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| Raiding with Politics | |
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| Topic Started: Jun 29 2015, 10:10 PM (51 Views) | |
| Jakker | Jun 29 2015, 10:10 PM Post #1 |
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Unlike raiding organizations, regions who do not identify as raider often feel like they must have a justification for raiding or target a specific region for political reasons. How does this impact decision making with raid participation? Is raiding more enjoyable when there is purpose behind it? What challenges do you face when considering all of this? Please discuss your experience with the balance of UCR politics and raiding. |
| OnderKelkia | Jul 1 2015, 08:37 PM Post #2 |
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To provide an initial answer from the perspective of the LKE, we prioritise raid targets where there is specific connection to our foreign policy objectives, which are broadly construed (incorporating both targets related to our wars on the FRA, UDL and GGR, and targets related to other policy considerations, often more localised disputes). In the life of the second and third incarnations of the United Imperial Armed Forces (that is from April 2013 to March 2015), I would categorise the raids on The Ascendancy, The True Rebirth, Slavia, Slavya, Nazi Europe, Canada and to a lesser extent Eastern Europe as having some relationship to our foreign policy agenda (and there were also several defensive missions which had their nexus in political concerns, such as in The Imperial Legion and of course most notably Osiris). If we go back to TNI and LKE operations in 2011-12, including in Fidelia, Valhalla, Marxist Leninist Party, Hong Kong, Soviet Union, Belgium, The Rejected Realms, Ireland, Concosia and others, there were also a lot of regions raided for political reasons in that period as well. Some of these targets in both periods were simply occupied for being FRA or former RLA regions, while others had more specific contexts (e.g. The True Rebirth put recruitment spam on an LKE colony). However, while our foreign policy agenda has a significant role in determining our operational activity, we do not restrict our targeting to regions where there is a specific political reason (e.g. the existence of hostilities between the target and the LKE) for launching an invasion. Apart from more specific foreign policy concerns, we want our raids to also support our broader political agenda. It is in a political region's interests to have a strong military, experienced in carrying out proactive missions to a high standard. This is partly for pragmatic training purposes: if the UIAF hadn't raided and occupied regions like New Zealand, Middle Earth and Australia, it would have far less rehearsed in carrying out the same tactics in places like Slavia. More importantly, however, having an active and large military which is regularly carrying out major occupations and bolstering them with significant reinforcements, across a range of targets, is a significant diplomatic benefit (including in joint operations with partners, such as the UIAF's operation with The North Pacific in Scotland). For an Imperialist region in particuar, projecting military power is important. Raiding in general provides a region with a mechanism for projecting power at a time and place of its choosing. So while the LKE has a preference for targets linked to specific external goals, raiding other regions can be entirely in line with our broader political agenda. It helps maintain our military strength and our diplomatic credibility. It is certainly more satisfactory to raid a hostile region, such as a member of the FRA, than an ordinary target, but that doesn't mean we derive no advantage from occupations in standard targets. The desire to have a specific political justification for raiding a particular region is therefore an advantage for when we do raid such regions, rather than a constraint which prevents us from advancing our material self-interest by raiding other regions. |
| Kraketopia | Jul 3 2015, 02:02 AM Post #3 |
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I will make a distinction between two types of raiding targets for the ERN: 1) Targets which are frivolous and have little meaning, and are merely in place for practice. These are your standard tag raids. They aren't politically motivated. 2) Targets which are substantial, and are politically motivated. This can mean taking part in a big capture, working with a new ally, or even taking part in a liberation. As expressed in my intro, I do love raiding in and of itself. But having political meaning makes it so much better. It makes the raid feel more real, that it has more value than simply saying "Aha, we got you!" I like the extra thought that goes into planning operations when you have to take policy considerations into mind, it adds a new dimension to military planning that I find enjoyable. Most importantly though, political raiding allows me to benefit my region directly. I feel very attached to Europeia, and knowing that I'm helping expand Europeian foreign relations through my operations adds something significant for me. I like that politics connects raiding to my community, which is a political one by nature. |
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