The Resurgent Dream

Confederated Peoples of the Resurgent Dream
Motto: Multis e gentibus vires
Anthem: River of my People
Capital	New Amsterdam
Languages	English (de facto official); Amharic, Arabic, Chinese, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hawaiian, Hindi, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Quenya, Scots Gaelic, Spanish, Vietnamese and Welsh have over a million speakers; numerous other indegenous and immigrant languages spoken by smaller groups
Government Head of the Commonwealth Confederal President	Democratic Confederation Owain ap Cunedda Henri Calvin
Founding Settlement High Kingdom Commonwealth Confederation	947 23 December 1990 2 October 2006 26 January 2007
Population	5,233,000,000
Currency	Commonwealth dollar

The Confederated Peoples of the Resurgent Dream is a democratic confederation covering most of Ambara and Vasconia as well as a number of islands in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Sovereignty in the confederation is ultimately vested in the various Members although that sovereignty is represented internationally by the General Government. It was established in its current form in early 2007.

The Resurgent Dream has inherited a special exception to the rule that the General Government determines foreign policy from the Commonwealth of Peoples. The Danaan High Kingdom, a single Member of the Commonwealth but a union of Members within the confederation under the current constitutional set-up, still maintains its own embassies to Pantocratoria and Excalbia.

The Resurgent Dream also has a national currency, the dollar, although no member state is required to adopt it and some have preferred to maintain their own local currencies. However, the economy of the entire nation does stand behind the dollar through the Commonwealth Economic Council. There are no customs checks between the territories of the various Members, making the nation a single space of mobility for work, travel and investment.

In most areas of public life, the Resurgent Dream is highly decentralized. The General Government possesses only enumerated powers over the dollar, national defense, conflicts between Members and over laws regarding piracy and crimes considered to be matters of universal jurisdiction. However, national unity is better served by a number of constitutional prohibitions on the Members, requiring them to give full faith and credit to contracts and marriages arranged in other Members, forbidding interference with commerce between the Members or with freedom of movement within the confederation and preventing violations of the rights and immunities of confederal citizens.

History

The modern Resurgent Dream was originally ten separate nations. The modern Resurgent Dream is legally the successor state of only one of them, the Danaan High Kingdom, which was originally known as the Danaan High Kingdom of the Resurgent Dream. Between complete independence and formal confederation, the ten nations which were to combine to form the confederation went through several months as a supranational organization known as the Commonwealth of Peoples. The confederation is also legally the successor to this organization.

Danaan High Kingdom

The original Danaan High Kingdom consisted of the Kingdoms of Bilbtoria, Holista, Fireforge, Farinor, Wintermore and Shieldcrest and of the Grand Duchy of Tarana. These kingdoms were loosely united under a High King since the beginning of European and Indian settlement. However, they were only brought together into a single nation in 1990 following a bloody civil war. In the aftermath of the war, the Danaan High Kingdom of the Resurgent Dream emerged as a federal constitutional monarchy and the individual kingdoms were reduced to principalities or, in the case of Shieldcrest, grand duchies. It was shortly thereafter that the Danaan High Kingdom began a period of rapid expansion, coming to include the Principalities of Alekthos, Amalad, Amory, Carasia, Corral, Kagerlund, Kar, Kadoki, Legon, Nerise, Pele, Sanero, Saraben, Selinia, Thorlund, Wyrnsk, Zeng and Zutern.

Commonwealth of Peoples

The Commonwealth of Peoples represented an expansion of the original Danaan High Kingdom, although the original Danaan High Kingdom remained one of the Commonwealth's Members. The Commonwealth was a supranational union of ten sovereign Members. The core of the Commonwealth was a mutual defense pact, a free trade zone, a free mobility zone and a common foreign policy. However, the Commonwealth's institutions did not have either the power or the practical ability to pursue the kind of integration the Commonwealth sought, integration that could only exist under a single, general government. This led to a great deal of friction between the Commonwealth's leaders and the leaders of the Members. Many sought to simply abandon the Commonwealth, others to restrict its scope and still others to transform it into a real government, a task at which they suceeded.

The Commonwealth's origins are varied. Marlund and Nabarro Abarca became Members because they achieved dynastic union with the Danaan High Kingdom. Gandara, Jagiella and Sahor were Danaan settlements which had been granted independence while choosing to retain the High King of the Resurgent Dream as their king. The other four Members, two republics and two monarchies held by dynasties different from the Danaan, simply joined voluntarily, agreeing only to accept the High King as the Head of the Commonwealth, a symbol of their free union.

