Thread:Ecoraptor3339/@comment-5496489-20160524151005/@comment-25309944-20161015221820

I apologize for the tone of my previous message, I was not a happy camper this morning due to family drama. I'll try again with a clearer head.

@Eco/Gorzill I think I might have been a little misunderstood when I explained France's position on Dragowar rearmament. I just re-read our conversation on the Rebellion titanpad, where I explained that France would be in favor of allowing the Dragowar to rearm if the situation demanded it (i.e., the Covenant being unable to provide for Dragowar security). In that event, I expressed that France would be open to considering rearmament proportional to the demands of the security situation.

I also expressed France's desire to see the Consulate reintegrated economically, politically, and socially and treated in principle as an equal partner. France would be in favor of its ascension to the Covenant as an equal state wielding a veto, which would allow it to have a voice in issues of rearmament.

This is not threatening to France, since it firmly believes in self-determination. This presents a second case in which France would support rearmament: if the Dragowar leadership wants to rearm, and the Dragowar people are in accord, then the imperative is for them to rearm, though to do so with attention to relations with other states and to the balance of power.

Lastly, there is a third case wherein France would accept rearmament and withhold its veto, albeit reluctantly. This is in the case that a consensus within the Covenant exists that rearmament is necessary and justified, even if it is on grounds that France disagrees with. France does not believe that its veto power grants it the power to singlehandedly countermand the will of the entire galaxy. France believes that that is an abuse of veto power and would not engage in such behavior. I had hoped that after nearly twenty years of Covenant meetings, this went without saying. Veto power, whether in Andromeda, the Milky Way, or Mirus is a tool to be used sparingly. It is to be used by powers to ensure that any deal represents an exact compromise between the different parties, objectionable to nobody. As a result, France would accept that rearmament is the will of the galaxy and proceed to help the Covenant craft a rearmament plan which represents the will of the galaxy, the will of the Dragowar people, and which it can live with.

Again, I apologize for my incredulous outburst this morning. I was taken aback that assumptions had been made that France would act in a way I had not intended, and that it would be diplomatically penalized for actions I never gave permission for it to take. I understand that there's a tendency for Mirusian powers to want to find ways to characterize France's actions and positions as unjust, and that's perfectly fine with me. There's a history there, and the age-old animosity doesn't seem to be going away anytime soon despite the best efforts of myself and France. However, I urge you not to let France's negative IC reputation influence how France acts in your headcannon, especially in blank spaces like France's policy towards the Dragowar that I have yet to fully explain. Please ask me in the future what France is likely to do or how it is going to approach a problem.

France's position in Mirus is a difficult one, I'll be the first to recognize that. At times it feels like there's nothing it can do to make Mirusian natives happy except pack up and leave, which is impossible. French Mirus is home to hundreds of billions of people by now who think of themselves as French Mirusians, a great many of them Andromedan and Plazithian refugees of many nationalities and races who settled there during the Great Xonexian Schism. They live and work in one of the great industrial dynamos of the French Empire. French Mirus, previously the DT's home territories, has become an industrial center which accounts for a mind-boggling proportion of French economic activity and production, with other components of the Empire rushing to give it capital and raw materials to work with. France cannot pack up and leave because to do so would be to abandon billions upon billions of people (who vote, btw) to an uncertain future. It would also be to abandon hyperpower status for good. There's also a high chance that the French Empire without French Mirus would no longer be viable economically.

France's main interest, then, is to live in a safe galaxy. When you get down to it, that's pretty much it. It doesn't want to trample on anyone, tell anyone what to do, threaten or hurt anyone, or expand in any way. It just wants to be safe and secure, and it would very much prefer to do that in a way that is harmonious with the desires of native Mirusians. Every facet of its policy is informed by this one principle, this one goal.

I hope this helps.