07-02-2026, 05:06 AM
![[Image: hH3Y1lR.png]](https://i.imgur.com/hH3Y1lR.png)
The newspaper header was created by myungdae06 on Discord at my request.
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You can find the Kasaema Guardian by searching @KasaemaGuardian on the Terran Wide Web or searching for GUARDIAN on HyrNet.
Opinion: The President on Kundrati's place in the Terran arena
April 5709
Kasaema - The President, Poloni Jastenev, has been recently elected to a full term as an independent. For a while the Kundrati People's Party has ruled the country off and on since the neo-Legionaries lost control of the state decades ago. Now that the 5700s have arrived and with Terra remaining as active as ever, President Jastenev made clear his thoughts on where Kundrati would stand underneath the shadows of two heavyweights in Terra: Wiel and Altea.
Do you believe that Kundrati is at a place now where they can go up to either one of them and ask for a fairer deal?
I believe that we are in a much better position today than we were 50 years ago, 100 years ago, maybe even longer. When the Legion took over everything changed - our relationships with allies became nonexistant, our relationships with our enemies worsened, we had new enemies and few could work with us. Not to mention, obviously, the heinous acts the Legion did to our people and to others. Kalistanis need not be reminded of the fact we sent missiles to their capital. That is the plain truth.
With that history in mind, all that backdrop, we were left at the point where we were invaded twice. The first time only led to democratic self-rule in Etxea propped up only by the arms of Luthori and others. The second time led to Kundrati being liberated - and yet democracy did not come.
Our motto is "Meliora" and it means better in Luthorian. But we don't say we are better than others. No. Whoever made that our motto died extremely long ago so we do not know for sure what they meant. But we believe that we are better when we are stronger and when we are united. During the Legionary rule we were never united and we were never stronger. We were defeated at the end of the day because we were never united.
So I say all of this to explain that we were extremely reliant, at the end of dictatorship, on the good graces of the international community. I think we have made up a good amount of ground in rebuilding some trust between ourselves and Terra. But in our recent history we were the, and excuse my language, lapdogs of Luthorians. We were occupied. That was long ago. But ever since then we've had to be reliant on the Jelbics and the Egelians. I think it has worked out though.
What I know, however, is that at some point we have to rebuild with our own two feet. Not that Wiel or Altea will leave at any moment, but more so that we will have to be forced into picking a side and hoping that the side we chose did not, in fact, lead us to failure. And we cannot say that we are at a point where we can confidently say that a fairer deal can be achieved. But we have wonderful advisors and a wonderful people and I think given enough time that we will make it and figure it out.
You explained that during the Legionary rule that Kundrati was able to attack Kalistan? Wouldn't the international community have done something immediately after? How is the world now in comparison?
I believe that at the time Kundrati was seen as an annoyance. We were saying that Kalistanis should be killed, Luthorians should be eaten, et cetera. So obviously we couldn't have made friends in that environment. Yet we did with Davostag and Likatonia. It turned out that Likatonia was invaded by Lodamun and Kalistan under one empire and they were occupied. They signed a peace treaty saying that never again would there be an alliance between Kundrati and Likatonia. It was understandable then. But that was all what was done then. Davostag worked with Kundrati and traded with them, partially funding what happened, while everyone else bar Luthori and Kalistan either didn't care or sighed.
But Davostag eventually worked with Hutori and came in from the north. Kalistan and Luthori was tired and just wanted it all ended so they worked with us in Etxea. So yes, I will say the international community did something, but not immediately after. No, they had to wait until their powders were ready. In terms of that I think today's world has been more active but also more scary. We have not seen a country being as blatant as Kundrati recently. If anyone attacked Artania or Majatra then it would make sense MATO would ensure the protection of that country. If anyone attacked the north then maybe Egelion would protect. Northern Seleya is mainly protected by the Kalistani umbrella. Maybe Bianjie or Xsampa could do something for Dovani.
But the rest of the world is left out. So if North Dovani attacked New Englia or Vascania attacked some other country or Yingdala tried to recapture Dalibor nobody would give two Kuno. I think Terra is at a point where it is fragmented enough where if you wanted to be like the Legion you could attack if you were not important or strategic enough, but if you were to say go after a patron of the big shots you would be destroyed. It is the modern day Selucian system of patronage.
I say Selucia and you may think wouldn't Selucia be an example otherwise? No. I think at the end of the day Egelion and ourselves didn't go to Selucia's aid. But nobody knows how Selucia is going these days.
Which bloc would you think Kundrati would best belong to?
I think this is not a good question because in a perfect world we wouldn't need blocs and protecting each other would be a nightmare because who would be the big bad wolf?
We are a country that historically was aligned to Beiteynu. However, of course, the situation in the Lost Souls happened. We were aligned with Lourenne until they died off and from there we were neutral. The Legion was aligned with itself and the free zone was aligned with Luthori. And historically alignment was always a rollercoaster, we were doing great with one then things were iffy before Kundrati was divided.
But we are strong in liberal democracy. We are strong in cooperation. A bloc that would be best aligned with the values of liberal democracy and a sense of common good would be the best bloc we would align with. But it cannot mean that we are going to say that we will lock step forever with them. When they need us, we will go with them. When they want us to eat the dinner, we have to eat dinner, we have to eat it. But not necessarily every time we agree with what we eat.
MATO's best advantage, beyond their protection of liberal democracy, is that when one is attacked all are attacked. It gives everyone a sense of purpose. It makes sure that you are responsible for doing the best for the common good. Egelion's advantage is more so that we will help you on your own two feet. They have been more explicit, so to say, and sometimes that is not good. Sometimes it is. But there is no organization they have that brings everyone in check and makes sure we all are doing our part. What can Kundrati contribute? That is what we have to think at the end of the day.
It is like being in a school and you have to be chosen for the dodgeball team. At some point you'll be picked. And at that point you serve at the behest of the team. So what can you contribute to the team?
But it is also school so at the end of the day if you hit your friend and they're on the opposing team it doesn't mean that you hate them or they hate you forever. It is pragmatic. So long as our core values aren't harmed we should be able to work with anyone. Small nations like Kundrati have to make that decision immediately, whether they have to jump one ship or to another, because at the end of the day us small nations can't really do anything on our own. If we invade Luthori tomorrow, we lose. If we invade Trigunia tomorrow, we lose. If they invade us, we lose. End of.
Thank you.
![[Image: gm9WKO6.png]](https://i.imgur.com/gm9WKO6.png)