we can get are good—so we're gonna skip that section.

OTHER NON-MANDATORY STUFF THAT'S HELPFUL TO KNOW:

• Other xPowers games played but not moderated
• Whether you can speak/write any other languages than English
• Rough age and location, only if you feel comfortable sharing (absolutely 100% non-mandatory, can be DMd or put in a Private Room if you choose to answer)
• If there is anything you wish to ask us in your application

These mod applications, unlike our usual routine, have no fixed close date; they will be closed whenever we stop hiring new mods.

It should be noted that it is possible for the mod team, specifically myself, to reach out to potential moderator candidates on an individual basis regardless of whether they have submitted an application. This is not necessarily fair, but this is also not a democracy, and in any case all applications will be reviewed and voted on so you should submit one anyways. Thank you, sincerely, to all who submit an application. Good luck and godspeed to you all.

As for next steps: obviously, we're going to have to work around and with whatever new mods we bring on. Moreover, as GP has adopted more of a community-server-stance of late, I intend to try and work in some of your feedback and ideas in hopefully useful ways—at least to the extent possible. As a result, all future plans are nebulous and subject to change. And as previously mentioned, I have no concrete timelines or action items to list for you, and absolutely no start date or deadline for when Season 20 might begin. But I do have a series of rough bullet points and thoughts I'm milling around in my head:

• Obviously, we want to desperately avoid the two-year (or, really, more like 1.75, but who's counting) interim period of the last break. However, I also absolutely do not want to be forced to start a season before it and the mod team is absolutely ready; I will not let that happen again.
• Whatever Season 20 looks like must be altered to account for the lower player counts we are currently experiencing and must avoid the pitfalls of 19 before it, namely the issue with mod activity, by somehow eliminating as much necessary effort for the mods as possible. If the game can run itself through scripts and robots, then it should do so. This will entail at least some level of effort on our part.
• A fair swathe of the stuff we did for 19 needs reworking to be made better, or even just finished. The Discord diplomacy stuff can be handled better so that it's less goddamn obnoxious to use, even though it was successful.
• I want GP to reach its full potential as a medium for telling stories in the near to distant future; I am still pursuing the fabled Infinite Season.
• It is possible that the accumulated mechanics and changes and patches and whatever else that has gathered as part of this game over its decade-long lifespan is simply too big and entangled to be properly reformed; rather, it might be worth considering a ground-up rebuild. I am kind of tempted to pursue an organized top-down sheets-managed gameplay loop where information is centralized in a backend sheet that flows to the various different subsheets. Yadda yadda.
  • Needless to say, the above point conflicts with the first one.
• Player created mechanics can work well, if they are invested enough to formalize the rules for them and able to carry them over into the gameplay and demonstrate their utility/entertainment value. See Eve/Bob joint-US gameplay. We should probably be trying to incentivize more of that and work those mechanics into the game more permanently somehow.
• GP has a community; is a community; the one thing saving it from being nothing at all. It needs to lean into that more. We need to get back to doing larger-scale community events and activities like the Diplomacy Tournament, but this most likely requires mod team involvement to coordinate, and possibly actual funding to pay for things like server costs. That's a fucking can of worms right there. Dedicated """Community Manager""" mod who handles that?
  • Annex to above point: G L O B A L P O W E R S C U L T U R A L A S S O C I A T I O N
• God I want the fucking wiki finished. I hate the wiki so much.

So yeah; none of this is anything even remotely resembling a plan, they're just ideas and thoughts; that's as close as I can get to an update right now. Feel free to leave your feedback or questions. It might help me expand on my own thinking. In any case, we'll also likely begin approaching the community to hold more organized continued discussions about what to do next in the coming weeks.

If any of the other mods have stuff to chip in with here, feel free to do so as well; your involvement is just as important as mine, and I want to make it clear to the audience that everything in here was written by Bow largely without mod-team oversight because I'm an ass. Direct all yelling to me.

As for future updates, I, again, don't have any promises. More will be written when there is more to be said, but there will be more eventually.

Thank you for reading, r/GlobalPowers, and for being patient with us. It is worth more than you know, as it has been, as it will be forever. Can't wait to see how many fucking pings I have when I wake up after this.

Until next time.

######5th March 2028;

The bell sounded… once… twice… and fell silent.

Two in the afternoon.

Out came one hand from a pocket, and the other from a wave, to the tram driver who had so kindly allowed Thomas to travel to the Porte de l'Hôpital, all through the streets of Strasbourg.

He checked his ChronoChroma once more, just hoping that it would say something different, just for once. For so long, it had been detecting gales, gales, and storms, all over again, not allowing for his escape. Perhaps at one point, Thomas could have thought that his premonitions of collapse were false - when it was only one premonition. Then came three more in the week following, and that was when the gales arrived. Since then, Thomas had been down and out, right along the Rhine, from Basel to Mainz, thinking right and hard about what to do. The traveller had to eventually get a companion to come back, just so as to recall as much as possible, and then remain as a living vestige of the collapsed world’s mind - at the worst of times. At the best of times, the temporary-captive was to become a dear friend. On balance, it would matter little - so long as the winds blew, flying away would be any hopes of safety.

Thomas was now by the water’s edge - he had just so happened to wander over towards the serene Ill, the River Ill that carried itself downstream, just around the centre of the city-two-countries, to just end in the Rhine some few kilometres later. March had brought out quite clear waters - no longer meltwater, but clean waters not impacted by mud or sand anymore, for the earlier meltwaters had dislodged these easier sediments. The waters reflected the dulled sides of the buildings on the other side of the water before they flowed off downstream, and the thoughts in Thomas’s head flowed right off with them. He had time. He had to wait, but he had the time to be able to wait. All was fine. Thus, he walked onwards down the riverbank, eastwards along the quay.

The 5th was a Sunday, and as such, the streets were somewhat busy. It was a warmer day in March, with the frosts so usually everpresent having disappeared from the night before rapidly, and temperatures having risen to double digits for once. It allowed the tiles to show their ruddy selves. It allowed the dandelions to peek through the bare soil. It allowed the world to just be a bit better, and that was comforting to Thomas. If he had only a few days left in S-J-90, then at least they would be some beautiful afternoons in March. His Euro supply had almost been spent over the last 9 months of travelling - 9 months for S-J-90, and not for his native TUL, mind - so it was not as if the traveller could, ironically enough, travel along the Rhine River to other interesting cities and towns. Thomas just had to enjoy Strasbourg as much as he deemed enough, then leave.

It had been twelve minutes by now, the ChronoChroma reading 1412 as the local time. Along the Ill had strolled Thomas, looking over the waters, when he found a singular person not moving along the quay. He was staring across the waters, his left arm slightly risen from the hip, ready to point. They turned, almost robotically, away from both the water and Thomas, and instead started to look towards the buildings on the near side of the water, still with a finger outstretched. The face was bemused. It was as if he had seen a ghost, and now Thomas was bearing witness to such an event, and in interest.

“Salut? Etez-vous d’accord?” [“Hello? Are you alright?”]

“What? You don’t see it?!”

That was English, pure and simple. The voice was Southern US-American, sure, and not the borders English that Thomas had always used, but it was in a language that the traveller could understand natively. He could talk without his Prevy, and that allowed his mouth to be shown and not hidden under the autumnally-coloured scarf, which Thomas knew from decades of prior research on the Prevys in Kortrijk was of comfort to the most afraid. The scarf was removed, and Thomas let his Langholm voice out into S-J-90.

“No? You American? My name is Thomas, good to meet you.”

The relaxed voice of Thomas only drew further panic from the American, quite startled by such the switch in accents and tone of voice. “Yes I am fucking American, and yes there is something there you liar. I can’t describe it, but I can see it… do you expect me to tell you my name back?”

“Yes.”

“Well I won’t.”

“Alright then… is that which you see of discomfort? If I can’t see it, then that’s good for me, but since you can see it, I know that you are… not in the best of places to----”

“AHH. For fuck’s sake, it just cut the distance by half to me… you BASTARD of all creatures, you shithead, get away from me and leave me alone, let me to my travels……. I…. I I I…… Thomas?... You see this?...”

“With me. Let me stand by you for a second, in case its just perspective.” Thomas shuffled closer.

