Emperor Azeez Launches Full-Scale Invasion of Tropica
February 4412
After building up state forces in Medina even more, after taking control in the infamous Bloodless Revolution just about 18 months ago, Azeez has elected to launch a fresh campaign on a Tropica. Unlike his predecessor, Zaafir, he is not interested in hiding his ambitions: “Tropica flourished under Medinese rule. Under the rule of democracy, it has once again crumbled. This nation deserves to be in Medinese hands, and soon after, we shall unite all of Dovani to our cause, through blood and the pen alike.” The invasion has already begun, though the meagre Tropican forces are unlikely to put up much of a fight and victory is almost certain — many locals even still support the monarchy (or at least are so pessimistic regarding the current state of affairs to support the invasion by default anyhow)!
But what is this cause he speaks of? Well, Azeez has been quietly debuting a new direction for Medina and the continent in terms of ideology of late, and this appears to be only the first step: Colonial Nationalism, as it has been called, is the belief held by Azeez and many of his followers that the first world has left the former colonies for centuries in a state of ruin, with even now many of them bowing to outside influence and rarely being able to compete. Azeez seems to believe that the only way to equalise the world order is to unite Dovani as one and take down anyone who opposes them — moreover, some experts and analysts have suggested that Azeez would likely go further, waging war on the West to ‘take back’ what the colonies have lost, though he is yet to openly admit such things.
To this end, he appears to be interested in reclaiming first and foremost Tropica and Utembo, the two nations formerly under the rule of the Medinese Empire: nations “rightly won and later stolen by the imperialists who fear any colonial development,” but also in uniting with other nations with similar goals. He has already met with Xsampa-Hansen and appears to be ready to sign an alliance with the empire, which would make the colonial alliance a massive power in the third world. There has even been talk of discussions with the new far-right government in Statrica, a nation which Zaafir had once intended to invade and which Azeez himself led a scorched earth campaign in just ten years ago.
As for where we go from there, who could know? With Statrica, Xsampa-Hanzen and Istapali all looking to be solid allies, and Tropica and Utembo likely to soon be sitting under the border of the new Medinese Empire, it’s not unlikely that Azeez will set about building an empire far larger than the one he helped to craft in the past 30 years or so.
This of course has come as quite a surprise: most had expected Azeez to take a similar path to Zaafir, denying imperial ambitions while discretely pursuing the unification of the colonies. But Azeez clearly sees no logic in this: why bother with the façade when it’s what we all expect anyway?
And if we’re honest with ourselves, this is why Medina loves him, is it not? Look at the polls: support for Azeez sits in the 80s, in some cases nearing 90%. And why? Because Azeez has taken Medina, a nation that has settled for a decade with pacifism and slow development, and given them hope, purpose, direction, and he’s done it all unashamedly. Azeez is the only person in recent memory to openly admit to imperial beliefs, something which rather seems to have faded out of fashion in much of the first world (with a few exceptions). He’s the only person alive today who can look out at Dovani, at Terra, and scream from the mountains: ‘One day, this will all be ours,’ and get away with it — no, more than get away with it: it’s precisely what drives his popularity at home and his mythic status abroad. His enemies already fear him, and the more he grows, the more invulnerable he becomes. Why should he hide his ambitions? If it comes to war, so be it: the people trust in Azeez, and Azeez trusts in the people of Medina: unshackled by the chains of Zaafir’s leadership, Azeez is nothing short of a god amongst men in the Eastern hemisphere.
One day, perhaps, Azeez shall topple Lourenne, crush New Endralon, decimate Talmoria. He shall tear apart his enemies and turn the colonies from forgotten nothings to fearsome global powers, sitting on an equal footing with Dorvik or Kazulia. Medina will become not a meagre former colony, but an immortal power ready to shape history with the colonies’ interests in mind. If he has to do this through bloodshed and conquest, it appears to be a reasonable price to pay in the eyes of the Medinese, and so long as he has the Medinese people behind him, Azeez is a figure Terra can no longer simply ignore.