Confederation

The Confederated Peoples of the Resurgent Dream were formed from the Commonwealth. In order to remove any confusion as to policy continuity caused by the confusing arrangements under the Commonwealth, the Confederation explicitly proclaimed itself to be a successor state to the original Danaan High Kingdom and the Commonwealth.

The Confederation was governed according to the Confederal Constitution of the Resurgent Dream. The Congress of the Confederation received authority over foreign affairs, the common defense and international trade as well as certain enumerated domestic powers. The Confederation constituted a single space of mobility for work, travel and investment. Although it only had a weak central government, indirectly elected, it did have a transparent, parliamentary government capable of interacting with other states as such. While the Members did not much more substantive power to the Confederation than to the Commonwealth, they did clearly imbue the Confederation with the forms and symbols of a national polity, something the Commonwealth had been lacking. This allowed the General Government to act with more credibility, clarity and transparency than the Commonwealth's complex institutions had been able to employ. It enabled the Confederation to regard itself and to be regarded as a nation among nations.

Politics

The Confederated Peoples are governed by the Constitution agreed upon by the Commonwealth Interministerial Council in early 2007. The Constitution gives the Confederation a set of narrowly construed enumerated powers, establishes the rights and immunities of confederal citizens, establishes certain obligations between the Members and leaves all powers not granted to the Confederation or forbidden to the Members to the Members, respectively, or the people. The Constitution also allows the Members to delegate some of their powers to federal unions within the Confederation, a concession to the fact that the Sahori States, Lanerian States and Danaan Principalities were already members of federations when they initially joined the Confederation.

All powers given to the Confederation are vested in the Congress of the Confederation. Each Member has one vote in Congress and sends a delegation which can consist of any odd number of Represenatives between three and fifteen appointed by the Member legislature. If the Representatives within a delegation disagree, their Member's one vote is cast as the majority votes. The Congress can also delegate its authority to such bodies as it might choose. This is the source of power for the Confederal Government.

The Chief of State and Chief of Government of the Confederation is the President of the Confederated Peoples in Congress Assembled. The President can be elected and removed by a majority vote in Congress at any time.

Direct democracy

Confederal citizens are subject to at least three legal jurisdictions: Local, Member and Confederal. Many citizens are subject to various levels of local jurisdiction and to the jurisdiction of unions within the confederation as well. Direct democracy does not take place on the confederal level or on the level of any of the unions within the conferation but it does have a limited place in many Member and local governments.

Forms of direct democracy used by the various Members include but are not limited to constitutional referrals (wherein the legislature proposes constitutional amendments to the people which pass if they receive a majority or supermajority of votes), statuatory referrals (similar to constitutional referrals but regarding ordinary legal statutes and almost always requiring only a simple majority to pass), constitutional amendment initiative (where a petition by a certain number of citizens for a constitutional amendment results in the proposed amendment being subjected to a popular referendum, the process taking somewhat different forms in the different Members where it is practiced), statute law initiative (like a constitutional amendment initiative but involving ordinary statutes which could, in theory, be repealed by the legislature through ordinary parliamentary processes), statute law referendum (wherein a petition by a certain number of citizens to repeal a legislative statute results in the referendum being submitted to the general electorate and the statute is repealed if a majority or supermajority votes for this outcome) and the recall (wherein citizens can recall elected officials through a constitutional process).

Almost all municipalities in the Confederation have strong elements of direct democracy in their structure. Many of them require popular referendums and even supermajorities in order to pass certain kinds of ordinances. Many also allow citizens to directly communicate with elected officials without a prior appointment through holding open meetings to determine local policies.

International institutions in the Resurgent Dream

The Resurgent Dream is not a member of the United Nations. It withdrew shortly after making its debut on the world stage in protest of the UN resolution forcing all UN members to legalize gay marriage. Ironically, after great controversy surrounding the relationship of Queen Elayne ni Fiona of Farinor with a Countess Catherine ni Fiona, the Resurgent Dream legalized gay marriage less than two months after withdrawing from the UN so as to avoid being forced to do so. In 2006, the Resurgent Dream gave authority over marriage law to the Principalities and under the Confederated Peoples that authority belongs to the Members. However, all Members are bound to honour marriages contracted legally in other Members. Despite all this, the Resurgent Dream has not rejoined the UN and no major political party advocates doing so.