“Well, it just jerked towards me. If I decided to go to Birmingham, which is probably where you are from by the sound of your voice, then I would for sure not be in this mess. It would not just… STOP STARING AT ME, I CANNOT SEE YOUR EYES BUT YOU STARE. YOU STARE.”

“Right into your soul, Mr Birmingham? I’m not a Brummie by the way, you have severely miscalculated my dialect. You ever heard of Scotland, my lad?”

“My lad? You look the same age as me, and yes I have fucking heard of Scotland, that’s where the good Scotches are from that buy me drinks every time I visit Halifax and walk along the broadwalk, enjoying my time all nice and AYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY………”

With no warning, notwithstanding the long scream that the American released, he made for the River, gesturing as if he was to leap in. That would only lead to hypothermia, and this American seemed as if he was on something. Still, the impulse reaction of Thomas was to hold him back, and keep him from catching his death right there. Thomas then looked back towards the street once more, and only his natural reaction to startle prevented him from jumping in himself as the black void rapidly rushed past him, at close to the speed of lightning, a bolt across his vision. And then, the void was gone, disappeared, as if that had only been a figment of his imagination.

Nevertheless, it was a figment that the American had seen too. He nervously looked around, peered over his shoulder backwards, and took a big step back from the edge, careful to not move into the adjacent roadway. Lost for words for what he had seen just happen - that was Thomas’s ideas of the thoughts within his new companion’s head. He had not seen a ghost after all, and he had not just seen nothing.

What they had both seen was a Spectre.

The master of death just so successfully prevented.

“Jack, Jack, that’s my name, not Mister Birmingham. I have a name y’know, and interests too, and songs and music I have with me. Look at my phone, it’s got every R.E.M. album and every Smiths album and every Suede album all downloaded, and it even folds. I love this new tech, it is brilliant. One more thing - I have my ID here if you do plan on going out for drinks, says Jack Amurosa on it, gives me my face when I was stupid, and that is that.”

The face gave the impression of a Jack, and Thomas could only silently nod back, before adding “I do not think we will be going for drinks. Besides, I have never needed my own ID here for the absinthe, I just go to Carrefour and they say ‘Oui, voici l’absinthe, au revoir monsieur!’, and I think it’s the clothes. Not modern, but functional.”

“Jesus Christ, those are old clothes. Is that coat made out of grass, are those jeans from the wild west, is that scarf from the era of vapourwave? And here I am in a thick black puffy coat plus black pants.”

“And you wonder why I was the first to see you all cowering, you gothic shadow! Look, I need to leave eventually, and I wonder if you will be fine to explore with me. First though, back onto the quay, we’re going on the tram.”

“Okay, whatever. You saved my life or so you sayso I gueeeeeeeeeess I need to pay you back. Cool?”

“Cool. I’ll pay for your lemonade at the café counter, I won’t need the currency any longer soon enough.”

Thus, the pair set off, out from the tram stop that Thomas had first departed from, along Line D to eventually cross the border. Jack, Thomas, the pair looked out across the city now passing them by, as time wore on and on and the tram moved onwards and onwards, flying through the streets towards their real destination, the Kehl Bahnhof, the entry to S-J-90, from which Thomas could take Jack to be his companion. Before, though, they had to cross the Rhine.

“Hey Jack, do you think the view would be lovely if that sodding red bridge was not there?!”

“Maybe maybe, but I am chilling. We are good, are we not? You were saying that 5 minutes ago. Now you don’t act it. What’s up?”

“I’m trying… just trying to think… there’s a term I have for what you saw, because there is a word. I can remember it later though, it’s just on my mind. I just need to get it off mine once more.”

“It’s fine. Look over the Rhine. You let me see this with you, didn’t you? Do Not Stare At Me, I am not going to be your boyfriend, I am firmly straight, I just broke up with a girl last week after 6 months, longest yet! It’s fine, she lied a lot to my face, and she did it, not me. Well, I would maybe have jumped off at some time… {sigh} … not now, not now, I do not need holding again. Hah, I may be somewhere a little better now, it’s a boost you gave me upwards. No more need to caution me, I am god-given with the power of sight to not commit… well…”

“Don’t say it, I need to hear it as much as you do, which is not at all, Jack. Caution rings a bell… foresight? That it? It’s the concept where you can see events before they happen, you see the buildup occurring and yet nobody else does, it’s hard to explain it on the spot but if I give you the--- GOT IT, vorsicht, there it is! Vorsicht, remind me to tell you more. You are lucky to have it, I have met only two others with it, namely a couple of friends in Will and Robbie. You are cool…”

“Thanks, you are too.”

“Genuinely?”

“Maybe. I dunno, I haven’t seen enough.”

“The Spectre is not enough?”

“The Spectre is back there. Leave it be. It’s gone.”

“And so shall we all be also.”

Welcome to the International Defence Exhibition & Conference, or IDEX. Every week, the Moderators will be posting this up as a place for nations to show and sell their new, old and used defence equipment that is available for purchase.

Simply comment what you have to sell and people may reply and purchase equipment off of you. The following is an example template players may use to exhibit their products:

Greetings, r/GlobalPowers.

As I am sure you've all figured out by now, the Mod Team has formally voted to end Season 19 of r/GlobalPowers. For administrative purposes, the last day will be this upcoming Monday/META Day—04/12/2023. At that point we'll have a two week Epilogue/Shitpost period where you can wrap things up for your claims however you see fit. Please feel free to use the [EPILOGUE] flair to do so.

I don't think I have anything innovative or new to say regarding the season that anybody else hasn't said, but for what it's worth I do think it had some really good parts. I think we did quite well with the Discord Diplomacy and World Events, the Ukraine war was probably our most realistic depiction of inter-state conflict ever, Eve and Bob's attempt at a genuinely two party USA was really interesting, and I think the number of little conflicts in unusual locations was a nice change of pace, all just to name a few. And, of course, we were able to have a season after a little over a year and a half of absence, so that's nothing if not a testament to the resilience of this community.

I won't pretend that a lot of that good-ness wasn't undone by all the well-discussed issues this season had either, though, and as I mentioned in my Discord announcement I am truly sorry (on behalf of myself and the Mod Team both past and present) for all of that. Regardless, I hope you all enjoyed Season XIX for all it was worth.

With regards to next season, plans are still in flux on that front and will most likely be discussed sometime soon. The Mod Team will be sure to reach out as soon as we have something to reach out with. In the mean time, my term as Head Mod (which, fun fact, began in 2021) will end on the 11th, and the internal mod election for the next term will begin that same day.

Thank you all, once again, for playing r/GlobalPowers! We hope to see you rejoin us for the fabled Season XX.

This is our weekly IMF Data Submission post for claimants choosing to determine their own economic statistics for GDP growth. All economic data here will be assessed and, if deemed realistic, included in the upcoming IMF World Economic Outlook to be released this upcoming Monday.

GDP growth statistics must be submitted via comment below, and must contain the following points in order to be considered a valid submission:

• The name of your claim
• Your proposed GDP growth for the upcoming IMF report, corresponding to the economic events of this year, as a percentage
• Your GDP growth figure from the previous IMF report, corresponding to the economic events of the previous year, as a percentage
• Your proposed debt growth as a percentage of the total debt (NOT as a percentage of GDP).

You are also encouraged, but not required, to collect a list of links to economic posts you consider relevant to determining your proposed GDP growth figure for this year. You may also submit a brief note on how you determined your figure.

Please note that player-submitted GDP growth is subject to the approval of the Moderators, and is not guaranteed to be included in the upcoming IMF report.

######25th September 2027;

And so the country wept.

They had lost what they had loved for so long, so long ago.

They had lost their liberty a while ago.

They had nothing to lose.

Thus, the weeping turned from blue to crimson.

The crimson spread through the streets, and extinguished the cries of the peaceable.

It was a rare bout of travelling that Thomas Stewart faced on the 25th, as he had done so for many other a day.

From his base in the TUL right back in Carlisle, Thomas had found himself a good job - he was a part of the museum attached, a new specialist in Roman history, with some very decent depth in the subject. The job had been his since he was just 20, and for all that had changed in the world, his area of expertise was little different. Archaeology had been quite stagnant for some time now, the holidays were over in most places so he could afford to be off and not upset anyone else at the museum, and finally, his TUL was not the most up-to-date place on the worlds’ stage. All that he could do now was to travel.

