Leaders in Profile: Sedge

It is inevitable within an organisation such as the Founderless Regions Alliance that there are many different perspectives on what contitutes a leader. However any alliance or region has its most active, dedicated and respected players. Over the next few weeks the Norfolk n' Chance Standard will be interviewing a number of the rising 'leaders' of the F.R.A. and its member regions. We begin with Sedge of Global Right Alliance, the newly elected Arch-Chancellor and long respected member of the F.R.A.

Chin-Chillas: "Good Afternoon Sedge, thank-you for agreeing to be interviewed for the first edition of our Leaders in Profile series. You are the current leader of the Founderless Regions Alliance, and you also play a part in the currently rebuilding Global Right Alliance among other regional affiliations, perhaps you would like to explain what some of these roles are in more detail and what they mean to you?"

Sedge: "Well in regards to the Founderless Regions Alliance, I'm the Arch Chancellor. I don't think the role has ever been clearly been defined, but its something between being a 'leader' of the alliance, and a general organiser. Since ultimate power within the F.R.A. lies with the Regional Assembly, I wouldn't call myself a leader, but I do have a few defined powers. I'm actually hoping that the [ongoing] charter review will help to clear this situation up. As for what the job means to me - well I personally think that my skills don't lie in any one particular area like Foreign Affairs, Military Affairs, or Intel, rather I work better as a general leader. Its a position I had experience with (though with much less success) in the COFR. Also, I feel like I slightly let people down when I retired from NationStates and the Arch Chancellorship in February, and I'd like to show that I can do the job well. Most importantly, though, its about improving the FRA - we made great strides under the leadership of Northern Chittowa last year, and Sir Lans helped to consolidate this, but I think that we're still weak in certain areas, though the current Cabinet has done an impressive job so far.

As for the Global Right Alliance, I'm currently dictator of the region (at least for the next week). We have a novel system whereby every member gets a week as dictator of the region, and although we've only had it for a few days so far (I'm the second dictator), it seems to be working well. My 'theme' for my dictatorship, is a religious theocracy, with the GRA being the 'Church of the GRA', and the admin team set up as the 'Holy Trinity'. I think the job is a chance for me to prove to some people in the GRA that I'm a decent leader (I've only ever dealt with Foreign Affairs and Intel within the GRA), and I'm hoping my recruitment efforts can win us the Regional Recruitment Contest. Finally, as I have the power to 'Gulag' people for up to 3 days, its a good chance for me to get my revenge on certain people..."

CC: "You mention your belief that the F.R.A. remains weak in certain areas despite the efforts of former Arch-Chancellors Northern Chittowa and Sir Lans, no doubt you have something more specific in mind. Could you elaborate on where these areas are and what you think can be done to improve them under your leadership?"

Sedge: "I would put the three main areas of weakness as Foreign Affairs, Regional Recruitment, and Regional Development. The Foreign Affairs department has struggled against a lack of ambassadors for a long time. Gateborg often had to spend several hours of his time posting updates around NationStates, which in my view is too much to ask of one person. Our Regional Recruitment Efforts in the last term were hampered by Neasmryna having to concentrate on Military Affairs (particularly after taking over as CoDF from Falconias), and as such very few regions were approached. Regional Development has never really taken off with the FRA, in my view a great disappointment, as it should be what sets us apart from other defender organisations.

I'd like to make clear that I am not blaming any specific person for these failures - generally, the failures are to do with a lack of interest in these areas (compared to more glamourous areas like the Rangers and Intel department), which led to a lack of volunteers to help the Ministers in charge of these departments.

However, I think we're seeing great progress in these areas since the elections. The Merlion and Drop Your Pants have sorted out the ambassador assignments, so that no-one has too many, Big Killer Babys is working on approaching regions from our target list, and Pope Lexus X looks like being the first successful Regional Development Minister. Most of the responsibility for improving these areas lies with the Cabinet members that head up the department, rather than with me, and as such they deserve the credit for improving their departments. I guess the most important way of further improving these areas is to change peoples' priorities, so that new members don't just apply for the Rangers, and leave it at that. Foreign Affairs, Regional Recruitment and Regional Development can be enjoyable, and are a great way of helping others in NS, and I hope we can build on the success of the last few weeks."

CC: "That certainly sounds like a fairly new change in focus for the alliance. We've already touched upon your recent absence from both the F.R.A. and NationStates scene as a whole. What qualifies you - given your recent absence - to drive the F.R.A. organisation in these new directions? What would you say to those nations that would accuse you of being out-of-touch with the current NationStates climate because of your only recent return from retirement? Would you agree that there even have been climatic changes across NationStates since then?"

Sedge: "I think that too much has been made of my time out of NationStates. I don't believe there were many massive changes within NS during my time away - certainly the crisis in The North Pacific ended with 'The Crimson Order' collapsing, but other than than that, and a few minor changes like the switchover to the World Assembly, I didn't miss too much.