The Confederal Alliance of Red Cross, Red Crescent and Red Shield of David Societies is a member in good standing of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. A number of recent international humanitarian efforts have been spearheaded by the various humanitiarian societies which recently came together to form the Confederal Alliance.

Energy politics

Energy politics at the Confederal level focus on proposed constitutional amendments to give the Confederal Government control over all matters relating to nuclear materials. Because most Members make little to no use of nuclear power and oppose nuclear power plants as threats to the environment and public safety, such an amendment would likely lead to a gradual phase-out of nuclear power in the Confederated Peoples and would almost certainly lead to a moratorium on new nuclear power plants. However, some of the Lanerian States, Adoki, Kadoki and Selinia make extensive use of nuclear power and public opinion in those Members is strongly favorable to nuclear power as an energy source.

Members

The Confederated Peoples of the Resurgent Dream consists of ninety-five Confederal Members. The free union of these Members is what constitutes the Confederation. At least in theory, the Members are free to secede, although only through a relatively difficult constitutional process.

The populations of the Members vary between 212,390 (Great Plains Territory) and 1,635,000,000 (Nabarro Abarca).

Status

The Commonwealth of Peoples has an almost completely unified foreign and defense policy. It is a single discrete actor in almost every area of international affairs. It accredits and receives ambassadors, declares war and makes peace and signs treaties all on its own authority. Virtually no other supranational or alliance has this level of unity in international affairs.

The entire Commonwealth does not share a Chief of State, although the President of the Council of State formally presides over the organization. However, one individual, Owain ap Cunedda, is Emperor of Nabarro Abarca, High King of the Resurgent Dream and King of Gandara, Jagiella, Sahor and Marlund, uniting these members with one another in a way in which they are not united with the other Commonwealth member states.

The entire Commonwealth also does not share a currency. The Commonwealth dollar is the official currency of all but three states. However, one of those three is the Resurgent Dream, the most economically powerful member.

The most important difference between the Commonwealth and a normal state, however, is that the individual Commonwealth members remain masters of the treaties. This means that all Commonwealth institutions only exist as creatures of treaties voluntarily signed by the members, that any member can withdraw provided they give five years notice and that no act of the Commonwealth can give to the body any additional powers over its members beyond what has been freely surrendered by treaty. Because of this, more than any other consideration, it is probably most accurate to classify the Commonwealth as a sui generis (unique) actor on the international scene.

Current issues

Because the Commonwealth is of recent origin, the number one issue confronting it is to forge a common identity which will allow it to act in a united and decisive fashion and to maintain its integrity as an organization. The Commonwealth is making some small attempt to justify itself to ordinary people using its miniscule public relations budget. However, most of the responsibility for earning the Commonwealth the permanent loyalties of its inhabitants will fall on the politicians in each member state who negotiated the formation of the Commonwealth and on the Commonwealth's ability to work effectively and provide results.

Another major issue is the division of responsibility between large states and small ones. Large states feel that it is undemocratic for the the billion plus people of the Resurgent Dream or Nabarro Abarca to have no more of a vote than Hipolis with its population of fewer than a million. Small states, for their part, feel that the Commonwealth is an organization not of people but of equal states and that it is among states that power should be divided democratically. Correspondingly, many small states feel that the veto power of the three largest members on issues of war and peace is undemocratic.

The Commonwealth also faces the issue of how to incorporate the foreign policies of member states into the new common foreign policy. As things currently stand, a number of exceptions have been made for individual states. The Resurgent Dream has been allowed to keep its own embassies in Pantocratoria and Excalbia and to continue accepting Pantocratorian and Excalbian embassies in its own right. Likewise, Finara has been allowed to adopt a somewhat different policy towards Iesus Christi than the rest of the Commonwealth. Finara's economic sanctions on Iesus Christi apply only to military and dual use materials and Finara does not necessarily refuse visas to non-asylum seekers with Iesian passports as most Commonwealth states do.