Thus, Thomas had travelled, and had travelled far, taking care to log everything that he had learnt within a small notebook, A5-sized, which fit right into the pockets of his coat. Many of the places he had just travelled through were quite warm - Uruguay, Bonaire, the Philippines, Namibia, and Turkey, to name a few places. Only Finland was in any way cold, and he chanced upon visiting Vaasa right as it had reached a hot August. Meanwhile, the boulevards of Paris held a chilled air, one in which you could almost see your breath, as the night closed in on the global city. Temperatures had already plummeted to 5C, and were set to get even lower elsewhere in France. This voyage in France was not meant to be a short one - S-J-90 was a complex world that really required quite complex analysis, because it was unclear which event had caused such divergence from the standardised timeline.

Perhaps it was simply who got into power, where? Thomas could easily see, with a quick internet search using a computer library (thankfully quite omnipresent in the larger cities) what had gone on, and the single thing that seemed off was… Bougainville. The good old island had already declared independence, and the scale of affairs there was so radical and so mesmerising that the traveller did wish for more time before the gales rolled in to get all the way there. Sadly, he was almost out of currency, his Prevy was running low on its battery pack that hailed from Kortrijk, and Thomas only learnt of the conclusion of the divergence the day before. A shame. He did like S-J-90, and it was to be placed as an ‘area for recommendation’, but that was if the place was stable enough; Thomas’s main job was really to check where exactly was stable, metastable, and unstable, and so it seemed as if he could check the ‘stable’ option off where he stood. It was not like his previous work in Turkey - the walls caved in on the tear mere hours after his designated messenger declined the inquest to join him at TUL, a real shame because a Turkish Cypriot was hard to find with excellent English comprehension. That was a missed opportunity. Thomas just could not make the most of every event.

He looked at his ChronoChroma. 2219 hailed the time for Paris, with Kortrijk showing 1625.

At Thomas glanced at the watch, the heavens opened from above. Great lashes of rain fell right upon the poor traveller, standing right near the open, and so he decided to undertake a mission - find shelter.

Luckily, Thomas was close to a sandwich shop, so stepped right into the doorway to wait it out. To be named the ‘L’Assiette du Voyeageur’, or as the Prevy put it, ‘The Traveller’s Plate’ was just one of those coincidences, but they were not open. They had boarded-up windows, with the front door featuring a ‘we’re still open’ sign as if they had been damaged in a war. It was not like anything out of other Frances that Thomas had seen whilst on his travels, as their boulevards usually contained scam artists, not political riots. And yet, that was what the city presented Thomas, in its full and entire force.

In learning of the news, it had become apparent that a lot was changing within France. Firstly, in its Presidential elections, it was Melenchon who had triumphed over Le Pen, but by only a margin of 3%, in a vote where over 20% of votes were just blank. That did not even factor into the extremely-low turnout for the elections - just 54% had voted of the eligible, and only 41% had even voted at all. For a second-round, that was rough. Then came the legislative elections - a near-wipeout for the centre. Ensemble, or Macron’s old party, was down to barely 80 seats, and anything normal or ordinary seemed to only ward away voters. Le Pen got 170 seats, Melenchon got 150 seats, Darmanin had got 110, and even Zemmour made it up to 50. Whilst Melenchon had kept Borne in for the short interim period, with Ensemble just in a coalition with the NUEPS now, the new results threw spanners in every work, and it showed. Now, the Melenchon people were going to push through the creation of a new 6th French Republic, and this stirred up the hornet’s nest called S-J-90 France.

Thomas could hardly count the number of angry people in groups of colour, waving around angry cocktails shouting angry words at other angry people, as well as the Gendarmerie. He did regard the prospect of being caught up in any of these rallies as dangerous, with his own accent (Thomas needed not the Prevy for speaking here, being lucky to at least know enough French for conversationals) being quite… English. Those English had shown a good middle finger or two to the whole EU back in 2020, got caught in a slight bit of bother, and then legged it to reasonability with a new government - quite unrealistic in Thomas’s mind, but that was what the article stated anyways. It was AP, it was probably fine enough. Still, he kept to the streets at odder hours, and so was caught out in a September shower at… 2219 & 1625 at last check.

That seemed a while ago. Thus, Thomas checked again.

2225, and 1656. That was not right at all.

That was incorrect separation. 5-51 had gone now to 5-29. That was a bad sign. This was instability in its most obscure face.

Thomas just now had to escape Paris, and brave the biting rain.

He took off at once, hunted for the Metro, found the Pasteur, and took Line 6 right towards Nation.

Strasbourg was now the only goal to get to.

The water fell all around, and made the city a river.

All the waters flowed towards, was the death of an eternity.

Ghana is a nation that is built on tradition, democracy, and uhh... strength? Yeah, Ill admit it was a really weird country to pick and seeing now that the season is pretty much over, Ive hit a region of consideration in what I hope Ghana achieved.

Ghana now has in development an indigenous weapon. There is several factories ready to produce them.

Ghanas military prowess expanded every irp year. It now has crucial attack fixed wing aircraft and many other additions such as high caliber artillery.

In results, am I proud? Sure. This season was fun to play with the entire community. I thank Eve for being an inspiration along with all of Bow and the mod teams help in my knowledge learning how to be a xpowers pro. B)

In the future we can only imagine what happens, but I can say now.

Ghana declares a military operation in Burkina Faso to fill the power vacuum in the countrys government. Ghana improves the economic humanitarian crisis in Burkina Faso by opening its borders to trade again. Burkina Faso eventually becomes the Ghanaian Democratic Republic of Burkina Faso.

Once again, thanking all of you for the fun. Hope to enjoy this next season coming up when its available, (if there is one, ruh roh).

• Seltzery "Sal" Crusedanem

Deep sigh

I was very excited to play GP again after a very long break, but the start was way to hectic for me because of some very unexpected circumstances regarding work I've mentioned about in the discord, and by the time I was ready to get back into the game it seemed like not many people were interested it in anymore.

So yeah. I'm declaiming so I don't need to continue hogging up a spot.

Hiya, I’m not going to bury the lede here. I am declaiming as the US effective immediately. I had decently high hopes for this season, and in the future with a much better mod team I would love to do the split US claim again, but there are many things that have happened this season that has left a really sour taste in my mouth. I’m not going to go through and make some long detailed declaim post but in general if you agree to mod an xpower game maybe consider modding the game? Maybe don’t get upset when you fail to do really much of anything. I am going to leave a short list here but it is by no means exhaustive:

• Resolution time: I understand that real life takes priority but if you’re simply unable to effectively mod the game than maybe resign as a mod(dummy, wk, grand) for which I want to give kudos to spummy for doing exactly that

• General sense of apathy: As a player my general feeling from the mod team is one of general apathy towards the community/game

• Really insanely asinine decisions: Blocking all discussion of Israel/Gaza, and not just not removing people arguing for genocide but making them a major after banning them from the discord, caused really all momentum to be sucked out of the game

Overall, the season is dead and should be mercifully brought back behind the shed and shot. I want to thank specifically and only bow for what fun I’ve gotten out of this season and I also want to thank bob for playing the Republicans, spartan for being a wonderful DoD, and alba for at the very least agreeing to deal with the final frontier.

So long, and thanks for all the fish.

The 2021 defence review allocated £2bn toward the next phase of Tempest development over the four years to 2026. As of 2027, the following capabilities are being developed ready for the prototype aircraft to take flight in 2029 ahead of a three year flight testing schedule with an IOC planned for 2035.

