Last updated: March, 2019
Table of Contents
Section 1 - Overview and general notices;
Section 2 - Economic rankings;
Section 3 - Military and projection rankings;
Section 4 - Third world economic, military and projection rankings;
Overview
Around every 4 months the Global Role Play Committee (GRC) drafts a set of rankings to determine the military and economic strength of nations in Particracy. They are based on a review of RP from each nation over the 4 month period and aim to add an extra dynamic to global RP. These rankings are binding for all nations except those nations which have opted-out of the Global Role Play Accord; those nations that opt out of the Global Roleplay Accord will be ranked only upon their return to the GRA, otherwise they will be maintained at the lowest level. The rankings are predominantly a Role Play device, so if you wish to cite them in game/in character please refer to them as: "the Terran Economic and Military Power Lists produced by the Zardic Institute of International Relations".
The GRC has taken steps to attempt to reduce bias and influence of specific opinions on the process. We generally discuss all ranking changes, updates and alterations with each other and attempt to ensure that we are on the same page regarding updates, changes and what not. The GRC, as any players are, are not without bias and we attempt to work things out that there might be bias.
Notice regarding numbers, orders of battle, etc.
Some players have raised concerns regarding the use of numbers in munitions counts and troop compositions to misstate nations' military strength. It is the official policy of the Global Role Play Committee that numbers of troops, ships, aircraft, land vehicles, and strategic weapons should emerge from storytelling and should be used to enhance Role Play. Numbers should never be used as a substitute for Role Play or as an OOC tactic to discourage potential opponents. Rather than listing the number of soldiers or types of equipment your military has, the GRC encourages you to use RP to show what your military can do. Lists of the entire composition of a military are very difficult to maintain and lead to RP becoming an exercise in math rather than a story-telling. While players who wish to use such lists when justified by RP as in the case of Orders of Battle during a live war may continue to do so, the GRC wishes to hereby inform players that such lists and numbers will be ignored by the GRC when compiling Military Rankings. Instead, the GRC will only take into account each nation's quality and quantity of Role Play and Objective Standards like relative Defense Spending.
Notice regarding aircraft carriers, nuclear submarines, nuclear, chemical and biological weapons
The subject of aircraft carriers, nuclear weaponry, and nuclear submarines is a hot topic. It is the GRC's view that aircraft carriers, nuclear weapons, and nuclear submarines are viable (not necessarily likely!) for all nations of Terra so long as their acquisition, maintenance, and use is very well RP'd. In general, we believe Role Play should realistically reflect the prohibitive cost in time and resources required for such strategic armaments. Therefore our guidance and advice is that Great Military Powers and Very Strong Economies should generally experience protracted difficulty when seeking to acquire and maintain such armaments; Regional Military Powers and Strong Economies should generally experience prohibitive costs and delays when seeking to acquire and maintain such armaments; while lesser powers and smaller economies should experience daunting, near-insurmountable challenges when seeking to acquire and maintain such armaments. Acquisition of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons from rogue powers and Black Market sources may reduce acquisition costs if realistically Role Played, but such sources generally should not in any way reduce the prohibitive maintenance costs associated with these armaments.
Notice regarding production of military equipment
While the GRC understands that certain cultures in-game might relate to real-life cultures, countries are not bound to produce their nation's specific equipment. While the GRC recommends and encourages player to foster realistic RP, the GRC does not currently bind cultural groups and players to production of specific military equipment.