The Commonwealth also struggles with the issue of defining the person in regard to such controversial subjects as non-human sentience, the unborn, artificial intelligence and persons in a permanent vegetative state. While no nation in the Commonwealth is in any way actively hostile to non-humans, only the Resurgent Dream and Hipolis currently make sentient species a protected category like race or gender. Gandara, Sahor and Laneria are the only members which recognize a woman's right to choose whether or not to have an abortion, while Marlund, Nabarro Abarca, Jagiella and Finara recognize the fetus's right to life instead. Adoki, the Resurgent Dream and Hipolis recognize neither, allowing parliamentary majorities to legislate freely on the subject according to their principles. The Resurgent Dream is the only nation to fully recognize artificial intelligences. All members recognize that a person retains their full natural dignity as a person in a permanent vegetative state, however, exactly what this means in practice varies from member to member.

The Commonwealth is also troubled by the past human rights abuses of Adoki and Marlund and by the fear that security risks, international criminals and people sympathetic to the Sons of the Reformation and comparable organizations might have positions of trust under the Commonwealth or its member governments. These issues are currently being investigated by the Truth and Justice Committee headed by Aonghas Mac Maol Eoin.

Origins and history

One of the most serious problems confronted by the Commonwealth is that its members do not all share a common origin or history prior to the foundation of the Commonwealth. In fact, many Commonwealth nations have histories of military conflict with one another. Laneria and Nabarro Abarca have been at war with both Adoki and Marlund during World War II. Adoki and Marlund have been at war with one another during the First Ambaran War. The Resurgent Dream and Adoki have been at war with Marlund during the Second Ambaran War. Nabarro Abarca and Adoki Laneria have been at war with Marlund, Laneria and Finara in the First World War.

Within the larger Commonwealth, however, some of the members have much closer ties. Nabarro Abarca, the Resurgent Dream, Gandara, Marlund, Sahor and Jagiella all share a monarch. In the case of Gandara, Sahor and Jagiella, this is because they were initially settlements in the territory of Sahor, which the Resurgent Dream took over in response to Pantocratorian Ambaran prompting. In terms of shared loyalty, this has led some to classify the Commonwealth as consisting of three concentric circles. In the center are the Resurgent Dream, Gandara, Jagiella and Sahor, linked more closely with one another than with any other nation. The second circle consists of these nations as well as Nabarro Abarca and Marlund, not as close as the inner circle but still closer than the Commonwealth as whole. After this comes to entire Commonwealth, sharing no loyalty to a single Chief of State.

Ultimately, the Commonwealth members do not have a shared past. If the Commonwealth is to be a success, they must instead base their unity in a shared future, in shared ideals and in a genuine commitment to one another. Given the intense controversies plaguing the Commonwealth in its early stages, this remains uncertain.

Demographics

The Commonwealth of Peoples is a densely populated, culturally and ethnically diverse union of ten member states. The populations of these member states speak over 100 different languages, belong to over 100 different definable ethnic groups and follow a wide variety of different religious traditions. The current population of the Commonwealth is 5.109 billion. The population is rising steadily.

Member states and enlargement

The Commonwealth of People's ten member states hold territory across three continents, four regions and three oceans. If combined, they represent a sizable population of roughly five billion. Despite the size and extent of Commonwealth territory and populations, however, they only have a land border with two external power, Pantocratorian Ambara and Abt.

Further enlargement and close relationships

Any state could theoretically apply for membership in the Commonwealth of Peoples, although its admission would require a treaty to which all current member assented. At present, there are no more nations which look as though they will join the Commonwealth of Peoples in the near future. Any future additions to the Commonwealth will likely come from territories now included within Commonwealth members states acceding to the Commonwealth in their own right, rather than from the addition of new territories or populations. At present, movements for independence within the Commonwealth exist in the unincorporated Lanerian territories of Costa Brava, Lanerian Samoa and Inafara.

The Commonwealth largely dominates the continent of Ambara, a continent which contains two non-member states as well. Six Commonwealth member states have representatives on the Ambaran Truth and Reconciliation Committee which also includes Pantocratorian Ambara. The Commonwealth has also adopted as its own the Resurgent Dream's role as a guarantor of the sovereignty of Abt. In addition to its involvement in Ambaran affairs, the Commonwealth has adopted the Resurgent Dream's treaty obligations towards VERITAS, KIST, Menelmacar, Pantocratoria and Excalbia as its own and is pushing to get all of these treaties except VERITAS officially renegotiated to include the Commonwealth as such.