• Leonardo UK, Mitsubishi Electric (Japan) and Leonardo S.p.A have been tasked with the development of a radar technology capable of providing 10,000 times more data than existing systems. Referred to as the 'Multi-Function Radio Frequency System', this system can collect and process an a volume of data equivalent to a city the size of Edinburgh. This capability will allow Tempest to locate and target enemies well before it is targeted itself, and provide an all digital view of the battlespace. Building upon the ECRS2 AESA, the 'world's most capable fighter radar', the new radar will consist of 4,800 miniaturised transmit/receive modules to digitise the signal within the antenna and utilise both Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) and Gallium Nitride (GaN) semi-conductors within its array for an air detection range of 500km+. As with the ECRS2, it will be capable of wide-band electronic attack, allowing cyber attacks to be directed at hostile air defences, and have highly capable electronic warfare capabilities. It will be designed with an open architecture, allowing upgrade and modernisation as and when new technologies emerge.
• Building upon the Praetorian DASS, Leonardo UK, Mitsubishi Electric (Japan) and Leonardo S.p.A (Italy) are developing the all-aspect broadband electronic warfare capabilities that will be used on the Tempest. The RWR system is said to be four times as accurate as existing sensors and one-tenth the size with considerably reduced power requirements. The smaller size of the RWR enables it to be integrated into a multi-function array incorporating similarly smaller and more accurate laser warning receivers and missile approach warners to provide all aspect coverage. The ECM system utilises more advanced digital radio frequency memory technologies than the Vivaldi and Cross Eye antennas on Typhoon, generating multiple identical repeater type jamming beams, and capable of causing significant aiming error within hostile opposing radars. Tempest will also carry a quartet of internally stored towed radar decoys (TRD) based on BriteCloud technology, connected to the aircraft by a 100m kevlar cable containing a fibre optic link and power distribution line. Through this, the decoy will be capable of producing a range of jamming techniques to fool or lure missiles away from the aircraft. This will be an evolution of the existing TRD fitted to Typhoon.
• Testing of the wearable technologies Tempest pilots will use have been trialled on the Typhoon and Lightning aircraft. These allow augmented and virtual reality displays to be projected directly into the visor of the helmet. This allows both manned and unmanned operation of the Tempest, as well as a 'virtual copilot' for certain missions. This will permit the manned airframe to be restricted to a single seat, as missions requiring a traditional weapons systems operator can now be carried out virtually. These will be an evolution of BAE's HMSS technology developed for the F-35.
• The aircraft will be fully integrated with the MQ-28 Ghost Bat, which both the United Kingdom (as Cyclone GR.1) and Japan have reached deals with Australia for as their choice of 'loyal wingman'. Tempest should be able to communicate with the MQ-28, using it as a communication / sensor node and relay, permitting over the horizon target cuing in the unmanned, controlled mode. They should also be able to act in a command / control role for the MQ-28 in the autonomous role, providing the mission parameters for the 'loyal wingman' before setting it loose to carry out its mission as it sees fit, while retaining the capability to abort or adjust the mission as required.
• Rolls Royce, in concert with IHI (of Japan) and Avio Aero (Italy) have developed advanced combustion system technologies, allowing the engine to be far more efficient thus increasing speed and range. The use of advanced composite materials, additive manufacturing and more power-dense components able to operate at these higher temperatures have proven critical to these developments. These are being integrated into the adaptive cycle engines that will eventually power the Tempest. The engine has been in development since 2015 and will feature embedded electrical starter generators to save space and provide large amounts of electrical power and an energy storage system, removing the requirement and weight of an auxiliary power unit. Intelligent power and engine controls systems utilising AI and alogorithms will enhance energy demand and reduce thermal loads. The engine incorporates a fully integrated heat management system with a highly efficient exhaust reheat system and a lighter, aerodynamically optimised fan made of temperature-resistant composites.
• The aircraft will have three payload bays, two in the side of the fuselage and one larger bay in the central fuselage. The side bays will be able to carry a pair of ASRAAM sized AAMs or a pair of SPEAR 3 sized AGMs. The main bay will be capable of carrying six Meteor sized AAMs dictating a width of 1.4m or a single Storm Shadow size cruise missile, dictating a length of 5.2m. This will also enable carriage of 12 SPEAR 3 or 4 500lb class munitions internally. 6 underwing hardpoints will enable carriage of up to 8,000lbs of external stores. 4 of these hardpoints will be plumbed for fuel tanks.
• The airframe is designed to incorporate stealth technologies and materials learned from BAE's involvement in the F-35, TF-X, Flygsystem 2020 and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries design experience from the F-X. The airframe will be shaped to minimise the radar cross section and S-shaped air ducts with trapezoidal intakes and no vertical stabiliser. Flat thrust-vectoring nozzles allow a stealthy shape and reduce IR emissions, while active cooling of the leading edge of the airframe and heat resistant materials will help mask the aircraft from detection by IRST at range. The rest of the airframe will be coated next generation radar absorbent materials, which will explore the viability of graphene and nanotechnologies to spoof and absorb signals across the electromagnetic spectrum.

The sensor suite, defensive aids suite and wearable technologies will be tested and fine-tuned prior to the first flight of the Tempest protoype on a quartet of recently retired RAF Typhoon aircraft, which will operate from MoD Boscombe Down under the control of BAE.

Phase 2 costs, running from 2027 - 2032 will cost $11bn, including the production of six prototype aircraft of varying levels of development and capability (ie, the first prototype will not be suitable for advanced flight testing, unmanned flight or weapons testing).

​

HMAS is a comprehensive program to develop an advanced fighter aircraft and individual critical components. We will try to include a complex of developments in one post

Engines HE-414, HE-416 HAL is spinning off its engine manufacturing division into a separate subsidiary, HE (Hindustan engines). Structural separation is necessary to concentrate the separate staff and finances of an individual company on its narrow task. HE is currently producing AFL-31 engines for the Su-30MKI and is preparing to open production of the GE-414 according to a previously reached agreement (https://idrw.org/f-414-hal-to-get-80-tot-ge -lists-out-tot-details/). The Indian version of the engine will receive the HE-414 index and the following characteristics

Thrust normal 57.8 kN

Thrust max 98 kN

Dry weight 1,110 kg

Length 391 cm

Maximum diameter 89 cm

Inlet diameter 79 cm

Thrust-to-weight class 9:1

This engine will form the basis for the upcoming Tejas Mk2 and HMAS prototypes. Production launch is planned for 2028

Next, HE is tasked with developing a more powerful version of this engine. The new engine should retain the dimensions of the old one, but increase power by 25%. The engine will receive the index HE-416 and the following characteristics

Thrust normal 91 kN

Thrust max 137 kN

Dry weight 1,350 kg

Length 391 cm

Maximum diameter 89 cm

Inlet diameter 79 cm

Thrust-to-weight class 9.2:1

It is expected that the engine will form the basis for production HMAS aircraft and will also be used to re-engine the Tejas Mk2 in future updates. We will also accept GE's help in developing a new engine if they agree to help. The estimated completion date for development is 2032-2033. Completion of testing and certification – 2035-2036

Uttam Mk3/Mk10/Mk15

The Uttam radar family will continue to develop. The Uttam Mk2, which is being prepared for installation on the new Tejas Mk2, is a powerful Indian-made radar that uses many modern technologies including AESA and ultra-thin side section. However, the radar cannot be called the best, largely due to its limited size. The canvas has only 968 TRM, which is normal for a light fighter, but there is no talk of superiority. Moreover, the radar modules are made of GaAs, which is also not the best technology available. The Uttam family will continue to develop.

Uttam Mk3 Antenna substrate diameter – 900 mm Number of TRMs – 1850 TRM material – GaAs Availability of AESA, electronic warfare, high-speed communications, high-resolution terrain mapping mode, identification and tracking of ground targets, ultra-thin antenna side section. This radar is a continuation of the scaling of already proven Uttam radar technologies, and therefore does not require fundamentally new research. This radar is intended for use on HMAS prototypes, on production HMAS if the Mk15 is not ready on time, as well as for the potential modernization of the Su-30MKI, if such a decision is made. This radar is sized to fit the nose cone of the Su-30MKI. The estimated date of completion of work and readiness for mass production is 2030.

