Dankuk is Insane, Hawu-Kazul Relations Must be Reassessed, and Dorvik Tried to Cover-Up True Motives in Kurageri says Minister of Defence'The Free Kingdom must and will recover its leading role in global affairs' says Defence Minister Wilburn Battersby Hamšemesses as he sits down for a wide-ranging interview with The Daily Scribe
Aqqak --
Foreign policy hardliners have increasingly scored victories as the Morrison Administration deepens its engagements in Dovani. But in a Cabinet of heavyweights, banking executive-turned-Minister of Defence Wilburn Battersby Hamšemesses stood out from the pack with a string of no-nonsense pronouncements in recent months that have put foes and allies alike on the back foot. Boipelo Zola Akhenhboui-Richardson, Editor-at-Large of
The Daily Scribe, traveled to the Kharabai Executive Building for an interview with the man many view as the President's voice on foreign policy.
The Daily Scribe wrote:Minister Battersby, thank you for joining The Daily Scribe for this interview.
Minister Battersby wrote:Thank you very much, glad to do it.
The Daily Scribe wrote:Mr. Minister, the latest reports indicate that the Kazulian and Dankuk governments are prepared to sign a peace agreement. There have been no reports of Hawu Mumenhes engaging the fight in Dankuk following your deployment order. What is the status of Hawu soldiers in the region?
Minister Battersby wrote:Our soldiers are still there. We had already planned to deploy some assets to the region to link up with Talmoria for war game training exercises before the Kazul-Dankuk war broke out. So all we've done is shift our plans slightly and used some of our ships in the region to transport a brigade of Talmorian infantrymen to the North Anantonese. We're gonna wait there 'til this peace treaty is formally concluded. And then we need to speak with the Kazulian government. The Imperial forces in the region were prepared to disembark but Kazulia asked us to hold. Now you'll remember this was the second time during this conflict that Kazulia asked us to hold -- the first time was during the evacuation of Hawu personnel and other foreign nationals. We had reservations both times but we agreed to wait because in this case we are there as allies and guests of the Kazulian government. This is their conflict and we don't have any hostile intent in this area, so we were willing to hold off in these two cases because we are respectful of Kazulia's right to take the lead in their own backyard. But we're not thrilled about it and the Kazulian government knows that. They have a way of proceeding as if global affairs can be conducted in a vacuum, in a bottle. But they can't. International affairs occurs in the world, and in that world, when you have relationships with other countries, when other countries trust you to secure their citizens and their assets, only but so far can you afford to be defensive about allowing other countries to defend their interests.
The Daily Scribe wrote:What was the strategic objective of the Empire's deployment?
Minister Battersby wrote:What we needed to do in North Dovani was simply to make a show of force, a show strength. And the reason is that there are alot of Hawu companies and alot of Hawu citizens doing business day to day in Kazulia including on the border between Kazulia and Dankuk. The problem in this case was that Dankuk has been threatening to deploy Weapons of Mass Destruction across the border. So we wanted to get in there quickly and get any Hawu and Imperial citizens out of harms way. That was the first objective. The second objective was to protect our corporate and economic assets in the region and also protect any personal property owned by Hawu nationals in Kazulia. The fact is insurance payments can only do so much. Hundreds of millions of Drahmes have already been lost due to the work stoppage caused by the war. If our companies' properties and capital equipment near that border had been damaged or destroyed, or if Dankuk had actually deployed nuclear or chemical munitions, much of the economic activity in the region would have been just irreplaceable to put it bluntly. So the idea that the Kuzalian government is stepping in and telling its foreign allies, 'no, no, please don't intervene in our little skirmish, please don't mess up our little war,' that's understandable to a degree, but they got the balance of interests wrong in this case. And the consequence is that there's going to have to be a reassessment of relationships here.
The Daily Scribe wrote:Are you saying the Administration is considering reducing ties with Kazulia?
