Kalistan

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Kalistani FM Says Empire is moving closer to Fortress Kalistan
"Classic Defense in Depth more necessary now than ever," says Harney
Kaliburg, Grand Duchy of Ananto
October 1, 5687


FM, Sir Thomas Harney announces diplomatic arm of what he calls Fortress Kalistan

Her Imperial Majesty's Foreign Minister, Sir Thomas Harney, OAE, delivered a major policy speech within the National Assembly this week that declared that Kalistan's various foreign policy stakeholders have settled on the policy that they have tentatively called "Fortress Kalistan."  The idea, which is actually quite old, is a restatement of classic Kalistani policy designed to make it possible for Kalistan to survive in a world which is generally hostile toward it.  The FM laid out its basic principles on the floor of the National Assembly.

"As we look around us, we see what all nations see:  a handful of trustworthy friends, a handful of states who are rapidly setting themselves up to either rival or eclipse our nation, and the vast majority of nations in the world that simply do not care.  Terra is rapidly entering into a bipolar or tripolar structure, which we find to be quite hostile to Kalistan's desire to promote our own national interests in our region of the world.  While the world will do this, it is imperative that Kalistan take the steps it needs to take to ensure that we don't get caught up in the struggles between major powers elsewhere.  The classic strategic defense in depth doctrine we are starting to call 'Fortress Kalistan' is more necessary now than ever."

The Foreign Minister discussed Fortress Kalistan as a "multi front campaign" to ensure that Kalistan is able to promote its own interests regardless of what is going on around it.  "It involves every Ministry in Her Imperial Majesty's Government to coordinate its effort to approximate what nations consider to be total war.  Effort within each ministry to ensure that Kalistan is not buried under the tidal wave of great power politics, where we simply become a puppet state, like Rildanor became, or Kizenia is about to become, of Amudim has been for decades at this point, with sovereignty in name only, but otherwise, used by some foreign power as a virtual colony and a base from which to project its military.  Kalistan may be only be a regional power:  We certainly are not the hegemon we were when Canrille disappeared from the earth and left a massive vacuum that needed filling.  But we do possess enough capacity within our realm to defend our interests here at home, even if we had to take on one of these great powers alone."

On the military front, the Foreign Minister noted that a regular and vigorous training schedule was planned.  "We are going to invite our regional Partner in Lodamun to join us in naval and ground exercises next year, when we visit next month," said the Foreign Minister.  "Their interest in a pacific Anantonese is as great as ours, and this is a mutual interest between our two nations."  The foreign Minister said that the exercises are meant to shake off whatever rust the Regular Navy has, and re-hone the blade of the Kalistani Regular Force.  Combined with the expansion of the first Fleet and Marine Corps and reorganization of the Second one, Kalistani Naval power will serve as the first wave of defense.  The Foreign Minister also stated that the Empire will be looking into ramping up production in land-based naval interceptor fighter jets and multi-role fighters aimed at neutralizing naval air. 

He also said the Militia will begin training with both the Regular Navy and the veteran Regular Army forces back from the war.  The Regular forces and the militia will refamiliarize themselves with irregular warfare operations, unconventional and asymmetric warfare and sabotage, espionage, and systemic demoralization operations, and will begin actively working on acquiring more anti-missile technology from neighboring states.  "We seek to neutralize the advantages the nations around us possess, to make it so they cannot hold our nation hostage to threats of violence in a wartime situation," said the Foreign Minister.  "We may never go toe to toe, gun to gun with an aircraft carrier, but we may not have to if we can cripple our opponent, either through munitions or through unconventional warfare that employs every tactic that most regulars avoid to deny those things that allow enemy combatants to recover from high stress situations.  Things like sleep, things like safe food and water, things like security.  We don't have to kill them:  Killing them takes one man, maybe three men off the line, but demoralization is infectious and can take whole units completely off the battlefield at a time.  Ultimately, our goal will be to make any attack on Kalsitani territory or citizens so incredibly costly that attack is not even a realistic option for any non-suicidal nation.  As they said of old, we may not win the war, but the war will be so bloody that the other side won't count it as a victory either but as a tragedy."

"Diplomatically, we are going to work to encourage others to consider joining important agreements like the Non-Aligned Movement," said the Foreign Minister.  "The goal is not to necessarily back up Kalistan in a battle, but to prevent great powers from incorporating minor powers into their ever expanding empires.  Killing an invader at sea isn't enough:  We need to also consider how we will deny them their life's blood, which are all of these little states who are meant to be used as cannon fodder.  What does some minor power gain from bandwagoning with a major power half a world away?  Its unclear, actually, unless they just like life in the shadow of a behemoth.  What does the major power gain from swallowing up a minor power?  They gain people, they gain resources, they gain access to projection around the world.  And all of those are a form of power that let them more or less terrorize everyone else into submission.  But organizations like NAM encourage people to remember that they aren't alone.  They can rely on other member states to step up and stand with them when the majors put pressure on them.  They don't have to stand alone." 

