Re: [fh ot] Re: [GZG][FH] Planet types (was Re: Locations of Stars)

On Wed, 2 Dec 1998, John M. Atkinson wrote:
> Thomas Anderson wrote:
> > oh, the NRE could trade internally, just as the USA or EU could
trade
> > internally, but the volume and profitability is far less than is
available
> > from galactic / global trading respectively. the USA and EU are not
even
> > good examples, as they are the two largest trading blocs on earth by
a
> Very bad ones--EU _does_ trade internally as a significant percenatage
> of their various GNPs.

no, the reason they are very bad examples is that they are very large, 
unlike the NRE, and so internal trade is viable. anyway, the EU is still
a
very big exporter; it's just those pesky french refuse to admit that
anything exists beyond germany or the english channel :-).

> > it does seem that the NRE is trying to be totally economically and
> > industrially autonomous, and to be able to deal with all external
problems
> > by force rather than diplomacy.
> Not necessarily.  It does tend to resort to force rather blatantly
when
> it does resort to force, but subtly bribing opponents works as
> well

not exactly what i meant by diplomacy; diplomacy is getting your way
through talking alone - knowledge is power. i believe the new bavarians
are running a course on this. bribery and corruption in this manner is
simply an extension of military force.

>--it's just not likely to show up in chronologies of major events. 
> I mean, who will put up in their official histories things like, 2151:
> Heavy disbursments of bribes to local senior officers in Islamic
> Federation prepares way for next year's offensive onto New Levant. 

fair enough. still, that's why the GuardianPostShimbun investigative
team
is one of the most feared units in the foreign office's arsenal :-).

> Not something you brag about.  Ideal way to handle publicity is to let
> your opponent spend his budget accusing you of these actions, then
> blandly neither confirm nor deny, allowing potential enemies (and
> potential allies) to draw their own conclusions.  

maybe. the best way is not to let your enemy know he is your enemy.

> The NRE does get away with being more forceful in it's responses to
it's
> various enemies because they aren't the only ones tweaking them.  The
> FSE can't pull in enough resources to crush them entirely because that
> would leave them vulnerable to the NSL ending their rivalry on a
> permenant basis.  The Islamic Federation also has the New Israelis to
> deal with.  The Romanovs are locked in a death-struggle with the ESU,
> and will be until one or the other prevails.	So when the FSE is the
> victim of an NRE 'stunt', the NSL leaps to the NRE's defense.  When
they
> smash the Romanovs, the ESU blocks any decisive UN action.  The IF has
> managed to piss off every single other power, so the NRE could infect
2
> year olds with the bubonic plague and no one would care except maybe
the
> FSE, if they've kept the traditional French cozy relations with Arab
> nutcase dictators.

it seems a little convenient that all the powers are constantly locked
in
battle with mortal enemies except the NRE. what if the NSL, ESU and the
dutch all managed to pull together and come a-knocking?

Tom