Minister Battersby wrote:What I'm saying is that The Free Kingdom's citizens, The Free Kingdom's companies, and The Free Kingdom's economy were all put at severe risk during this conflict. The Kazulian World Congress ambassador just gave a speech a few weeks ago where he said he and his government consider themselves to be in hostile territory in the region. And he's not exaggerating. I mean the stuff coming out of Dankuk lately has been really over the top, crazy stuff. So the idea that Hawu Mumenhes is going to be present in the region to do business because of our historically friendly relations with the Kazulians, that's well and good. But then when risks and tensions start to boil over, for the Kazulian government to show a lack of trust and confidence in the historical friendship of our countries and to really insult the expertise and professionalism of our foreign and military policies, it really does require us to reassess. So that's why we're still there. The war's basically over, the Kazulians haven't told us their longer term strategic plans, they say the plans are strewn around in transcripts from various strategy sessions. But as far as this engagement, Dankuk's ambassador has said they'll agree to the ceasefire. So things will quiet down a bit. But only for a while. The two provinces Kazulia grabbed obviously can't stay with Kazulia forever. It won't be long before Vanuku and Indrala start to feel shown up and feel the need to make a point by helping recover those provinces for Dankuk. And then we're right back in the same situation for Hawu Mumenhes. So we're obviously going to have to take a serious look at whether we want our citizens, our companies, and our economy to have such unacceptable risks placed on them while at the same time being told that they don't want us to act in protection of our people. That obviously can't be allowed.
The Daily Scribe wrote:And why did the administration ultimately decide to abide by Kazulia's wishes to keep Imperial forces offshore during the war?
Minister Battersby wrote:Because if we had gone onshore it would mean a de facto declaration of war against Kazulia. That was never what we were out for. Our relationship with Kazulia has never been perfect, it's never been everything we desired. And that's not all Kazulia's fault by a long shot. But the Hawu-Kazul relationship has always been at the very least transactional, and it's always had a minimum amount of professionalism and stability about it. You can't say that about most diplomatic relationships throughout Terra. Relations tend to be highly variable, governments come and go in the blink of an eye, alliances shift as quickly as day to day, and most governments are riven with gross incompetence. At least with the Kazulians we could always say that there was clear intentionality, there was some longterm stability to its strategic positioning, and there were some lines it wouldn't cross in terms of maintaining a professional diplomatic service and a professional foreign policy. So we were willing to look the other way and forgive alot of the caginess. But this one's different because you've got insane people next door who're threatening to gas and nuke our citizens.
The Daily Scribe wrote:It sounds like the Morrison Administration expects this problem to reoccur in the future. How does it plan to address the issue if it arises again?
Minister Battersby wrote:Well look, like you said, it's the Morrison Administration, not the Battersby Administration. I'm just the Defence Minister, so I'm not gonna get out ahead of the President and my colleagues. But I can say this: if Hawu companies remain in Kazulia (and that's a big if), and if another threat like this arises, we're going in. We won't wait. So the Kazulian government is going to have to come to terms with that, and we're going to have to agree on a way to make security work in that region.
The Daily Scribe wrote:Let's go a little further afield if we can, Mr. Minister. We've been focusing on North Dovani, but the administration has been engaging more and more throughout the Dovani continent. It used to be that the foreign policy establishment focused its sights on Majatra and Seleya to a lesser degree. But in recent months, all the news has been out of Dovani. Is the Morrison Administration fashioning a doctrine that centralizes Dovani in Hawu foreign policy?
Minister Battersby wrote:Yes and no. The first important point is that alot of this engagement you're seeing pop off is really the result of happenstance. It was by happenstance that Kazulia finally decided to confront the Dankuk threat. It was by happenstance that the Kuraberi government decided now was the time to do political reform and infrastructure growth. It was by happenstance that the new Talmorian Chief of Government has prioritized foreign policy and military reform, and it was by happenstance that Statrica broke out into civil war a few decades ago. So these were all cases where The Free Kingdom had to engage because Hawu and Imperial interests were implicated. There's also a situation in Dovani where one-party states and very narrow and small elites tend to predominate. What that means from a foreign policy perspective is that it's simply just quicker and easier to get in, get an agreement signed, and then get it implemented. With Terra's other 58 countries, things often move alot slower and things tend to be more hemmed in by geographical, historical, and political constraints that most of the Dovani governments just don't have to deal with. So under those circumstances you're gonna see alot more volume coming out of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in particular because more business can get done in a shorter amount of time. So that's the no.
The yes is that the President made a commitment during his first campaign and has demonstrated during his time in office that The Free Kingdom must and will recover its leading role in global affairs. Look at the things that have happened since Hawu administrations started placing foreign policy on the back burner: the World Congress, so much of whose founding ethos was conceived, developed, and implemented by Hawu Mumenhes, is now moribund. Governments ignore it, governments dismiss it, governments lambaste it, and governments laugh at it. And look at how global affairs and international security have spun out of control as a result -- it's like some old Rutanian wild west movie. Nuclear proliferation crises have been recurrent and have repeatedly brought Terra to the brink of disaster. Economic catastrophe has threatened the entire globe on more than one occasion. Radical ideological movements have taken root swiftly and deeply in dozens of country's world wide. And Esinsundu countries are again at risk of being viewed as play things by the criminal, the insane, and the slack-witted, those of moral and mental impoverishment. All of this is what happens when the righteous, when the good words, and when the justified withdraw from the world. And so President Morrison took a decision that the current international system is not a sustainable one because it does not guarantee the Taphmēi, the balance, and the order that are the birthright, destiny, and charge of humanity. It has always been the light of Cobura, the Arkhē, that has led the way out of catastrophe, disorder, and turpitude. With the wretched now residing in the bosom of the Arkhē, it falls to us, the righteous of Mumenhes and the pleasers of the Perfect Gods, to light the world on their behalf. Dovani provides us the most ready opportunity to begin that work. So that's the yes.
