Kalistan

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His Imperial Majesty Interviewed in Eveari
Discusses Anantonese Affairs
Eveari, Grand Duchy of Ananto
May 7, 5623


His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Fredrick III Ananto, with Official Interpreter Allison Stuart

One of the most welcomed changes in His Imperial Majesty's more than ten years has been his willingness to speak directly with the Press.  The exclusive Interview with The Kalistani Republic this last week was no exception.  His Imperial Majesty, speaking through his Official Interpreter Alison Stuart, who has served the Royal Family since the early days of His Imperial Majesty's reign, was candid and somewhat humorous, revealing a Monarch in good spirits, and reflecting a newly revitalized mood that is shared by most of the nation.  Here is the interview with His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Fredrick III Ananto, held at Ananto Estate in Eveari.

(Republic's interviewer) T(homas) C(onnelly):  Before I begin I am required to state that upon command of His Imperial Majesty, rules of protocol around addressing the Emperor directly have been waived for the purposes of conducting this interview.

(His Imperial Majesty, Emperor) F(redrick III) A(nanto, speaking through his sign language interpreter and official spokeswoman Allison Stuart):  This is correct, and it is a pleasure for us to meet you today Mr. Connelly.  Welcome to Ananto Estate.

TC:  It is indeed a pleasure to meet His Imperial Majesty today.  This room is quite famous, if I am not mistaken.

FA:  It is.  Many of the photographs we take when we meet with very important people are taken right in this room.  There is a lot of history here.  Ananto Estate has seen so many famous people over the years, very powerful folks, that kind of thing...

TC:  Getting right into the interview, last year was the tenth anniversary of the chemical attacks in Kalistan.  Could His Imperial Majesty give our readers a brief overview of how those attacks changed the nation?

FA:  First of all, we should say they brought our nation together.  We lost many wonderful people that night and in the weeks and months that followed.  There were so many losses, but the flip side of that was that those who survived had a new resolve to rebuild and work together.  It gave our armed forces a new will to fight and complete the war.  One would have to look pretty hard to find a case of resiliency following such horrific events.  We could point to a nation like Xsampa who, not a few years before we suffered our own tragedy, suffered a similarly destructive attack of their own, and first.  So, we could also say that we took a lot of notes from how a country like Xsampa recovered when we were organizing our own efforts.  I'd say Xsampa worked through their suffering, and their example was a model for our own efforts.  And beyond that, it also led us to a recommitment to a world free of weapons of mass destruction.  We have reauthorized the Anti-NBC Treaty which puts Kalistan clearly on the side of opposition to not only the use of weapons of mass death, but also against their possession and development.  It is an important document aimed at a more peaceful world.

TC:  While rebuilding, did Kalistan receive assistance from other nations?

FA:  We didn't see the world rush to our succor the way the world rushed to Xsampa's.  No.  Kalistan was in Xsampa for years.  But...  we handled things on our own, as we usually do.  Xsampa needed the world to band together to help it.  Kalistan would have welcomed assistance, but as in so many other things, the only folks we could count on are other constituent nations of the Anantonese Empire.  Few other nations even acknowledged the attacks, let alone offered any assistance.

TC:  Would His Imperial Majesty say that the response of the world to Kalistan's war against Fascism in Kundrati has colored Kalistan's Foreign Policy?

FA:  It would be difficult to pretend that it didn't.

TC:  Why does His Imperial Majesty feel the world responded differently to Kalistan than they did to Xsampa, or really, to anyone else who would have faced similar attacks?  Why do you think the world was less than enthusiastic about combatting Fascism?

FA:  It is possible that the world didn't understand the fight.  We are sure that, from the perspective of most people in the world, the battle against Fascism was seen as a rabidly evil imperialist power interfering in the internal affairs of another nation, and to many in the world, they figured that if we both kill one another, they will be rid of us both without having to do anything.  So they did nothing.  This is not to say that nobody did anything.  We saw some belated effort by Luthori, but only after Kalistani power was utterly decimated in Artania.  Our Imperial Partners worked with us as well, and we did see some enthusiasm from Alduria toward the war.  But those who were most directly affected by fascism in Kundrati were in fact benefitting from that regime, are probably still benefitting from it, and have no intention of doing anything more than publicly decrying the existence of fascism.  And meanwhile, we even saw some opportunism around the battle taken by some countries, which in our opinion was pretty frustrating--  Kalistan was occupied, so its time for others to take advantage of that situation...