Rationale

Supporters of the Commonwealth of Peoples argue that it is a strong force for peace, democracy and stability. They point out that member states like Adoki and Marlund are making the transition to democracy largely through their association with the Commonwealth and its other members. They also point out that half of the members have been at war with another member in the last century and three members have witnessed significant internal violence. They point out that in the future, any such conflict would be mediated by the Commonwealth.

Supporters frequently mention the comparative social, political and economic stability of the three largest member states: Laneria, Nabarro Abarca and the Resurgent Dream. They argue that this stability, through the close links of the Commonwealth, will spread to less stable members more easily than merely through ordinary aid programs.

Detractors, however, interpret the same information differently. Because so many of the member states have violent internal histories and violent histories with one another, the fabric of the Commonwealth is unlikely to be capable of surviving much strain. Likewise, the three largest powers are essentially called upon to protect the smaller and are given disproportionate influence in exchange, a process that detractors say is more imperialist than internationalist.

Institutions and legal framework

Commonwealth institutions and bodies

The functioning of the Commonwealth of Peoples relies upon seven permanent institutions:

• Commonwealth Defense Council (5 members)
• Commonwealth Economic Council (7 members)
• Commonwealth Council of State (10 members)
• Commonwealth Commission (15 members)
• Commonwealth General Assembly (10 members)
• Commonwealth International Court (7 members)
• Commonwealth Interministerial Council (147 members)

There are also three regional advisory committees:

• Vasconian Advisory Committee
• Ambaran Advisory Committee
• Pantocratorian Advisory Committee

The Commonwealth also has a great many more specialized agencies under the Commonwealth Commission or the General Assembly. Examples include the specialized agencies of the various Commission Secretariats and the Truth and Justice Committee designed to help member states identify potential security threats.

Locations of Commonwealth institutions

There was a great deal of wrangling over the location of the Commonwealth's permanent institutions. Danaans largely believed that they should be located in Tarana or Narich out of respect for the Resurgent Dream's unique role as the historic core of the Commonwealth. Many Nabarrans argued that they should all be located in Madero Cabello, the largest city in the Commonwealth. Still others argued that a special Commonwealth district should be created on an island in the Gulf of Vasconia, away from any single member.

Because the Commonwealth Commission is located in New Amsterdam, the great majority of Commonwealth administrative officials work there, making it the de facto capital. However, the Commonwealth's permanent institutions are located in a number of different places.

• Agwenstadt -- seat of the Commonwealth Defense Council
• Narich -- seat of the Commonwealth Economic Council
• Madero Cabello -- seat of the Commonwealth Council of State
• New Amsterdam -- seat of the Commonwealth Commission and the Commonwealth General Assembly
• Taliadoros -- seat of the Commonwealth International Court
• Tarana -- seat of the Commonwealth Interministerial Council

Legal framework

The framework for the Commonwealth of Peoples is defined by the New Amsterdam Treaty which establishes the basic institutions of the Commonwealth, their purpose and authority and the duties and rights of members and their citizens with regard to other members and their citizens. The Commonwealth is not capable of expanding on the explicit enumerated powers given to it by treaties between the member states. However, the Commonwealth can advocate new treaties to the member states which, if ratified, might enlarge its authority.

The Commonwealth also acknowledges a number of other documents as authoritative for all members, including the Taliadoros Treaty on the Law of the Sea, the Zwingli Convention on the Prevention of Human Trafficking and Child Sex Tourism, the Arra Accords on Chemical and Biological Warfare and the Narich Treaty on Intellectual Property Rights.

The Commonwealth has also signed the Treaty of Subeita, the Treaty of Uinen, the Treaty of Courtland and the Treaty of Citadel Excalbia in its own right and taken onto itself the responsibilities of the Resurgent Dream under the VERITAS treaty.

Intergovernmentalism and supranationalism

A basic tension exists within the Commonwealth of Peoples between intergovernmentalism and supranationalism. Intergovernmentalism is a method of decision making where power is possessed by member states and decisions are made by unanimity. Supranationalism, on the other hand, power is held by independent appointed officials.

Both intergovernmental and supranational modes of making decisions are supported by powerful forces in the Commonwealth. Supporters of intergovernmentalism argue that only national governments possess the democratic legitimacy necessary to make decisions.