Uttam Mk10

Antenna substrate diameter – 650 mm Number of TRMs – 1648 TRM material – GaN Availability of all functions of previous models of the family Uttam Mk10 is a fundamentally new radar in the family. The use of GaN significantly expands the temperature range of the radar, allowing for additional TRM densification and increased overall system performance. This radar also uses the most advanced available technologies for compacting antenna modules, which was previously used in India only on experimental samples. Radar will require significant hardware development effort, but the software part should not lag behind. Data processing will be distinguished by a new on-board computer with increased performance, which will allow you to extract the maximum useful data from the received signals. BEL (developer of Uttam radar) will have to do a lot of work for this. The Uttam Mk10 matches the dimensions of the Uttam Mk2 radar that will be installed in the Tejas Mk2 and will potentially replace it in future updates. The estimated completion date for development is 2035. Completion of testing and readiness for serial production - 2037-2038

Uttam Mk15

Antenna substrate diameter – 900 mm

Number of TRMs – 2344

TRM material – GaN

Presence of all functions of the previous radar + electro-hydraulic system for mechanical antenna rotation Uttam Mk15 is a scaled version of Uttam Mk10, combined with a mechanical antenna rotation system. The radar uses the same technology base, but is larger in size. The development of both radars will proceed in parallel. Uttam Mk15 is intended for use in production HMAS aircraft. The advanced capabilities of the rotary radar will allow the fighter to play the role of mini-AWACS, controlling manned or unmanned wingmen on a battlefield remote from it, which will be one of the main tasks of the promising vehicle. The estimated completion date for development is 2036. Completion of testing and readiness for serial production - 2037-2038

POD BEL Baaz BEL is tasked with developing a state-of-the-art detection and targeting module, BEL Baaz. The military command requires a viewing range of 80+ km, black-and-white, color and thermal imaging, advanced capabilities for determining distance, position in the GPS system, laser guidance for static and dynamic targets. This requires the use of advanced optronics, modern data processing algorithms and post-processing using AI. It is possible to create an initially intermediate version with more modest characteristics for testing technologies. We welcome cooperation in development with our long-time Israeli partners and the possible involvement of new partners. The Baaz will be suspended from a standard fighter pylon and will significantly increase its lethality against ground targets. These same technologies will form the basis of the optics of our promising UAVs

HMAS HMAS is the general name for the program to develop a promising fighter aircraft and advanced modules for Indian aviation. We’ve already talked about the main modules, now it’s time for what everything was started for. Military designation will be assigned later

HMAS

Crew 2 people

Length – 19.5 m

Wingspan - 14.5 m

Wing area – 83.3 m

Empty weight – 18,000 kg

Fuel weight – 12,000 kg

Payload - 10,000 kg

Maximum take-off weight – 40,000 kg

Airframe materials:

Titanium alloys – 45%

Composites – 30%

Engines – HE-416x2 (137 kNx2) (on production vehicles)

Thrust-to-weight ratio in air-to-air operations – 1.01

Thrust-to-weight ratio with maximum take-off weight – 0.62

Maximum speed – 2.3 M at altitude

Flight ceiling – 20,000 m

Combat radius without EFT – 1,500 km

HMAS-N (Naval)

Crew 2 people

Length – 19.5 m

Wingspan - 14.8 m

Wing area – 85.8 m

Empty weight – 20,000 kg

Fuel weight – 12,000 kg

Payload - 8,000 kg

Maximum take-off weight – 40,000 kg

Airframe materials:

Titanium alloys – 45%

Composites – 30%

Engines – HE-416x2 (137 kNx2) (on production vehicles)

Thrust-to-weight ratio in air-to-air operations – 0.92

Thrust-to-weight ratio with maximum take-off weight – 0.62

Maximum speed – 2.3 M at altitude

Flight ceiling – 20,000 m

Combat radius without PTB – 1,500 km

HMAS will be built according to a normal aerodynamic design with a diamond-shaped wing with a developed leading edge of the wing. The airframe will have widely spaced engines, between which there are 2 internal weapon compartments. The compartments have a length of 8.3 m and a width and depth of 0.65 m. Together, this makes it possible to place up to 8 air-to-air missiles of the Astra family or up to 2 heavy suspensions similar to air-launched cruise missiles. Two more points for heavy suspensions are located under the engine nacelles. There are 2 more suspension points under the wings - 1 close to the fuselage and 2 in the center of the wing with double and triple pylons, respectively. Instead of a double one, there is one heavy suspension. In total, the aircraft has a maximum of 20 suspension points, 2 of which are for heavy suspensions, or 12 points, 6 of which are heavy. The aircraft must have characteristic stealth shapes to deflect reflected radio waves, as well as a coating of radio-absorbing composites. The coating should be oriented towards wear resistance, even at the expense of radio absorption. No additional applied coating required

The avionics are primarily represented by the Uttam Mk15 radar, a new on-board computer, an advanced human-machine interface, large-scale automation of flight control and information collection while maintaining the pilot’s key role in decision making, and control of the main aircraft systems using the pilot’s helmet. The integrated modular electronic warfare system can enhance its capabilities using the potential of the Uttam Mk15. The key requirement for the system is seamless interaction of electronic warfare modules of various aircraft to scale electronic warfare capabilities. The fighter must implement individual thrust control for each engine to increase the aircraft's maneuverability

Expected development completion date – 2033

Expected completion date of testing – 2037

Unit cost - $120 million

#Overview

Turkey's reach into Central Asia has been growing, and since the onset of the war in Ukraine, Turkey has increasingly been seen as a viable option for Central Asian Governments to seek support in their programs which vary from reformist to Tyrannical. For the past 20 years, Turkey has been developing and extending its influence. Since the collapse of Russian presence and investment in the region, there is now a gaping void where the former Soviet Republics' bond with Russia had been. A resurgent Turkey, freshly buoyant with an international aerospace and industrialisation which is regionally significant, is seeking friends. Turkey's influence in Azerbaijan's conflict with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh, was a watershed moment, as Turkish drones and Turkish equipment brought the Armenian exclave to almost naught, with the population displacing completely, and the war decisively ending in Azerbaijan's (and Turkey's) favour. This is the kind of influence Turkey hope3s to extend.

Turkey's "Turkic" links with Central Asia are deep history, and the real influence of Turkishness leaves much in need of empirically quantifying. However, none of that is too significant when dabblin in Political rubrics, so Selcuk Bayraktar, as Leader of Turkey's ruling AK Party, is on tour, looking to deepend Turkey's influence in the stricken region. The Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States consists of Turkey, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Azerbaijan, while Hungary and Turkmenistan are presently observers.

#On Offer

• CCTSS / Turkic Council
• Membership. Turkey extends an offer of full membership to Turkmenistan; an offer of Observer or Membership Status to Tajikistan, and an offer of Observer status to Afghanistan
• Deepening Economic and Legal Links. Turkey offers the option of Turkish and Qatari-backed investment in energy, particularly looking to purchase gas and hydrocarbons, but also to sell Turkish Solar and other renewables.
• Security
• Deployments. Turkish Overseas Deployments are the second largest in the world, after USA. Asia, Africa, and Europe, are all reachable by overseas deployments of Turkish forces. We are willing to send advisors, detachments, and substantial deployments of potentially thousands of Turkish military personnel, into the region. <!We can also send some gnarly mercenaries if you like!>
• Arms Exports. Turkish arms and armaments are now competitive and mass exportable. We want you to consider progressing from old Soviet arms to new shiny Turkish ones. We can get rid of your shabby old Migs and Su-29s, and swap them for the TF Kaan, or the TAI Hurjet, or a myriad of drone options that can give you air support, surveillance, air-to-air-combat, SEAD, AEWACS, and precision strike abilities at a fraction of the cost of a traditional air force. We also sell guns, armoured vehicles, ships, planes, you name it. Come join us!

#Summary

This is a conversation starter. Turkey still has friendly enough relations with both Russia and the EU, and we aren't suggesting that you'll trade one for the other. You can have it all! What we are keen to dialogue on most deeply, is the question of security support, as the region is volatile, and it is in all of our interest to ensure that this volatity does not conflagrate.

##HTTP 404: Page not Found

Ministry of Public Security - State Security Department (SSD); June 2027

As high-speed internet access proliferates across Laos, the government has had to adapt accordingly in order to preserve the leadership of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party. The State Security Department has had to increase its capacity to censor content that undermines the social order in Laos. Recently, the SSD has implemented a tool to check TCP packets from a select bank of words. The purpose of this tool is to search the TCP packets for sensitive words and close the link if a match occurs, thereby eliminating access to that link. A SSD regulation regarding 'Internet Safety for Preserving Social Order' has been pushed out to ISPs requiring them to maintain this tool and active sensitive word list in order to continue their license in Laos. This regulation has become known colloquially as the 'Lao Firewall'.

