Simulation: Soft Nation-States

Historical Background
Just like the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648 formally established the nation-state, the 2021 Compact of Chiapas dissolved nation-states in the Western Hemisphere and replaced them with soft-state nations. Some soft-state nations were market states, others were cause states, but the large majority of the population belong to religious states. The market states are far wealthier than the rest, and they are the only ones that require wrist chip implants for citizenship.

Only one market state, the Broker Guild, officially recognizes cause nations as states. Citizens of cause nations must therefore arrange all trade with the other market states through the Broker Guild. Broker Guild currency is all metal based (with Titanium, Gold and Silver as the base), whereas the other market states use e-currency and the religious states utilize varying forms of exchange.

This initially caused significant conflict, until the Peoples’ Region of China (most of Asia including Siberia through Australia and Japan through Pakistan and Kazakhstan) annexed Hawaii and set it up as a major staging arena for future expansion in 2031. The United States of Europe was formed in direct response to similar annexation of Turkey by China the same year, and the soft-state nations of North America met in Phoenix to establish a the North American Defense & Trade Alliance Coalition (NADTAC).

This created a joint Defense Ministry, combining the military assets of the soft-nation states covering the boundaries of the old Canada, United States, Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Cuba, Haiti, and Bermuda. The Trade Ministry, which was established at the same time has had little success in seven rounds of talks of the ensuing 21 years. But the Defense Ministry, headed by the Director of Security, has consolidated military control to deal with emergencies. The Security Council can grant or deny him powers, and consists of Delegates from each soft-nation state.

Fictional Scenario
The year is 2052, and you are a Delegate of the Security Council. Specifically, you serve as ambassadors from your nation. For delegations, please view the pdf document (download link below).

This morning at 7:50 a.m. Denver Standard Time a fusion nuclear explosion wiped out all life on the Galapagos Islands. The warhead was launched from Mainland China, and a huge flotilla left China three days ago with a trajectory toward the islands. Satellite intel confirms that the flotilla is a military forward base establishment team, with likely intention of a forward staging area for Chinese expansion into the Latin States of America (from Guatemala through the southern tip of Chile and including all of South America except Brazil—Brazil is part of the United States of Europe).

An Emergency Session has been called in Denver, the site of the NADTAC Headquarters. You will decide which powers, if any, to grant the Director of Security. You will meet next Tuesday at 6 p.m., and your decision must be made by 8:00 p.m. Your vote will be binding. The Director of Security is (name an experienced participant here), from the Banking Guild.

Exhibit: Constitution of the North American Defense and Trade Alliance Coalition

Section I: The Alliance
A. The Alliance shall consist of all signatory nations and any amended nations. The Alliance shall go into effect with the signatures of five signatory nations [completed in 2031].
B. Any nation wishing to leave the Alliance may do so with a 2/3 vote of their national legislative decision-making body, regardless of local constitutional stipulations to the contrary.
C. Nations leaving the Alliance forfeit all of their Citizens in the military, who then may choose another nation within the Alliance. No nation is required to accept the Citizenship of any Military member. If no nation will accept a member, the member may choose Citizenship in one of the following Guilds: Microsoft Guild, the General Commercial Alliance, the Banking Guild, or the Broker Guild. All military members will sign and take an oath to revoke their nation if it leaves the Alliance. Any military personnel breaking this order will be subject to Treason proceedings adjudicated by the Central Court.
D. The Director of Security may draft any essential personnel into the military within 10 days of a nation leaving the Alliance, and those persons will have their Citizenship changed to the one of the nations listed by name in Item C.