Main policies

The Commonwealth is based on a common foreign policy, a policy of openness between members and a policy of cooperation and coordination in domestic affairs. Because the Commonwealth's members are spread over four regions with somewhat different needs, the Commonwealth also places a great deal of trust in the three regional advisory committees.

Commonwealth policy covers three main forms of cooperation:

• Autonomous decision-making: Member states have granted the Commonwealth Commission authority to make decisions independently on such matters as external policy.
• Harmonisation: The laws of member state are brought into harmony on such issues as piracy, international fishing, human trafficking, international child sex tourism, smuggling, intellectual propery and terrorism through a set of distinct treaties covering these areas.
• Cooperation: Member states attempt to coordinate their other policies through the intergovernmental organs of the Commonwealth.

There is a tension between Commonwealth, national and (with regard to member states organized according to a federal system) subnational authorities built into the structure of the Commonwealth. Some Commonwealth theorists view this situation not as an evil inherent in the supranational structure but as a positive good, allowing the various levels of authority to check one another and thus prevent abuses of power.

Aims of the Commonwealth

The stated aims of the Commonwealth are to promote integration among members, promote multilateralism, promote the ideals of international law, promote liberal democracy, prevent terrorism and aggression, guarantee the sovereignty of members, improve living standards and facilitate engagement between peoples internally and externally.

Commonwealth conferences

When an issue appears to merit the concern of the Commonwealth and yet does not fall under the ppresent authority of any Commonwealth organ, then the Commonwealth Commission or any member state may call a conference of representatives of all Commonwealth members. Ideally, the members will be able to reach some level of consensus and adopt either a formal treaty or an informal plan of intergovernmental cooperation. So far, Commonwealth conferences have produced treaties on the law of the sea, human trafficking and child sex tourism, chemical and biological warfare and intellectual property rights which have become part of the Commonwealth's legal framework.

Peacekeeping

The Commonwealth Defense Force is sometimes sent to places within the Commonwealth where there is a danger of serious armed conflict between organized groups. To this end, Commonwealth peacekeepers have served in Marlund, Finara and Sahor with the intent of preventing armed insurgent or terrorist groups from undermining the stability of those societies. Although the mission in Marlund, carried out with Entente cooperation, was costly, bloody and required a great deal of compromise between groups, both missions were ultimately successful and no Commonwealth member has suffered a serious breakdown of order within its territory since the formation of the Commonwealth.

In theory, the Commonwealth Defense Force is also available for peacekeeping operations outside the Commonwealth although it has not yet been deployed in any non-member state.

Individual rights

The New Amsterdam Treaty requires all member states to recognize the essential freedom and dignity of the person and to take joint and separate steps in order to preserve it. The Commonwealth serves primarily as a watchdog on the issue of rights, monitoring the behavior of member states to ensure observance of basic standards. However, the Commonwealth Commission and the Commonwealth International Court both possess limited coercive powers in this area.

One of the Commonwealth's services in the defense of people's rights is election monitoring. The Commonwealth monitors and certifies elections in all of its members to ensure that the rights of voters or groups of voters are not denied by fraud or coercion at any step during the election process.

The Commonwealth is also largely interested in empowering women to participate fully in political, economic and social life. For the most part, the Commonwealth's activities in this area are focused on education and consciousness raising in traditionally patriarchal members such as Adoki and Marlund. The Commonwealth also publishes an annual report on women's participation in the life of the community in each member state. The Commonwealth exercises very little coercive power in this area, although every member state is required to guarantee equality before the law for men and women.

The New Amsterdam Treaty also specifically forbids the governments of members from making use of torture and requires all members to make it a criminal offense, even when done by persons acting on the orders of a lawfully constituted authority. The Commonwealth is responsible for ensuring that these commitments are being adhered to in practice and controversies have arisen when both Laneria and Adoki were accused of torturing terror suspects in October of 2006.

Humanitarian assistance and development

The Commonwealth provides food, water, clothing and shelter to the victims of all manner of disasters both within the Commonwealth and externally. The Commonwealth also provides food for the hungry in areas where local authorities or private charities are unable to do so on their own.

The Commonwealth gives its less developed members substantial grants to help build infrastructure, stimulate the economy, improve education and enhance public health.

Single market

Much of the Commonwealth's energy is aimed at the creation and maintanance of a single Commonwealth market. Efforts towards this goal have included both free trade policies and the harmonisation of labour and safety standards in many areas.

The Commonwealth promotes the single market with both internal and external policies.