The Foreign Minister also said that his ministry will be re-evaluating some of our long standing relationships abroad to see whether they serve Kalistani interests any longer.  "Some nations actions demonstrate they have no desire to keep association with Kalistan, whatever they say to the contrary, and have no care for Kalistan in their own crass calculations," said the FM, though he did not give a clue about who he referred to.

Economically, Fortress Kalistan means ensuring the greatest amount of self-sufficiency possible, so that other nations cannot gain economic leverage over Kalistan.  "We also want to ensure that when we do have to trade, we can trade with reliable trade partners, over secure trade routes that great powers cannot interrupt at will.  This denies the ability of adversaries to starve us out, and ensures that even if the great powers of the world turn against us, we still have what we need as a nation despite their best efforts."  This includes, according to the Foreign Minister, increasing trade with Seleyan nations, none of whom is on the list of great powers.  "It also means that Kalistan is not susceptible to external economic shocks, which great powers often use as leverage to hurt nations they do not like and force concessions or capitulation.  Ending dependence and reliance on anyone that can be incorporated into one of these voracious monsters is important."

Finally, the political arm involves an increase in foreign intelligence gathering capability, as well as propaganda capabilities.  "Look:  in a war, the other side can and will paint the conflict in whatever terms they want.  We can't stop that.  But their comments are all propaganda, and we need to make sure we have our own running constantly.  We need to say the truth about what these coalescing blocs actually are:  they are global level power arrangements that are centered around one nation or another nation and serve those nation's interests, alone.  They aren't for the benefit of the entire bloc.  They exist for the benefit of the leader of that bloc.  Pure and simple.  It is cynical to claim otherwise.  And we need to call that out."  He said that Kalistan would not hesitate to attempt to frustrate those who wanted an easy path toward world domination while trying to sidestep Kalistan.

The Foreign Minister concluded his bellicose and pugilistic speech on a sober note.  "We have tried to play things the way the world would like us to do it.  We tried for 10 years, and we went nowhere with it.  We were ignored for it, when our doors and our hearts were open.  When we turned inward and said that strategy of reaching out to the world was not working, we were widely criticized for abandoning internationalism by many of the people who ignored us when we were were actually trying to reach out.  But in abandoning internationalism for regionalism, we said to the world, 'In Kalistan, Kalistani interests come first, last and always.'  It seems that states were upset by that:  Its as if they were saying that Kalistan should play the meek little minor power in a forgotten corner of the world.  But Kalistan does not belong in anyone's shadow--Our Empire is the Sun.  We are the Empire of Ananto and Kalistan, and we are now also Fortress Kalistan.  And that's what it is--  If nations of this world do not respect our Crown at least they will fear to try to take it.  And if our Empress is marginalized for this, at least Kalistan will be secure and prosperous.  And if nobody else is going to voluntarily consider our interests as they make their grim calculus around the world, we'll push our interests to the center of any discussion here ourselves."

The Foreign Minister's statement would have been received with complete silence if so many nationalist Deputies in the Assembly hadn't had a hand in discussing the provisions of the policy doctrine the FM enunciated.  It is also clear that this policy statement was made in coordination with Both Her Imperial Majsety's Government, the Chancellor of the Empire, and Her Highness, the Princess Regent Nicolette Ananto-Collins, who has expressed disappointment in recent months about the fact that few foreign envoys have made any effort to visit Kalistan, despite multiple public and diplomatic invitations to do so.  Kalistan's Princess Regent, Chancellor and Foreign Minister are expected to visit to Lodamun next month in a trip that was originally scheduled for August, but was delayed due to scheduling conflicts in Kalistan.  Instead the Foreign Minister's speech was met with somber clapping, as early optimism about easy times ahead faded from the room.

Following the speech, the Foreign Minister gave brief comments to reporters.  "There's not a lot to be optimistic about internationally.  The world is going down a dangerous road, and Kalistan is not quite ready for that yet.  We'll get there, but we won't get there in time to stop the inevitable, so we have to have that baked into our trajectory."  He made reference to the last time a bipolar situation occurred in Terra that involved a major war between Lourenne, the nation who had successfully set itself up as a global force, and Beiteynu, who claimed domination of the West.  "Eventually whoever the poles end up being this time, those nations are going to tangle, its a certainty.  Whenever someone mentions the word 'Canrille', I ask, has nobody learned anything from the past?  But it sure seems someone wants to revive that malevolent empire that sought to direct world affairs by itself, but died a natural death after a war where a bunch of nations who were being used by it fought against a different malevolent bloc bent on winning a extremely bloody pissing contest.  We need to be ready for when that happens again, because it seems like it always does.  Nobody ever learns."

@TheRepublic