According to research conducted from a Canadian institute- The Citizen Lab, the TCP tool seems to run on the same protocol as the one used to enforce The Great Firewall in China, and was perhaps licensed to Laos and collaborated with at the permission of China. The Lao Firewall uses a variety of methods, employed by the SSD, to deny service to sensitive websites under directives of the Lao Government, including IP range banning, DNS spoofing and redirection, QOS filtering to block suspicious IP (working to combat VPN use), TCP reset attacks as described above, and MITM attacks to establish Lao approved security certs on Lao websites. After extensive research by Citizen Lab, they have determined that the following topics are being picked up by the sensitive list:

• Hmong independence websites

• Hmong insurgency content

• Content critical of party leadership

Additionally, they have determined the following apps and websites are no longer accessible in Laos:

• YouTube

• Facebook

• Wikipedia

• Reddit

• Whatsapp

• Telegram

• Signal

• X

• Wikipedia

• Hmong American Center

• Hmong Daily News

• Hmong Times

• Hmong TV Network

• NYT

• CNN

• The Guardian

• Voice of America

• DuckDuckGo

• Discord

• Washington Post

• Pornography-related websites

• Tumblr

• Pinterest

• LinkedIn

• Google

• Skype

• Snapchat

Interestingly, the following sites and services are still usable in Laos, and it is unknown why the government has yet to take action:

• Bing

• Netflix

• Instagram

• Steam

• Spotify

• Zoom

• GitHub

• Roblox

• DeviantArt

Consequently, usage of Bing in Laos has soared, as has Instagram. Other social media have begun becoming more prominent, such as VK and Weibo; services such as TikTok, WeChat, Bigo Live, and Spotify have also become more popular.

[Achieve Near-Universal 5G+ Mobile Internet and 100+ Mbps Wifi/Ethernet | Week 5 of 7 | Post 5 of 8]

The massive defeat of Russia in Ukraine has not been without its consequences, most acutely felt in the post-Soviet sphere, where the complete elimination of Russian military power has left the world in flux. Central Asia, the Caucuses, these forgotten corners of the world have seen quite a bit of change over the past several years as a result--change that should probably receive a lot more attention from abroad.

Kazakhstan

There was a time when Russia was utterly dominant over the steppes. No longer. President Tokayev is a cunning operator, and has spent the past several years cautiously moving away from Russia, backing up slowly from the ongoing shitshow that is the Russian economy and state.

Most significantly, Kazakhstan exited the Eurasian Economic Union in 2025, with Russian inflation spilling over into Kazakhstan due to the convertibility of the tenge and sanctions making open trade with Russia increasingly difficult. It became clear that the EEAU was an economic albatross around Kazakhstan’s neck, one that had to be eliminated.

Concurrent with Kazakhstan’s departure from the EEAU, Kazakhstan has intensified ties with the European Union and Turkey, as well as retaining warm relations with China. The European Union is by a significant margin Kazakhstan’s largest trading partner, and Kazakhstan has expressed an openness towards pursuing membership in the European Union, while presently seeking both to join the European Neighborhood Policy and the Council of Europe.

Domestically, Kazakhstan is more democratic than it was in 2022, but remains oriented towards Tokayev’s programme to establish Kazakhstan as a dominant-party democracy. Major media outlets are almost all aligned with the ruling party, which holds most of the legislature, and elections are free, but not fair. International observers comment on positive progress towards democracy, but complain that the government and ruling party seem rather uninterested in “genuine pluralism”.

Kyrgyzstan

Shortly after Kazakhstan’s exit from the EEAU, Kyrgyzstan exited the organization for similar reasons. Unlike Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan has not conducted a particularly Europe-focused foreign policy, and also unlike Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan is a bona-fide democracy… of sorts. Following the defeat of incumbent President Japarov, he has been replaced by former President Jeenbekov, at least until such time as another revolution takes place–it’s only a matter of time in Kyrgyzstan.

Kyrgyzstan has, however, retained close commercial ties with Russia and actively supported sanctions-dodging activities, and a significant Russian diaspora population resides in Bishkek where they hide from conscription and conduct many business ventures. Coincidentally, Kyrgyzstan has also become something of a centre for cybercrime in the past several years as both Russian and Chinese organized groups deploy everything from scam calls to ransomware from shiny new office blocks.

For the most part, the foreign affairs of Kyrgyzstan have remained calm, except for a brief scuffle in which Kyrgyz soldiers seized several patches of disputed territory from Tajikistan.

Tajikistan

Right, now here’s an utter mess. Tajikistan was never a particularly strong state to begin with, and the past several years have not at all been kind to it. The fall of the Afghan government in 2021 was a significant blow to Tajikistan, but the loss of Russian protection and sponsorship was perhaps a larger one, with the Russian installation at Dushanbe being virtually abandoned as it was stripped for resources and manpower to fight in Ukraine.

Without the active support of Russia, and with the volatile regional conditions [read:Afghanistan], Tajikistan has fallen into disarray, not helped by economic woes in large part caused by the devalued ruble sending Tajik remittances into a death-spiral. In a country where President Rahmon’s rule was already fragile, it was easy for foreign extremist groups–most prominently the Tehreek-i-Taliban Tajkistan and the Islamic State-Khorasan Province–to find recruits. The result has been a major insurgency that has spread across most of Tajikistan and has driven back Tajik regulars, many of whom have in fact defected to the Taliban or IS.

It is probably apt to say that Tajikistan is presently in the midst of a second, brutal civil war, with support flowing in from Afghanistan to the Tajik Taliban and internationally to IS-Khorasan. If nothing is done, it is entirely possible that Tajikistan will fall to the Taliban, if not worse, within the next year or two. While President Rahmon has received limited support from Uzbekistan, it is nothing significant as Uzbekistan itself is worried about a potential Taliban threat and is, in any case, more preoccupied with the business of making money than starting wars.

Turkmenistan

Locked in the midst of a dynastic struggle, young son and nominal President Serdar seized power in Ashghabat while his father, the erstwhile Supreme Leader, was on a diplomatic mission to Qatar.

Serdar has proven to be more mercurial and altogether less fun than his father, and is widely thought to be unpopular among both the Turkmen elite and the common Turkmen people, especially because he doesn’t care for horses at all, and in fact has not been seen on or with one since his father was sent into comfortable, Doha-based exile.

In terms of foreign policy Serdar has inexplicably grown closer to Russia and has played with abandoning Turkmenistan’s long-held neutral status; it is even rumored that he has sent arms and ammunition to Moscow. He has offended both the Turks and the Chinese on several occasions, and while construction on the Trans-Caspian pipeline has gone smoothly, the economy of Turkmenistan has remained in the doldrums. Turkmen-watchers are generally of the view that should the Chinese stop buying Turkmen gas, the entire country may well fall apart at the seams.

Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan has largely continued down the road of modernization and liberalization–well, if you can call it liberalization–with great success thus far. The young, dynamic President Mirziyoyev has drawn favorable [and indeed, unfavorable] comparisons in the international press to leaders like Paul Kagame, matching an authoritarian developmentalist regime with a much more open attitude towards international relations. Uzbekistan has secured significant foreign investment from Asia, the Middle East and Europe and is aggressively modernizing its economy.

Tashkent has drawn an increasing number of Russian ‘refugees’, if they can be called as such, attracted by a highly competitive jobs market for skilled labor and management. Exports are growing rapidly, with agricultural growth being superseded by a booming market in textile manufacturing and light industry, especially plastics and electronics. Exports largely flow to China and the Middle East, with the unstable situation in Afghanistan preventing any substantial trade with South Asia despite Mirziyoyev’s repeated visits to Islamabad and New Delhi.

Uzbek foreign policy remains non-aligned, though recently it has looked closely to Turkey and South Korea culturally, with a recent Blackpink concert in Uzbekistan drawing tens of thousands of loyal fans. An order of French Rafale aircraft indicates a shift towards Western military equipment and doctrine, while the human rights record of Uzbekistan has mostly improved, although allegations are beginning to circulate of severe exploitation of Afghan migrant labor, legal or otherwise.

Afghanistan

Blessedly forgotten by most of the world, the Taliban has seen a slow slide into obscurity as the country returns to a century numbered in the single digits. While some bolder foreign investors have attempted to exploit Afghan resources, nothing more than artesian mining has proven profitable. The Islamic State insurgency has worsened considerably as the Taliban has proven unable to pay all its members, nor provide the sense of adventure for which young Afghan men yearn–the Taliban is viewed as largely old, rich, and out of touch by the Afghan masses. IS controls large swaths of the eastern part of Afghanistan and currently extorts tolls from any trade attempting to cross into Pakistan, much to the Taliban’s dismay, and Taliban control of Jalalabad holds on only by a thread.