Internal policies

• Free trade of goods and services among member states
• The general coordination of border controls on trade with external parties. This is an intergovernmental, rather than a supranational, policy and is thus non-compulsory. For example, Finara currently allows trade with Iesus Christi while other member states do not.
• Freedom of movement and legal employment for nationals of any Commonwealth member throughout the Commonwealth
• Free movement of capital
• Joint standards of intellectual property law codified in the Narich Treaty
• The Commonwealth dollar, a shared currency among seven of the ten members
• Common policies on international fishing codified in the Taliadoros Treaty
• Funding for the development of less developed members and emeregency financial aid for disaster areas

External policies

• A common position in most international trade negotiations
• A common policy of free trade with Menelmacar, Pantocratoria and Excalbia
• Economic integration between Finara and the Danaan Principality of Kagerlund and the rest of the Pantocratorian Archipelago
• Economic integration between Commonwealth members in Ambara and the rest of the region
• Economic integration between the Resurgent Dream and some other states in Tareldanore

Cooperation in other areas

• Cooperation in criminal justice, including the sharing of intelligence and an expedited extradition process
• A common foreign policy
• A common security policy, including the creation of a large-scale Commonwealth Defense Force
• A common research a special affairs policy including the formation of a special Commonwealth Space Force

Economy

If considered as a single unit, the Commonwealth has a gross domestic product of $180,040,524,610,990.63 and a per capita domestic product of $37,831.59. The unemployment rate is 2.95%. It exports $18,702,739,792,662.50 outside the Commonwealth each year and imports $21,802,403,353,828.13, giving it a trade deficit of $3,099,663,561,165.63.

Economic variation

Economic development is by no means evenly spread over the various Commonwealth member states. Laneria, Gandara, Sahor and the Resurgent Dream are very developed and have a high standard of living. Adoki, Jagiella, Nabarro Abarca and Finara are moderately developed with a somewhat lower standard of living. Marlund and Hipolis remain undeveloped and suffer from severe economic problems although these problems are greatly ameliorated in Hipolis by the natural abundance of the land and sea.

Languages

The Commonwealth of Peoples promotes multilinguilism and the preservation of indigenous languages and minority linguistic traditions. Thus, while the Commonwealth uses five main languages for its official business, many of its official documents are translated into literally dozens of different tongues. While a total of 24 different languages have some official status in one of more member states, there are well over a hundred languages used in the Commonwealth when one includes indiginous peoples. One of the Commonwealth's goals in the area of multiculturalism and diversity is to preserve these ancient languages while also promoting literacy in one or more of the major languages in order to both preserve traditional cultures and promote the economic integration of indiginous peoples.

Criticisms

Language barrier

The Commonwealth has five official languages. Because translation is, even when done with legalistic precision, an imperfect art, this often means there is a great deal of variation in how official Commonwealth documents are to be interpretted. Legally, all five versions of any document are equally authoritative. It has been suggested that English be adopted as the official language of the Commonwealth for practical reasons. Some have also suggested that Latin might be used as a more neutral choice, provided all documents were translated into all the major languages used in the Commonwealth.

Others argue that the Commonwealth has too few languages. It is true that at least one of the five official languages is an official or de facto official language of each member state. However, there are two dozen languages with some official status within at least one member state. Some have argued that all of these languages need to be given equal status in the Commonwealth as well.

Danaan leadership

Some critics within the Resurgent Dream (especially on the political left) say that the Resurgent Dream's position as the unofficial core of the Commonwealth is so strong that it effectively runs the entire organization. These critics often derisively refer to the Commonwealth as "Tarana's Colonial Office" or the "Ministry for the Colonies". These sentiments are sometimes echoed by nationalist politicians within some of the other Commonwealth states, particularly Hipolis, Adoki and Marlund.

Cultural links

The Commonwealth provides important cultural links between wealthier more developed countries and poorer less developed ones. While part of this is due to official cultural exchanges of various kinds, including a popular student exchange program, most of it is non-governmental in nature.

The Commonwealth shares an interest in sports and many sports competitions are organized on a Commonwealth-wide basis. Although the first competition has not yet taken place, the Commonwealth Games are scheduled to begin occurring once every four years. In the games, the greatest athletes of the Commonwealth will participate in all the usual athletic events as well as a few largely unique to the Commonwealth.

