TimothyC wrote:I think this is why so many of the Pacific nations are so willing to investing in making Hawai'i so dominant over the trade interests in the Pacific - it helps keep San Dorado at bay.
That sounds quite reasonable. It helps that the Pacific is where San Dorado's probably least prominent (because it's on the other side of the world); our interests focus on Austrafrica first, then Eurasia, South America, North America and the Pacific (in that order). We might not do much in the Pacific beyond moving stuff through it, and I imagine Hawai'i would like to keep it that way.
The Romulan Republic wrote:I don't think Corona and San Dorado would get along.
That is a very healthy view to hold.
Corona's pretty left wing and wouldn't care for San Dorado privateers. To Corona, they're not very different from pirates.
That's fair enough, after all in our world governments tend to disapprove of armed vessels not under the control of a state. And not all privateers are consummate professionals to say the least. On the other hand the bigger ones like Nightfall are highly competent experts. They mainly concern themselves with naval escort or patrol in rough and tumble areas; strike missions are conducted only on the basis of very strict contracts that typically require a legit civil authority to sign off on and take responsibility for so the company can't get sued.
So in that sense they are quite different from pirates (and we're not the only place that runs outfits like this, Rheinland does too). But that's only the big operations, there's plenty of smaller much less legit ones too, and I can definitely see why on the whole a nation might not like them.
I'm still milling over the details of the armament of San Dorado's privateers. I'd like them to be surprisingly capable without turning them into an actual full-blown military force (because I said I wouldn't have one and I'm sticking to that). They're probably very good at things like electronic warfare though.
Corona would tolerate San Dorado enough to avoid major retaliation because its pretty weak, but relations are not likely to be friendly.
Considering you're quite close by, how much of your economy would you be comfortable being directly or indirectly controlled by San Dorado's megacorporations? Mind you I'm not asking for a specific percentage, just a general impression. Maybe SANDEX dominates your export and import, or Axum holds worrying volumes of your T-bills, or Helix recently carried out a hostile takeover of a manufacturing giant that used to be the pride of the nation. Things along those lines would justify the frosty relations a bit more, 'cause the people in power are starting to seriously worry about how much of the country's economy is actually still its own. Just an idea; let me know what you think.
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