Egelion-Kalistan Diplomatic Conference | 5644

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Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Mary I Ananto

Your Majesty, With all respect, We are convinced that our Cousin, the Queen Nicole has done a far better job at explaining our mind on sensitive issues revolving around security in the areas adjacent to Ananto than we could ever do in so short a period of time that we have here. It is a form of delusion perhaps, bordering on paranoia, and it would be safe to describe it as a genetic trait, or at least cultural memory passed down from generation to generation to generation.

But as our Sister is fond of saying, 'Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they're not after you.' Try as we may, when we see things that don't make sense, alarm bells ring off for us, and not just us, but generals, admirals, and spies up and down the chain of command also, shall we say, lose their military bearing.

Kalistan had operated under the impression, since the time of your Majesty's father, that we and Egelion had been cooperating and sharing intelligence. We were admittedly negligent for our own parts to coordinate with Egelion on the developments which eventually led us into war, and then back to war. Perhaps Your Majesty can imagine how surprised though when we discovered, not from any communiques, but from your newspaper, that Egelion had dramatically increased the size of their navy and were launching what we can assume were missiles that likely have sufficient range to effectively target every city in Kalistan and Ananto. Such things are hard to discover and process, given the admitted feeling of constant insecurity in Kalistan.

We believe that this can be helped with cooperation and communication. Kalistan has no reason to fear Egelion of course, nor do we want our relationship defined by uncertainty or insecurity. Nor should Egelion ever feel that it should ever limit the actions it takes to defend itself from the threats it feels. We hope that instead Kalistan and Egelion can establish a complementary security protocol where our individual strengths enhance the security of our partners.

So when Kalistan sees in its newspaper, or from our satellites, that Egelion is launching missiles, Kalistan doesn't immediately start looking into systems that will enable us to shoot them down. We could have benefitted from a deterrent like that when Kaliburg, Eshar and Port Swedes were attacked by white phosphorous and concentrated chlorine gas when we were infants. Our desire is not to live on edge with regard to this, but to understand Egelion's position vis a vis regional and maybe hemispheric security and be a partner to cover gaps in that program, in the hopes that Egelion will be willing to help us in exchange should the time ever come.

We believe our response to these surprises could be a source for the external narrative surrounding apparent rifts between our two states.

Perhaps Your Majesty would give us his thoughts on this topic?