The Extra-Solar Union of Systems Archive

OBSERVING the rapid expansion and aggressive stance of the Imperial Republic of the North, hereafter referred to as IRON, in staking claim to the northern regions of the Milky Way Galaxy,

FURTHER OBSERVING the great antipathy of members of the Hermes alliance toward the same, and the seemingly inevitable slide into all-out war they seem to be instigating,

PROPOSES the establishment of a Provisional ESUS Task Force to scout out and fortify an area of space nearby to the core territories of both alliances.

NOTING that one such ideal location is the former territories of the lapsed state of Rupil, whose location remains known to Arizona Novanian stellographers.

REASSURING the alliance of the provisional nature of this task force, and that its existence would only be established for as long as stability in the northwestern regions of the Milky Way remains unquestionably in peril.

REQUESTING that the exact details for determining its command structure be left up to a corollary resolution, to be posted and voted upon, upon the successful passage of the Provisional ESUS Joint Task Force proposal.

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COROLLARIES: FURTHER REASSURING ESUS nations that membership in the provisional ESUS JTF would be voluntary,

and FINALLY REASSURING ESUS-IRON members that the purpose of the task force is to assist in peacekeeping efforts in the region, not to favor the hand of either of the alliances cited in the original proposal.

The Terran Alliance sternly votes in favor of this measure.

The Imperium agrees and would gladly render forces so as to aid in this task force

The Technocracy disapprovals of this measure most strongly. This makes the claim that the ESUS as a whole would endorse such action, which is firmly against the independence of various ESUS nations. We have no objection against the formation of a "Arizonan-Chronosian-Terran" taskforce, but an ESUS one is utterly unacceptable. Furthermore, as a significant number of IRON members are ESUS members, this resolution seems to intend the fortification of space near other ESUS members in the name of ESUS. This is dangerously close to utilizing the power of the alliance in an arbitrary manner against sovereign ESUS nations, and sparking another civil war.

Furthermore, we are 'reassured' that this task force would remain subject to arbitrary distinctions. Distinctions, no doubt, that would be determined by the leaders of this taskforce itself, thus giving it infinite license to claim Rupil space under an ESUS mandate. This resolution is one that opposes the very structure that has held the Extra-Solar Union of Systems together for millenia, and would begin to destroy the ESUS if it were passed.

The Hellenic Empire, of course, also votes against this measure. The mere lack of clarification as to this task force's purpose incites distrust amongst ESUS member-states.

The Protectorate votes against this measure, on the grounds that it goes against the independence of individual ESUS members, as the Technocratic Union has pointed out. This means that the Protectorate believes that this measure is in conflict with Article 2, Part 1 of the ESUS Constitution.

Also, without unanimous support of the ESUS, this Task Force should not be carrying the alliance's flag and acting in the alliance's name.

The Arizona Novanians would like to assure IRON members within the ESUS that the purpose of the taskforce would be to guard against Hermes as much, if not more, as against IRON, and establish a local defense force for ESUS-IRON members to immediately inform in case of Hermes attack, and had hoped that the language used in its initial proposal would have been enough to communicate that. Furthermore, establishment of the task force would be on a volunteer basis only; its existence as an ESUS task force would be solely as one which bears the authority of the alliance; it would not be drafted from the fullness thereof. It existence would be one as a peacekeeping defense force.

The Arizona Novanians also worry that a lack of collective action on the part of this alliance to deal with the growing instability of the western MWG will be taken as weakness, when this is clearly not the case, and that even a nominal show of force, made in the ESUS's name, would go a long way to silencing the criticisms of our enemies.

The Capsule Corporation is an interesting position here...

Almost all Capsule Corporation worlds fall into the claimed jurisdictional space of both IRON and the Hermes Alliance.

Because of this situation, many of our worlds have made a flat claim of independence from either alliance, and labeled their space as a no-fly-zone for any vessels on assignment from those alliances.

However, some of our worlds, most notably Keflek VII, have joined IRON, leaving their world to be a key control point in that slice of the galaxy for IRON, or for Hermes, should they overrun the planet.

Raysia, our Primeworld, is in danger for her bold claims of independence and flat-out rejection of both parties.

We request clarification as to the intentions of this task force, but give a provisional vote in favor of this proposal. We also request that this proposal be altered to accommodate the concerns raised so far in this thread.

No. This is not Yut.

The Amaranthine Imperium is staunchly against this proposal for reasons shared with the Technocracy, as well as the United States. As a member of Hermes and a loyal member of ESUS, we find this measure to do precisely what the Technocracy has suggested - cause a split in the ESUS and allow for overcentralization of authority.

The Dersconi people have been treading carefully since the IRON-Hermes situation began, with many allies on both sides, and will not tolerate any attempt to further wedge Derscon away from any of its allies.

We have done our best to maintain strong and friendly relations with all of our allies on all sides, but this measure would only make our job that much more difficult, and our patience is wearing thin.

As a side-note, we would like to reaffirm our cordial relations with Raysia, and our committment to her independence and safety.