Al-Qaeda has also once again set up shop in Afghanistan, at the invitation of the Taliban, though it operates with at least a modicum of discretion and officially the Taliban claim to have no knowledge of their existence, denying any presence in Afghanistan. This is, of course, besides the pressure that the Taliban exerts on Tajikistan through their continued campaign against President Rahmon.

Perhaps most salient to the world, however, is the continued outpouring of Afghan refugees fleeing famine, the Taliban’s restrictive and erratic rule, the IS insurgency and the just generally poor conditions within Afghanistan. Despite efforts by states on all sides to rein in this migration, the most they’ve been able to do is extort larger bribes for crossing. Of note is a large number of Afghan migrants to Uzbekistan, where they are largely seasonal agricultural laborers, but most permanent migrants are currently moving through Iran–avoiding the IS-controlled Pakistani frontier–and from there through Turkey into Europe, although an increasing number are flying from Iran to various other transit points in North Africa, Russia and Belarus, and even Central America. The number of refugees/migrants is well into the hundreds of thousands and continues to place tension on all countries involved.

Armenia

Armenia has also exited the EEAU, like the other members, and, left with no recourse, has pursued an aggressively Europhilic course. Mind you, Armenia has conducted very little in the way of actual reforms, but they’re quite insistent on the fact that they want membership in the European Union, and in this they have attracted some support, with Cyprus being Armenia’s most ardent supporter in the EU.

Otherwise, however, Armenia has continued to hold itself at odds with Azerbaijan and Turkey, largely cutting itself off from international trade. Of particular note is that Armenia has concluded an agreement with Rosatom providing for another 10-year life extension on the already beleaguered Armenian Nuclear Power Plant, something that has caused both Turkey and Azerbaijan to complain about seismic and safety risks to the plant, which is now more than fifty years old. As without the plant Armenia will have virtually no electricity, however, it is understandable that they would choose this option.

Azerbaijan

Very little has changed since Azerbaijan retook the rest of Nagorno-Karabakh in 2023. The Trans-Caspian pipeline has been completed, but otherwise the Aliyev-led status quo remains.

Transnistria

The once-independent quasi-state has seen the writing on the wall and is presently working with Moldova to determine the most palatable way with which to reintegrate, and is currently talking about reunification being part of the [presumably lengthy] Moldovan accession to the European Union. Transnistrian leadership would much rather be wealthy, sketchy post-communist businessmen than rotting in a Romanian prison.

Belarus

Last, but not least, we have Belarus. Lukashenko, historically, has pursued a balancing act between Europe and Russia, but the massive protests of 2020 left him more or less entirely dependent on Putin. Belarus has continued on this pro-Russian course and is currently the only remaining member of the EEAU. They’re also the only member of CSTO that actually shows up to any of the events.

In the past five years, Belarus has largely rotted in place, much like Lukashenko himself, whom it is rumored is currently on dialysis with a rather poor prognosis. Lukashenko’s youngest son has shown himself to be a precocious and arrogant young man, but has in any case been named Colonel-General and Minister of Culture and Sport, despite being twenty-five and with no more military experience than his Chinese university occasionally required of him. Nikolai is widely considered to be Lukashenko’s preferred successor, and most take a dim view of him, though a few say he is unexpectedly thoughtful and clever in small settings.

The Belarusian Military is nothing more than a paper-shell at this point; with essentially any functional part of it being sold to Russia–admittedly, at well above its actual price. That being said, there is a small part of Lukashenko that still seeks to rule all of Russia–it just hasn’t asserted itself lately. The involvement of Belarus in the ongoing disintegration of the Russian regime is something that cannot yet be ruled out.

GVA has stated that they have achieved production of limited amounts of explosive devices, such as anti-tank weapons and fragmentation bombs. They said that these weapons will never be used apart from training and warfare. Many public speakers are worried about the possibility of these weapons being turned against the country, but spokesperson Patual O'ksaum of Green Valley Arms has denied any opportunity for this exists.

The explosives, although crude, are being thoroughly reviewed and developed by the Ghana Armed Forces and its subsequent partners.

Weapons like these have existed for over half a century, used by many paramilitary and non-professional forces, yet with Ghana it may not be within the budget of the country to afford higher standards of equipment.

2 Factories responsible for the production of the AV53 Assault Carbine have reached a critical point of supply where the steel imports and production have hit a sustainable supply for the manufacturing of these products.

GVA expressed interest in manufacturing of optics and lobbying for the creation of more bills in favor of the military complex, such as a automotive company for the production of transport vehicles. It's unsure whether this will pass but one can only hope that if it does, it works.

David? //news_host_change//

!!Develop An Indigenous Military Industry and Develop a Firearm With It ^^ P6W6!!

Welcome to the International Defence Exhibition & Conference, or IDEX. Every week, the Moderators will be posting this up as a place for nations to show and sell their new, old and used defence equipment that is available for purchase.

Simply comment what you have to sell and people may reply and purchase equipment off of you. The following is an example template players may use to exhibit their products:

June 2027

As Russia has refused our terms for peace (and any negotiations whatsoever), and Putin is deluded enough to think that he can continue the war with any hope for success, we now have no choice but to expel the occupiers once and for all. Our cause is just, our fury is righteous, and we will bring victory to Ukraine.

To that end, President Zelenskyy has authorized the Armed Forces of Ukraine to conduct two distinct operations. The first and largest operation will be the liberation of Donbas, and the liquidation or expulsion of any remaining Russian and separatist forces in that region. The Kremlin was kind enough to withdraw 39,000 troops from Donbas in a vain attempt to quell increasing domestic opposition to the regime of Vladimir Putin. These troops have now turned against their masters in Moscow, and their absence from the frontlines will be greatly beneficial for the success of our operation.

The second operation will be the elimination of the Russian forces that have illegally occupied the internationally recognized territory of Moldova since 1992. This occupation has done nothing but destabilize Moldova and undermine its sovereignty, and the presence of Russian forces in one of our neighbouring states has become an intolerable threat to our own security since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. This military operation is being carried out with both the consent and participation of Moldova, as the two countries agreed several years ago to jointly resolve the issue of Russian military occupation in Moldova. Ukraine is eager to free other nations from the violent grip of Russian imperialism, and to see them finally free to pursue their own destinies without interference from the blood-stained Kremlin.

######13th April 2027;

“There has been such significant breaches of law and order across the country, and the efforts are so concerted that we simply lack the police officers as well as the Gendarmerie, combined, to deal with the matter at once. Now, Minister, what are we to do now? Is further force required?”

Welcome to your nightmare.

Come on inside.

We’re on a road to paradise.

Here we go…

Here we go.

###SUMMARY; Reuters French 2027 Presidential Elections - Round 1;

By Elaine Santeurs;

#####IT has been noted within the past week in France, leading up towards the First Round of the 2027 Presidential Elections, that a major increase in politically-motivated criminal offences has been noted. Whilst major protests have been ever-present within Paris, Lyon, and Lille, among other cities, since January, it has been particularly notable in the past week that seemingly, supporters from the parties of candidates Jean-Luc Melenchon, Marine Le Pen, Gerald Darmanin, and Eric Zemmour have all clamoured to gain any sort of advantage. However, it was the voters at the polls to decide which two candidates to send through towards the second round of the Presidential Elections for 2027, and which of the 10 candidates present shall leave the running. No matter the results, even if it did go down to a showdown between two more amiable candidates towards the general population, there is only guaranteed to be a general uptick in the amount of disorder present within France.

By all means, the French faith within their current system of governance, and how to fix its many endemic flaws that have particularly shown themselves since the 2008 Great Recession and election of Nicolas Sarkozy, has fractured upon the fractures within society. A general mix of opposition to the current system has come in forms ranging from general reform (e.g. Ensemble) towards full replacement (e.g. La France Insoumise), but the atmosphere is of change. It matters much that even the incumbent Ensemble party wish not to stick to the current status quo; their platform has been raised on gradual reforms to fix up all of the current systems, such as overhauls to the taxation system, increase in the powers of the Prime Minister to stand far closer to the President in all matters of importance, and investigations within the EU to try to finally end the long recovery period following the triple shocks of the early 2020s (Covid-19, Ukraine War, 2022-23 Delayed Recession). No doubt, their wish is to merely make it into the second round - even Macron in his re-election only received 27% of the first-round vote. His desired successor, Véran, seemed set to receive even less, and yet with so many stronger candidates, even a smaller percentage could be enough.