The Daily Scribe wrote:And what about Talmoria? There have been reports that the Singhateh government also plans to engage more directly in Dovani. Does this mean that Dovani will become the primary focus of the entire Empire?
Minister Battersby wrote:Well Talmoria has even more urgent interests than we do in the region. When the Statrican civil war broke out, one of the reasons Federationists pushed the Sasmew Administration to engage was that the war was right on Talmoria's border. And in fact most of Statrica's citizens are ethnically Talmorian. So the instability in the region is just placing Talmoria in the position of an almost existential crisis. So they have to engage. Also the greatest number of Esinsundu men and women reside in the Dovani continent. And with more and more non-Esinsundu contemplating criminal activity in the region, the Empire's natural role as guarantor of Esinsundu interests just requires that all corners of the Empire engage. Now, Talmoria has the added challenge of some fairly complex and time-consuming domestic politics. So there are alot of times where the Talmorian officials are simply unavailable to participate in some international incidents and transactions. But now that the Empire has been restored, that's going to be less of a challenge, because even when the Talmorian officials are unavailable, The Free Kingdom will be able to act in their stead on behalf of the Empire.
The Daily Scribe wrote:Can I ask you about a specific Dovani incident? The headlines were full of news out of Kurageri last month. And of course it all culminated in a very large infrastructure partnership being approved by the Gathering at the end of October. But the Morrison Administration's engagement in Kurageri began with a diplomatic spat between Aqqak and Haldor. Are Hawu-Dorvish relations entering a cold period?
Minister Battersby wrote:Well frankly Hawu-Dorvisch relations have always been distant. From our side we've always observed that the Dorvisch seem to eye us across the table but never approach. There have been a fair number of Dorvik officials over the centuries who have even questioned The Free Kingdom's very existence. So that's not a great basis for productive engagement. On the other hand, The Free Kingdom has tended to avoid crossing paths with Dorvik and much of the Artanian continent. The saying within the Hawu foreign policy establishment has long been "in Artania, but not of it," meaning that The Free Kingdom's interests have always drawn it out into the world while Artania's interests often degenerate to the level of tribalism concerning which of three or four countries should be able to claim primus inter pares. Because of our particular historical trajectory, the Free Kingdom has never had a stake or interest in those parochial disputes and Hawu have always viewed them rather disdainfully and dismissively. And so as a result we just don't tend to cross paths with the Artanian governments as much as we otherwise might. This thing with the Kurageri elections kind of illustrates the point: we had to travel half a world away to meet our neighbors, the Dorvisch.
Now as far as whether we're entering a cold period, the balance of interests still remain unclear. Let's look at what happened in this case. The Dorvik foreign ministry wanted to send in a platoon or a company of soldiers, a military force, to enforce the law in someone else's country. Okay, full stop. That crosses a line. And it seemed to me that whoever was managing arrangements from the Kurageri side was so happy to have some foreign engagement that they were just going to let it happen unremarked. And on top of the little military occupation they had planned, they wanted to insert their people as kind of appeals court judges in case of discrepancies in the ballot count. Okay, stop again. To call that absurd is generous. Now, when we spoke up about it the Dorvik foreign minister basically showed their hand because instead of challenging us on any factual basis she instead said she 'felt threatened,' which is a classic ploy deployed by a certain type of person when they're in the process of committing wrongdoing. So the gig was up, and mission accomplished as far as we were concerned because the next reports out of Haldor said that they had greatly dialed back their plan even though the Dorvisch newspaper editor tried to save face for them by claiming in the headline that they had changed basically nothing. The truth was they changed almost everything due to our objection and our assets in the region which give us the capacity to enforce our objections.