TC:  So more than ten years have passed, and as far as we know, the tentative ceasefire has held this long while.  Where is Kalistan now?

FA:  We have had some initial successes with our regional neighbors, of course.  Naturally, few other nations share our priorities or our interests.  However, with the status quo restored, the Anantonese Constituent Nations are stronger now than even before the war.  New trade reorientation toward Keris has greatly increased the supply of imported goods, while reducing the cost of those goods, which lower prices in our own markets.  Meanwhile, we are directing trade flows out of our region to new markets in Dovani and Southern Seleya.  The disruption of the old trade lines that flowed through Likatonia into Northern Seleya has been a blessing in disguise for member states of the Anantonese Empire, forcing us to no longer rely on old partners and instead seek new partners that increase both efficiency and volume for our trade.  Kalistan probably has more access to foreign consumer goods now that at any time in recent memory.

TC:  Part of that increase is culturally, yes?

FA:  Absolutely.  Kalistan has a bit of a reputation for insularity.  But opening these new avenues of trade, finance, and commerce has also given us the opportunity to send our students abroad to new places, to learn new things, and then to bring that information back to the Empire to improve quality of life here.  The students who have studied abroad not only took classes in the universities and colleges abroad, but also soaked up foreign cultures and acquired foreign tastes, and have brought those back to Kalistan to share with the rest of us.  And it goes without saying that that cultural infusion makes us richer as a people, both broader minded, and more appreciative of new tastes, ideas, and folkways.

TC:  Has His Imperial Majesty had the opportunity to sample the new cultural trends in the Empire?

FA:  Of course!  Take for instance Dovanian food.  Lourennais food has been with us for a long time.  But one hasn't lived until they have eaten Xsampan Momo or Thenthuk.  Not that there really is much mind blowing about the cuisine, but the techniques, the ingredients, the spice palates, they are all so foreign to what we are accustomed to in Kalistan.  And there is a Xsampan restaurant not two miles from Cliff House that we can order food from, started by a one time Xsampan refugee who decided to make Kaliburg his home, and a Kaliburg Imperial University Student who studied Xsampa and fell in love with yak and yoghurt.  Here is an example of not only a cross cultural cooperation, but also one which has increased economic activity in our city.  And that sort of thing has been happening nation wide, for years now.  It's a boom and a very exciting time to live in Kalistan.

TC:  What other ways has the aftermath of the war been good for Kalistan?

FA:  Your readers may not know this, but our Government is spending the peace dividend on improved social infrastructure within our cities.  Not only in Kaliburg, Port Swedes, and Eshar, where significant rebuilding needed to happen due to the destruction, but also in major cities like Sulari, Vrassa City and Yoshimi, we have really made an effort to make yet another concerted effort to upgrade our housing stock.  Before the war, we were seeing homelessness creeping up.  A lot of that was associated with the economic downturn we experienced pre-war, but there were other pressures as well.  Well, following the end of the war, we had a large population of demobilized veterans on our hands as well.  You don't just ask several hundred thousand men and women to go kill the fascists, then bring them back home, shake their hand and throw them out on the street.  A lot of these folks had enlisted for between four and six years.  And suddenly:  there is no war? 

Well, we found work for them by allowing them to continue their service helping those in our nation.  We had them build new housing units for relocating internal refugees, some 250,000 in all, as well as building lots of infrastructure to support those housing units.  And they built them quickly too.  You saw new suburbs spring up in Sulari, in Dana and Gendaris, in Nevaras City.  You name it:  The first homes, which were largely prefabricated, went up within two weeks of the chemical attacks.  They laid sewer pipes, water pipes, electric and fiberoptic cable lines, paved new roads, built new schools, new police and fire stations, new medical clinics and hospitals, then new libraries, new business structures, new bank branches etc etc.  All the services to service the services.  Within two years of the attacks, all the people were housed in new neighborhoods, and reconstruction on the older areas was well underway.