Section II: Security and Defense
E. Each nation shall maintain its own national security. The Ministry of Defense shall only be given power to oversee regional security for North America when granted powers by the Security Council. The Security Council shall consist of two Ambassadors from each member nation, and shall meet at least quarterly each year to discuss, plan, oversee and vote on any security and defense needs.
F. The Security Council shall have the authority to set its budget and levy taxes, with majority approval of Parliament.
G. The Director of Security shall be appointed to a six year term by a minimum of a sixty percent vote of the Security Council, but shall not serve as a member of the Council while serving as Director of Security.
H. The Director of Security shall attend all Security Council Meetings but will not have a vote at said meetings.
I. The Council may vote the following powers to the Director of Security:

* a. Peacetime Authority. Each nation will maintain its own security and law enforcement, and the Director of Security will have the power to run a full intelligence service, assess threats and develop plans and budgets to prepare for, train, and respond to them. The budgets must be approved by a majority of the Council and a majority of Parliament.
* b. Project Authority. The Council may give the Director of Security special powers for a given project. This grant of authority must be in written form and outline the exact powers, intent, limits and timing of the project—which shall never exceed six months. On the day exactly 180 days from the date Project Authority is granted, Project Authority shall be revoked and all powers given for the Project shall be ended.
* c. Emergency Authority: In the case of a serious national emergency, the Security Council may grant by sixty percent or higher vote that the Director of Security have full command of all existing militaries and law enforcement personnel of all NADTAC nations for 180 days, to act as commander in chief until the end of 180 days. The Security Council may extend this for another 180 days with a majority approval of Parliament. It the extension does not occur, command authority shall revert to the respective nations. Parliament may revoke Emergency Authority with a three-fourths vote of the entire body.

Section III: Trade and Commerce
J. Each nation shall send two members, popularly elected by the majority of Citizens, as their representatives in Parliament. Each member shall serve a two year term.
K. Parliament may pass general trade laws and regulations for the general commerce. All commerce laws must receive a sixty percent or higher majority.
L. Laws shall be enforced by national governments.

Section IV: Adjudication
M. The Security Council shall appoint one person from each nation to serve on the Central Court for a term of ten years.
N. The Central Court may rule on any case arising within the Alliance.
O. Court Rulings shall be enforced by the local nations. No NADTAC forces will ever be used to enforce any Court ruling.

Section V: Amendment
P. This Constitution may be amended only by the unanimous vote of the Security Council and a majority vote of Parliament.
[Ratified in 2031.]

Amendments to the Constitution of 2031:

* Amendment 1: The Central Court will only rule on cases after the highest national court of a nation has ruled or in a case concerning a dispute between nations. [Ratified in 2033.]
* Amendment 2: Jurisdiction of national law enforcement shall be determined by the Central Court. The Director of Security shall have the power, upon a writ from the Central Court, to use NADTAC forces to intervene in violations of jurisdictional lines and enforce the law, providing that two-thirds of Parliament agrees. [Ratified in 2039.]
* Amendment 3: No Citizen of a nation shall be required to join the religion of another nation, regardless of jurisdiction authority in a given locale. No person shall be discriminated against by a nation on the basis of national Citizenship within another jurisdictional boundary. The aforementioned notwithstanding, a person may not break national dietary, sumptuary, dress, or religious laws with a jurisdiction simply because the person is not a Citizen of that jurisdiction. Persons breaking such laws may not be incarcerated or corporeally punished; fines and levies are the only legal penalties to such illegal actions. Persons breaking such laws for moral or religious reasons will have all fines reduced by half. [Ratified in 2041.]
* Amendment 4: Laws passed by Parliament may be enforced by NADTAC forces if authorized by a three-fourths of the Security Council and sixty percent or more of Parliament. [Ratified in 2041.]
* Amendment 5: Parliament may levy taxes on nations as needed, with a majority vote. The Banking Guild shall be exempt from all taxes thus levied. [Ratified in 2041.]
* Amendment 6: The Banking Guild shall be exempt from Amendment 3. [Ratified in 2046.]
* Amendment 7: The Security Council may extend Project Authority or Emergency Authority with a majority vote within five days of the ending date of powers granted. The Parliament may only revoke powers with a forty percent vote of the Security Council. [Ratified in 2047.]
* Amendment 8: The Director of Security may not serve more than one term, nor may Security Council members serve more than three consecutive terms or four terms total. Banker Guild Ambassadors are exempt from this Amendment. [Ratified in 2047.]

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