It must not be understated how competitive many of the candidates have been. For each and every TV debate, there assumed 5 candidates to be the main combatants for 2027 - from right-wing to left-wing: Zemmour, Le Pen, Darmanin, Véran, and Melenchon. Each, including the seemingly-aligned Darmanin and Le Pen (the former of whom is aided by Bardella, the latter’s former main ally), went quite at each other, attacking on the slightest details whether about climate change, protests, the status of Russia and China, inactivity in certain political offices, among other issues. One TV debate though, for Friday 26th March 2027, was called off on the night due to an assumed bomb threat from the CGC. Though the group have repeatedly denied the accusations of such a bomb plot, claiming that they have no right to threaten potential national leaders that would instantly crush their small movement with full force, suspicions have been raised from the right of the candidate pedestals about dealing with such ‘rebellions’. The main answer given was force, and this idea of concerted brinkmanship, and not blinking in the opponent’s face, has been cited as the main reason for what was to come.

From all sides came a barrage of words and actions, meant only to defile political opponents. Of the five candidates, only Marine Le Pen’s Twitter (formerly known as X) account was not hacked at some point, with each of the hacked account’s posting pettily defamatory imagery that sought to disavow any other potential Presidents. From misogyny to threats to absolutist talk, the wide array of harm pushed forward by the supporters has absolutely and completely marred this election already. Once social media had been pushed into a hellfire - with Twitter’s Board of Directors cutting off access to Twitter posting in France to people with over 100,000 followers in order to stem this wave of hacking by providing new 3-factor authentication for log-in - it was the turn of the streets to feel the fury. In Lyon alone, approximately €50 Million in damages has been paid out for by the Borne government, with many business owners interviewed by the press claiming it was “every type of maniac and psychopath” that had targeted them, “no matter the colour of the pin on their chest”. However, worse was yet to come.

On the morning of the 13th April, a wave of mass assaults on polls within areas with strong party-line opinions quickly took over the headlines. In one video posted on Twitter (formerly known as X), two men can be seen trying to hack down a power-line connecting the station to outside power, after placing a number of heavy logs on the outside of the door into the polling station. Another video showed one woman walking into a polling station and ripping up the records of all that had voted so far, and who was eligible for each polling station. Throughout the day, the number arrested by the police and Gendarmerie through the day for such actions grew to the point that a number of army personnel had to fill in for the police, who were too busy looking after the arrested. The sight of armed soldiers on the street did little, and so it came to the firefighters and hoses to finally solve the disorder. Close to 16,200 people have so far been recorded as of yet today (15:00 on the 14th April) for such offences, with many tracked down using facial recognition systems installed by candidate Gerald Darmanin during his tenure as Minister of the Interior.

Today, the 14th, has not seen the end of the rallies, as many remain adamant that their candidate was unduly robbed of their rightful place in the second round. In total, 6 different candidates were considered the ‘most voted-for candidate’ across the regions - Corsica voted for Jean Lasselle, for the 6th of the bunch. The first-round’s highest percentage was a demonstrably-small 17.87%, for Marine Le Pen. The second-choice, for 17.43%, was Jean-Luc Melenchon. This means that it will be two quite ‘extremist’ parties to be chosen from for the general populous for the second round. The biggest loser was, at 15.56% and less than 2% off, Gerald Darmanin. Of the 31.131.424 votes cast, 7.55% were blank or for abstentions, and turnout was a very low 63.2% - either of these could have easily brought another of the candidates, even Véran (12.62%) and Zemmour (11.02%) into the next round, the latter plus Darmanin calling blood. As for other candidates, Jean Lassalle’s share of 5.23%, ahead of the Republicans by just 9.655 votes, another historic step in the downfall of the older Republican and Socialist parties.

(Chart of Information)

Now, it will be Melenchon vs Le Pen in the second round. We look forward to seeing how the final vote shall conclude, just to observe how much France is about to change.

.

When Putin announced his plans for completely mobilizing the Russian people and economy in order to destroy Ukraine, it was met, expectedly, with massive backlash across the country. Immediately after the speech, tens of thousands took to the streets to protest, most of these being young men who knew they would be headed to the Donbas deathtraps.

Before the speech took place, Putin had ordered hundreds of thousands of police to be pre-positioned on the streets in an effort to be ready for protests, which he knew were coming.The police succeeded in stopping initial protests from achieving anything noteworthy, but failed in ending them. Protestors trying to storm government buildings in St. Petersburg and Rostov-on-Don during the first days of the protests were stopped with great police violence resulting in dozens dead.

The news getting out about protestors dying combined with the first mobilization notices sent out lead to protests exploding in size to hundreds of thousands if not millions.Slowly, the police started crumbling and, in proper Russian fashion, were overrun by the sheer number of protestors.

At this point many tens of local government buildings in smaller towns and cities had fallen to protestors. This was either due to the number of police not being enough, police being unmotivated, or the cops actually joining the protestors. Putin, hiding in a mansion somewhere in the Urals guarded by hundreds of his personal military personnel, gave the order to police to fire at will.

As the order came through, police with assault rifles, pistols, machine guns, and even grenade launchers in some instances, first started firing on some of the most aggressive demonstrators, and then at all of them. As marchers started scattering, thousands of dead lay on the pavement across the Federation.

The police then learned a very helpful lesson in combat - if you fire, then expect some fire back. Some demonstrators were armed during their protests and started firing back, although they were in such low numbers that they couldn’t stop the police onslaught. Thousands of Russians ran home and got their hands on any weaponry they could. Small militias of civilians armed with anything from assault rifles to pans formed and started fighting against the police.

As militias and police started clashing, it was clear to see that the protestors would win this, and quickly if nothing was done. Putin ordered the complete mobilization of what was left of the Rosgvardiya and recalled tens of thousands of troops from Ukraine to help against the protestors. Additionally, in his great wisdom, he called up Viktor Afzalov, the head of the Air Force.

Rosgvardiya only managed to pull up somewhere around 2,000 troops across the entire country, mainly due to a lot of them dying in Ukraine and the rest not wanting to go fight for Putin against their own people.

The Air Force was, in a stroke of pure genius by Putin, completely called back from Ukraine and ordered to only start engaging protestors. This resulted in hundreds of buildings in some of the largest cities in the country being pulverized as fighters, attack helicopters, and even Tu-series heavy bombers conducting nondiscriminatory raids around-the-clock. These attacks were as deadly for the pro-Putin forces as for the demonstrators, as pilots had no interest in properly checking who was who on the ground and just preferred shooting where they saw the most people.

The 39,000 soldiers recalled from the Donbas were immediately sent to Rostov-on-Don to put down protests with their armored vehicles and military experience, but the exhausted soldiers who had been fighting sometimes non-stop for more than 5 years, surprisingly, were quite mad at Putin and the government’s leadership.

As they arrived in the city, most of the units joined the protestors, while a small number carried out their orders of defeating the militias. Videos of T-62 tanks driving through police lines and even some tank-on-tank combat within the city circulated online, but as much as the police and Army tried, Rostov-on-Don, the city where Prigozhin’s ‘March of Justice’ in 2023 began, became the first city to completely fall into the hands of demonstrators.

Putin responded by ordering the launch of some 80 Shahed loitering munitions at the city. These mostly struck civilian housing and some ex-government buildings, but overall had no effect in stopping the protestors on Don.

The country stands at the edge of a full-fledged civil war, and the man who everybody wants to shoot in the back of the head, Putin, is hiding miles away guarded by what might be the most capable military force Russia still possesses.

I'm feeling sort of burned out from work these past few days, and I need to get the fuck out of my apartment and touch grass instead of spending most of my free time playing GP. Guangzhou is very nice this time of year, and I think I need to spend some more time outdoors.

I'll probably come back sometime during 2028. In the meantime, I'm looking at other options for 3ics, since Nevada has disappeared, and Frunze never posted anything.

Anyway, I'll be back later. Probably.