Kalistan

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Is Carolina a Moderate?
Scholars debate ideological question at Academic Conference
Sulari, Duchy of Suldanor
June 20, 5702


Empress addresses Institutional Party Leadership earlier this month

Political scientists and theorists gathered at the University of Suldanor this month for the annual Meeting of the Kalistani Political Science Association. The theme of this year's conference was "Ideology in Kalistan." The organizers at the University decided on the theme following last year's elections which saw the most pluralistic elections in generations and the breaking of complete Nationalist control of the Intuitional Party. Several papers dealt with historical ideology, including the evolution of the Socialist Party from initially a radial left wing party into a Party that ultimately formed the core of the modern Institutionalists and the most ardent defenders of autocracy and depoliticization of the Empire. Other papers discussed how ideology can express itself within the framework of the Institutional Party, the role of apolitical civil society organizations in the political process, and the prospects for democratic reform in the Empire.

The keynote speech was delivered by Nevaran scholar Dr. Jeane Crenshaw of Nevaras Duchy University. Her speech was called "Empress Carolina II Ananto's Ideology: The Politics of Pragmatism". The thesis of the paper is that the Empress is pragmatic and not ideological, which makes her natural allies with the Moderates in Government. "The Empress is a studious intellectual first," said Dr. Crenshaw. "Her politics are driven by her understanding of the trends of classical and modern political philosophy, which will make her more interested in working with anyone who can help her make her vision for Kalistan a reality. She will then work with different politicians of any political persuasion to move her agenda."

The paper also asserted that she is far less nationalistic than her predecessors, as evidenced by several of her policies that look like retrenchment, including her willingness to stand down in the middle of the recent accute crisis with Egelion, her support for the Moderate Chancellor Reginald Hanson and her willingness to permit even nominal socialists not only to serve in the National Assembly, but also to sit in Government, making the socialist programme for improvement of infrastructure a center piece of her domestic policy. According to Crenshaw, this marks her as ideology free, with a focus on pragmatism.

The respondent, Dr. Joshua Milton, of the University of Suldanor in Sulari, began by claiming that the Empress is certainly ideological. "Ideology is merely the spectacles we look at the world through. The notion that the Empress is above ideology is unsupportable. In fact, it is possible that she has already declared for the Moderates, but can't do so openly." Milton said that unlike her predecessors, the decisions of Her Imperial Majesty are in fact often political.

Milton's response focused on her decision to sack the Nationalist Chancellor Lady Ericka Donahue two years before her retirement. "The Lady Donahue was a long time and very close confidant of the Ananto Family," said Milton. "She was one of the loudest supporters of the Empress in public: It is believed that she herself fought off pretenders during the regency to consolidate political consensus around Princess Nicolette following the loss of the Emperor and Empress. She was a very strong Intuitional discipinlarian, whipping the Party into absolute support or terrified acquiescence during the regency. But as soon as she says something in public that seems, in the moment, to be completely in line with Her Imperial Majesty's stated policy, and she's sacked? That wouldn't make sense unless her removal was a political calculus."

Milton expanded the line of reasoning, noting that the Nationalist wing of the Party, before it was a consolidated caucus, had been exceptionally critical of the Regent's policies and it looked like this agitation, though not directly from the Chancellor was set to continue to give a headache to the new Empress. "The Empress' support for the Chancellor's gadflies in the Foreign Ministry and the Infrastructure Ministry and then her permitting caucus formation within the Party were signals that the Nationalists were going too far and the Empress was giving them a chance to reign in their firebrands," said Milton. "The sacking of the Chancellor after her comments on Egelion and her dust up with the Media was the hard assertion of the Empress' domination not only in the Party, but also the ascendance of the Moderate wing of the Party."

Milton attributed the Empress' study abroad, the influence of her free wheeling and independent minded Aunt, the Princess of the Empire Nicolette Ananto-Collins, and her admiration of who served about almost a decade as Regent, and her strong commitment to her Brethrenist beliefs made her natural allies to the Moderates, or rather, to non Nationalists. The Empress' cosmopolitan views on the world is her ideological viewpoint and that is necessarily the position of the Moderate Caucus. Which is why she and the current Chancellor of the Empire Lord Reginald Hanson has been so productive. "Pragmatism is the result of her Moderate ideological orientation rather than a substitute for it."

The discussion following the two presentations was spirited, with some of the attendees arguing that it was very unusual for the Empress to take a side in intra-Party political disagreements while others said that historically the Crown has been strongly aligned with the Nationalist position, even if it was not an explicit caucus. Furthermore, Kalistan hasn't had a monarch that could be described as a moderate since Nicolette II Ananto, and it was unlikely that the Empress herself would select that position given her own background and training. Of course the question was not resolved during the Keynote speech and accompanying dinner, and most scholars left the conference saying that far more evidence is needed before the question will ever be resolved.

As the question remains on the table, the Empress' Personal Secretary confirmed that preliminary talks in Egelion had been completed to Her Imperial Majesty's satisfaction and she would be making a trip to Altea Egelion in July to open high level talks with the Kerisian Empire aimed as restoring diplomatic relations, improving security communication in the Anantonese Ocean between the two states, and reaffirming the points in The Oceanic Accords signed during the reign of Mary I Ananto in 5645 which have governed relations between the two Anantonese states for nearly 60 years.

@TheRepublic