Academics are another area of major cultural interaction between Commonwealth states. Most private colleges and universities maintain study abroad programs with other private colleges and universities elsewhere in the Commonwealth, allowing students personal experience of the lifestyles and academic environmenst of students elsewhere in the Commonwealth. Commonwealth-wide conferences are also common in academics, especially on obscure or controversial subjects. Colleges and universities in the more developed Commonwealth countries often offer Commonwealth scholarships to promising students from other Commonwealth members. Much of this interaction is organized through the Union of Commonwealth Universities.

Professional associations and trade unions are also coming to be organized on a Commonwealth-wide basis. The first meeting of the Commonwealth Association of Trade and Industrial Unions and Professional Associations is scheduled for January.

Literature

The Commonwealth largely has a common contemporary literature, especially so far as works written in English are concerned. Numerous Commonwealth prizes are given for literature and most best-seller lists in largely English speaking Commonwealth members track sales throughout the Commonwealth.

Financing

The Commonwealth is financed by accessed and voluntary contributions from members. The regular annual budgets of the Commonwealth are funded by assessments which are made every year and based largely, although not entirely, on the relative capacity of each country to pay. Assessments are largely based upon national income statistics.

To avoid being overly dependent on any one member, the Commonwealth has a ceiling rate. No single member can contribute more than 25% of the organization's budget. At present, Laneria, the Resurgent Dream and Nabarro Abarca are all assessed at the ceiling rate. This means that these three nations, taken together, pay a full 75% of the Commonwealth's budget with the other seven members dividing a mere 25% among themselves. For this reason, some pundits, most notably Lanerian political conservatives, have suggested lowering the ceiling substantially.

Personnel policy

Commonwealth agencies are immune from the laws of the individual members in whose territory they operate. Hiring and firing practices, working hours and environment, holiday time, pension plans, health insurance, life insurance, salaries, expatriation benefits and general conditions of employment are governed by the rules and regulations of the Commonwealth and may violate the relevent laws and practices in the host state. Commonwealth regulations include strict anti-discrimination policies with regard to race, sex, religion, sexual orientation and nationality and somewhat looser anti-discrimination policies with regard to age and abledness.

Cooperation with non-member states

Entente

At present, the only Commonwealth member state which is a member of the Entente is the Resurgent Dream. However, diplomatic proceedings are currently underway to replace the Resurgent Dream's membership with membership for the Commonwealth as a whole. Little resistance is expected from Pantocratoria and Excalbia to this initiative which seems to follow naturally from the formation of the Commonwealth. Commonwealth authorities expect that the process will be completed by the end of 2006.

The Commonwealth had troops deployed alongside Pantocratorian and Excalbian troops in Marlund until the recent withdrawal of foreign troops in response to the peace settlement which resulted in an end to wide-scale violence and the establishment of the Ambaran Truth and Reconciliation Committee. The Commonwealth also sent peacekeepers to work with Excalbian and Pantocratorian forces in Finara shortly after the largest terrorist attack in that nation's history struck the city of Biernes in late 2006.

VERITAS

At present, the only Commonwealth member state which is also a member of VERITAS is the Resurgent Dream. While the Commonwealth as a whole has willingly taken on many of the Resurgent Dream's particular responsibilities in this area, consensus that the Commonwealth should seek admission as a single actor is much weaker than it is in the case of the Entente. Finara and Hipolis in particular see VERITAS as being too dominated by Menelmacar and too inactive in the world. The Commonwealth is also less certain that the Resurgent Dream's membership would be expanded to the entire Commonwealth if the request were to be made than it is in the case of the Entente.

Treaty of Courtland

The Commonwealth has also made arrangements to sign the Treaty of Courtland in its on right at the next regular interministerial meeting scheduled under that treaty. Little to no opposition is expected. However, it is expected that the meeting will help provide a more definite structure and organisation to the Courtland treaty.

Treaty of Uinen

Despite its scepticism over VERITAS, the Commonwealth has accepted all of the Resurgent Dream's obligations to Menelmacar contained in the Treaty of Uinen and is pushing for Menelmacar to renegotiate the treaty so as to transfer the terms to the Commonwealth as such. The Treaty of Uinen does not generate the same controversy as VERITAS because it is seen to be much more egalitarian in nature and because it is seen to provide the Commonwealth with needed tools for dealing with paranormal threats.