When the infrastructure partnership was announced, they trot out their president to heighten the rhetoric with claims of 'Hawu aggression.' Okay, this is international politics, foreign policy, global affairs we're talking here, not a housewife's lies to a meter-maid to cover up whatever scheme she has going. Aggression in global affairs has a particular and technical meaning. For us, it is a term of art, and for the Dorvik government to repeatedly float this kind of language to dramatize a minor diplomatic incident to try to cover up their true motives shows the caliber of governance we're dealing with here.
The Daily Scribe wrote:And what does the administration view as Dorvik's true motives?
Minister Battersby wrote:They want to economically capture Kurageri so they can lay claim to international influence and play a larger role in the great game. Look, it's a non-starter in the Esinsundu countries. The Empire is going to oppose Dorvik and any other comers every step of the way. Fair trade, fine. Alliances, maybe. Occupation, no. Neo-colonialism, no. Regime change, forget it. Invasion, don't even think about it. The Dorvik government was simply disappointed and a bit surprised to be so handily shown up. That's why when our companies beat out theirs for Kurageri's first highway project, they claimed Hawu officials were being 'aggressive.' They had nothing else. Their game had been revealed and they wanted to deflect and save face.
The Daily Scribe wrote:Does this forestall any relationship between Hawu Mumenhes and Dorvik?
Minister Battersby wrote:No, not necessarily. Not if they're willing to stop the criminal conspiracies, not if they're willing to forswear any attempts to destabilize sovereign governments. Look, we believe The Free Kingdom and Dorvik should have good relations. Just like we believe that in the case of Luthori, and Dundorf, and even Rutania, despite the fact that the Rutanian government has completely lost the script. We don't think it's healthy for international stability for so many Artanian countries to be walled off in their little corners with their own parochial interests. Terra is an open and active place and Artania needs to engage healthily with that. That can't happen if we're not engaged across our borders. And so that's why President Morrison just like all the Hawu Presidents before him has chosen to retain The Free Kingdom's membership in the Artanian Union. It's broken, it's moribund, it's in dire need of fundamental reform. But it's an opportunity. And it's simply a matter of whether the governments in the other capitols have the competence to recognize and act on the opportunity. And Dorvik can and should be an example of that. But that can't happen when Dorvik politicians would rather entertain delusions of grandeur in Dovani and fly thousands of miles to Kuga rather than fly a hop and a skip to Aqqak to build a genuine and serious relationship closer to home. I'm optimistic that that can happen. We've had some back channel contact with them, so at least the lines of communication have been opened. All it would take is for Kilburg to visit President Morrison on his way home, and I think things would be on their way to normalized relations. If the Dorvisch want it. It's up to them.
The Daily Scribe wrote:Mr. Minister, before we go I'd like to ask you about some domestic politics. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jibril Turner used to be a big name in your party and was at one time tipped as a candidate for President. His star seems to have fallen so far that there are now suggestions in the media that President Morrison may turn the Minister out of office. Is the President considering such a move?
Minister Battersby wrote:Minister Turner is a colleague, he's my friend, I've known the man for years and he's no joke, he's the real deal. He's an integral part of the Administration and key to pushing the Morrison agenda and the Hawu Miracle forward. But we all serve at the pleasure of the President. So who's to say when or whether the decision might be taken that it's best for Hawu interests to have changes in government. I don't know and I certainly wouldn't want to second guess the President.
The Daily Scribe wrote:What about your own future, Mr. Minister? You have an interesting trajectory having spent a career in finance and corporate management and now serving as Minister of Defence. Some commentators say that your strong and forceful performance in recent months puts you in line to succeed the President.
Minister Battersby wrote:Look we obviously needed to reorient our priorities and reassert Hawu leadership following the Sasmew administration and even the Chandler administration to a lesser extent. And so that's why when the President asked me to serve, I didn't hesitate. My interest and intention has always been to do what's best for our people and for our country. That's what I did in banking. That's what I did business. And that's what I've tried to do in government. That's my only motivation and I don't have plans to do anything else.
The Daily Scribe wrote:Speaking of finance, you and Minister of Finance Julia Warren-Mhaule were lead players in the plan to launch the Global Stock Exchange. Has that plan been shelved, and if not, when can we expect an opening bell?
Minister Battersby wrote:The opening bell is coming. Everything has gone precisely to plan, all the ground work is laid. The only issue is that because this will be an international exchange, the obligations to make everything clear, simple, and fast are higher. So we're having to cross every T and dot every I to guarantee that truly anyone from any part of Terra can walk into or dial up the GSE, make their trades, and watch their dreams come true.
The Daily Scribe wrote:Thank you, Mr. Minister.
Minister Battersby wrote:It's been a pleasure.
January 4371