Moreover, I have been extremely active within NS since returning, and have made sure I caught up with what I missed, firstly by talking to people, and secondly by reading nearly every thread that was posted during my absence. Additionally, I have in fact been active on the F.R.A. forums for the last 2 months, even if I only offially un-retired in mid June.

Finally, I don't see myself as having lost any of the skills I previously had in NS, and I think these continue to serve me well."

CC: "Your plans for the upcoming term seem to include a large investment of time and minds into the benefit of the alliance and her allies in NationStates 1 [NS1] only. However, one of the latter points of your platform for the Arch-Chancellorship included the possible consideration of both the impacts for the F.R.A. following the long anticipated release of NationStates 2 [NS2] and if any preparation for this should be made by the alliance. Do you have any specific predictions of your own or any opinions on the preparation (if any) to be undertaken by the F.R.A? Do you think the F.R.A. should try and expand into NationStates 2 once it's released?"

Sedge: "I personally think that NationStates 1 will continue to thrive when NS2 is released, and possibly even gain from its launch. I believe the main area of debate for us is whether we expand into NS2, or stick with NS1. It is inevitable that if we don't create an NS2 F.R.A., someone will, and it might be better for us to have control of this organisation than someone else. Moreover, several of our member regions may 'convert' to NS2 (or at least get involved in it), which might put pressure on us doing so. However, I don't think we can make a decision until we know more about the NS2 game mechanics - certainly Alliances will be an important part of the game, but they will probably be different to the way multi-regional alliances work in NS1. If it is possible for an F.R.A-type organisation to operate in NS2, I think we should create one, but it may require a separate forum, separate members of staff, and a different charter."

CC: "Leaving aside the endless speculation one could enjoy at the prospect of the release of NationStates 2. Would you care to comment on some of the high profile developments in NationStates over the last few weeks? For example, the recent revelation that the death of Bromannikha of the Last Kingdom was allegedely faked among other things."

Sedge: "My opinion is, and always has been that Bromannikha didn't die. At first, I based it on hunch - most NS players (particularly high-profile people like Brom) don't die, and there have been examples of deaths being faked before, but having seen certain evidence, I now have good reasons to believe that he is not dead. I don't think that anyone has come out of this affair well. Brom, and the other members of TLK who claimed he was dead, have destroyed what reputation they have. Swarm still invaded a region whose founder he believed was dead, and his actions are still disgusting. I know little of Lady Blue Moon's involvement, but Swarm's attempts to blame her for everything are not convincing. I am glad that several members of the Neo Genesis Movement have seen Swarm for who he truly is, but its surprising they took so long.

Finally, I want to make clear that these are my own personal opinions, and not the F.R.A.'s, and moreover, that the F.R.A. has no business in these affairs."

CC: "Indeed. Well this has certainly been an interesting and insightful interview, thanks for your time. We like to leave those we interview with a blank page of sorts to discuss with readers any projects they're involved with or issues they feel deserve some attention or recognition. Does anything spring to your mind?"

Sedge: "Thanks. I would like to say a thing or two about our founder regions, North Pacific, Jethnea, and Global Right Alliance. I mentioned them in my manifesto when I said that I felt it was about time we helped to get them active again, and I'd like to emphasize this. Until a few weeks ago, our founder regions had sunk into a state of inactivity. In my view, the reason for this is that when the F.R.A. was first founded, the leading members of our founder regions (Big Killer Babys, Northern Chittowa, Dipes, The Merlion et al.) all devoted their time to the F.R.A, building it up into the organisation it is now. This meant that they couldn't contribute so much time to their home regions, leading to them becoming less active.

I feel that this means that the F.R.A. is in debt to our founder regions, and that we have a duty to help re-build them. I know that all 3 of them are becoming active again, but I'd like to urge F.R.A. members who have some spare time to consider visiting one of them (though I would advise only those with a large amount of self-confidence visit the GRA), and helping out, even if this involves just posting occasionally in discussions."

Norfolk n' Chance Standard would like to thank Sedge again for sparing some time to be interviewed for this series. We wish him all the best of luck for the upcoming term.

Charter Review

Due to the discovery of several gaps, flaws, and loopholes in the FRA Charter, we are currently holding a review of it. Each of the eight articles will be examined in detail, and any problems will be fixed. One or two new articles may be added, and in particular, a Court System will be debated. The document will then be looked at as a whole, and possibly re-organised slightly.

Regional representatives are urged to take part, since the Charter is a vitally important document. The debate is taking place in the Regional Assembly, and is estimated to last several weeks (possibly up to 2 months), but since each article is being examined in turn, constant participation is important.

If you have any questions about the process, please contact me (Sedge) on the FRA forums.