The result of course is that homelessness have been completely eradicated in Kalistan, which is a remarkable feat considering that the homeless rate pre-war was often as high as 1 family in 250 were housing insecure or unhoused.  Those days are completely over.  But we have also increased access to good quality and affordable housing too, by creating a glut in the market that drives prices down for everyone, except landlords, who regrettably for them, are not able to treat housing as a profitable industry any longer:  We should say that in and of itself has resulted in many properties being sold to the National Government, which we can then determine how we wish to utilize that housing as well.

In addition, it has increased access to medical and school facilities to all as well, easing over crowding, long commute and wait times (for Kalistan anyhow) and access to services.  We have been able to streamline our provision of service across the entire Empire, allowing people to better use their time and money for the things they want, rather than the things they used to need to pay for.  And in the process, we were able to create more civic beautification as well, making our cities cleaner, safer and more enjoyable to live in.

War, but more importantly peace, put all those things within our grasp, and has resulted in a noticeably improved quality of living for Kalistani Citizens.

TC:  Has this translated into cultural dividends for Kalistan?

FA:  We are seeing the beginnings of a return to an emphasis on Kalistani Culture as well.  Though our Cultural Minister stresses that as it returns, it may take on a decidedly international flavor for a while.  This is not a problem:  Now that needs are once again being provided for, it is natural for our people to seek diversion and entertainment.

TC:  Has the pivot away from Artanian and Majatran affairs to a more Anantonese Centered policy strained relations with those other countries?

FA:  We have recalled our Ambassador staffs from several Artanian and Majatran Nations as part of this general refocus of affairs, and the FM isn't even sure they have even noticed that we are gone.  We have not met with Artanian or Majatran diplomats in more than a decade, on any matter, so we aren't sure they are even still here either.  So be it:  This sort of neglect of Kalistan abroad is pretty de rigeur for foreign nations, especially those in Artania.  So we'll focus on Anantonese Nations.  We have a number of things to take care of closer to home anyhow.  We would like to still meet the governments in Vorona and Dalibor.  We need to name a new Viceroy for Gaduridos, as our cousin Lady Dana Ananto is ready to retire from public life.  And there is still the matter of Athosia that is still outstanding, which may never be resolved.  We would like to meet with anyone in our sphere, and would like to keep the focus in our region, where we can see a better consonance of interests.

TC:  Speaking of regional partners, how would His Imperial Majesty describe relations with local nations?

FA:  We would say we are on cordial terms with our neighbors.  There are always things that concern Kalistan about Artanian penetration into our region--We are seeing increasing efforts especially by Luthori and Dorvik to increase their presence in the Anantonese Region.  If we felt they were here with good intentions, we would also be open to working with them, but as it is, the motivation of those two nations is usually with the aim of increasing their own profile in a part of the world they don't really belong in, and so we view their overtures with our partners in Dolgava and Egelion with suspicion.  Trigunia, unfortunately, if far too chaotic for Kalistan to engage with at the moment, and it feels that Lourenne, Seko, Baltusia and Kiezenia are more on auto-pilot than anything.  Our best effort for really making improvement in relationships therefore is in Vorona, Dalibor, Egelion and Dolgava, and so this is our focus.

That said, we are also increasing our ties internally as well, with our Constituent Nations.  We wish to deepen existing investments and support in Gaduridos and work with Lodamun to improve cooperation on an number of both commercial and security related initiatives.  We have a unique relationship with these two nations due to our Imperial ties, and the barriers to deepening and expanding cooperation do not exist.

TC:  I thank His Imperial Majesty for speaking with me today.

FA:  It has been a pleasure.  Hopefully you will stay after the interview and have tea with us.  The Empress Consort has told us to ask.  And our Mother would like to join us if this ok.  It is her house, after all.

TC:  It would be an honor.

FA:  It is settled then.

@TheRepublic