Kalistani Major History

[Doc]

"Why is Kalistan an Empire?"
Political theorists and Historians gather in National Symposium on Regimes
Kaliburg, Ananto
July 31, 5198


Political Scientists attend workshop on Kalistani Political History at National Regime Symposium this month

"Why is Kalistan an Empire?" was the theme of a Recent Symposium on Regimes held at Kaliburg National University in Kaliburg earlier this month. More that 450 scholars, think tank analysts, and philosophers attended the three day event which featured more than 20 panel discussions on the various aspect of the National Government.

Jill Greenbriar, associate Professor of Political Science at High Bong University in Neveras was the invited Keynote Speaker for the conference, and summed up her speech to the Symposium: "Kalistan has most recently been a fierce advocate of the Republican Tradition, which was formally in place in Kalistan for more than a millennium, under largely Socialist government. However, our ties to Empire stretch further back into the past: So far in fact that Republicanism, though a thousand years old, seems like a newborn compared to the history of the Empire. Our recent experiments with the regime form aim at stability in our body politic, in our economy, and in our government that a Republic, with its electoral and legislative chaos simply cannot provide."

Dr. Greenbriar suggested that when adopting the Institutionalist Agenda, and re-establishing the Imperial Throne, Kalistanis expressed their willingness to trade a meaningless vote for President for continuity in the office. "There was a reaction of course," admitted Greenbriar. "The People thought that empowering a monarch meant that their duties to the society were through. We have discovered over the largely inert reign of Emperor Fredrick, that it is still up to the people to Keep Kalistan from sinking into stagnation and atrophy. I believe the Institutionalists under Empress Elizabeth are beginning to show some signs of life once more, and will take up the charge of revitalization after what has been a four decade long period of 'nothingness'."

Some panels asked a different version of the Question, however; "Why an Empire and not, say a Kingdom, or a Parliamentary Republic?" Dr. Lisa Edwards, of Sulari District University, answered this question in his panel. "Kalistan and Ananto, while welded into one people, over the course of thousands of year of cultural homogenization, have never really been a single political unit. When separatist movements have appeared throughout our history, they either appeared in Ananto, or on the Mainland, but never both. Our National Government has always treated Ananto as somehow separate from the Mainland. And cultural attitudes also bear this out: For example, voters on the mainland tend to be more conservative, and more favorable to larger Government roles in the lives of individuals, while Ananto has a definite libertarian streak. The identification of the Socialist Party with Ananto, ensured that Anantonese priorities governed the Mainland. Music is different, clothing is different, architecture is different, attitudes about the world, language... you name it. Ananto feels a bit wild to those who arrive from Kalistan proper, and Kalistan feels backward compared to the Capital. The political regime therefore respects that difference as it sets up grand duchies in Ananto and Kalistan, and governs them with separate hierarchies under a unified Crown. That is the essential definition therefore of an empire."

Asked if in becoming an empire, Kalistan has made any claims over foreign nations, Historian Larry Sanderson answered "Kalistan's historical claims over former northern Seleyan territories including Lodamun, Gaduridos and Eastern Baltusia have not actively been pursued. Those claims date back to prehistory, and given the state of the modern world, it is doubtful that Kalistan could pursue these claims with any hope of satisfactory resolution. Our longstanding claim over Lourenne is a more modern one which has been thrown about by various nationalistic elements in our Government and especially in our media, but in my research I was unable to ascertain the historical basis for that claim. We do note that the Anantonese Empire once made colonies of Sekowo and Dolgaria, but it is not clear whether we ever had any outposts located in Lourenne, so I had to conclude that those claims to Lourenne specifically are ahistoric."

When Sanderson was asked if Kalistan ever had any plans to expand, he was clear: "There is no indication that Kalistan is an expansionist nation. We have historically been opposed to war which wasn't in defense of our national territory, and do not readily intervene in actions in foreign states. The one thing that is clear, however, is that The Imperial State will continue to insist upon its rights in the Strait, and will never abandon those claims."

All in all, the conference was well attended and shed important light on the current state and function of the Kalistani Government, which hasn't really been discussed at such an elevated level to date, and this insight will provide political observers and social scientists a light of understanding going forward.