Kalistan

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Is Carolina the "Black-er Empress"?
Her Imperial Majesty's Nationalist Foreign Policy on an International Stage
Kaliburg, Grand Duchy of Ananto
June 17, 5584


Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Carolina I Ananto is quite possibly the most Powerful Woman in Terra

The one that separates the Kundrati Dynasty of Anantos and the Gaduri branch is the confidence.  So far, both Kundrati Empresses who have reigned in Kalistan have done so with a confidence and surety of their own rectitude and right to rule that is unknown in the world.  The Gaduri branch, which was cut short following the untimely death by assassination of Emperor Fredrick II Ananto were quiet and unassuming, graceful, charming, and curt but welcoming.  The two Hulanevek Monarchs on the other hand, are gutsy, forward leaning, and not afraid to claim an entire room as it suits them.  Pavlina insisted that Kalistan be respected by all nations of the world, and if not respected, then feared, and she held the line as Artanian powers began pushing into Artania.  She never let a slight go unanswered, and she never forgot a friend.  She was the epitome of haughty dignity, and served Kalistan as a unifier, overseeing Gaduridos' Entry into the Anantonese Empire, making it a truly hemispheric force, on terms that Gaduridos could happily accept and thrive under.  She was known as the Black Empress, because she spent much of her reign in mourning, but was also known as a maudlin figure, who had known happiness once, but for the life of her could not find humor in anything around her.

But her daughter, Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Carolina I Ananto, is in many ways her opposite.  A fun loving, adventure seeking, outgoing and effervescent personality that loves learning, loves puzzles, and loves challenges, she married a man who is in many ways both a simpatico and also her supporter in chief.  She frequents music events, freely talks to the press, and enjoys travel.  She is as worldly as her mother was reclusive, and carries far more of the Gaduri mentality about life in Kalistan than her grieving mother ever could.

Yet.  In foreign affairs, Her Imperial Majesty is every bit Pavlina's daughter and then some.  The Empress is currently actively destabilizing one nation (it's not a secret) and she is beginning to destabilize another.  She openly taunts communists and fascists alike, most recently by greenlighting the exporting of hard drugs in a specific effort to target Kundratis, by ODEN.  She uses the Navy far more effectively than Pavlina, extending Kalistan's submarine Patrols into the Central Anantonese Ocean, down to and past Indrala, while boosting Kalistan's sub net nearly into the Artanian Sea.  She speaks frankly about Kalistan's intersts, and doesn't even bother to couch things in diplomatic language.  She has appointed an avowed "Ladies' Man" to be the Ambassador to Luthori, while not hesitating to change terms of long standing agreements to something more along the line of Kalistani National interests.

So we have to ask ourselves:  Is Carolina the "Black-er" Empress?  Carolina's brashness in foreign policy demonstrates that she will take any action, bend any norm, meet with any dictator if she believes it will further Kalistani national Interest.  "The problem with Lourenne flickering off again," said Professor Mica Sorrenson of Kalistani Imperial University in Kaliburg, "is that now Kalistan is free to continue to expand westward and southward.  You already see Her Imperial Majesty getting twitchy over Athosia:  Kalistan has LONG covetted Athosia, and now that Baltisia is utterly defunct as a nation, Athosia is nearly within Kalistan's grasp.  It is the apple that is just outside of her reach.  This fact frustrates this Empress to no end, and she is spoiling for an opportunity to remove any possibility of Communists on Kalistan's border forever."

"Athosia would be the jewel in Empress Carolina's Crown," said Arthur Beckett, of Kaliburg foreign policy think tank Seleyan Overview.  "In many ways, Athosia is a national obsession:  it is a lot like the Beiteynese gems that drive so many nations wild.  The Anantos are obsesses with retaking what they insist is their legacy, because they see it as a unifying factor in Seleya, and to them, a strong North Eastern Seleya can withstand any force on Terra.  But for some reason, whenever the Empress prepares to grasp it, it slips through her fingers, like the ancient story about the Kalopian fellow who served the gods his own son in a stew and then was cursed to live on an island, and every time saw food he would go after it only to find that it had reappeared elsewhere."

There is no telling what Her Imperial Majesty's next steps will be, either as Athosia is concerned, or Andalay, or the land of her birth, Kundrati.  "The situation in Kundrati is very tenuous and poorly defined," said Sorrenson.  "Pavlina would have sought alliances to help contain the situation.  But it looks like Carolina is making moves to oppose it more directly.  She has already given a green light for unfettered sales to Artanian Sellers buying supplies in the ODEN warehouse in Port Davon.  But she has also kicked out the Kundrati diplomatic corps, allowed her family's home to be seized by the Kundratis, and has incited the incoming government of Kundrati on several occasions.  It seems she is spoiling for a fight with the nation of her birth, and its entirely possible that they are looking to take her down a few pegs."

As it stands right now, Her Imperial Majesty is certainly approaching international relations with a forward posture not even seen in the days of Nicolette the Great.  She may be her Kundrati Mother's daughter, but Her Imperial Majesty for more Kalistani now.  She may outdo her mother, affectionately known as the Black Empress,  in terms of accomplishments for this Empire.  At just 38, Carolina has juggled far more than many of her predecessors.  She has already wracked up enough to have fully earned the title she was granted by her adoptive father, the last of the Gaduri branch of the Ananto Family.  For this woman, clothed in absolute authority and immense power, there is no telling what she take on next, but you can already tell it will be monumental.

Is Carolina the "Blacker Empress"?  It's possible.