Campaign
Background for SPYCRAFT
Influx of Research and
Science Firms
Other consequences of
Australia’s neutrality
ISIF –
Insurance and Speculative Investment Fund
ZikZak: Niku
Zik and Markus Zak Food Consortium
My own campaign setting for the SPYCRAFT RPG is still not documented in detail, existing only in dark corners of my twisted little mind.
Key components of the background were that Australia become even more isolated from the rest of the world in a political and military sense, while at the same time becoming a key location for large trans-global companies that could almost be considered nations in their own right.
This matched in with a global outline that was presented by another SPYCRAFT enthusiast on the AEG forum under the topic ‘Earth 2007’. As part of a joint development (that was abandoned shortly after by both parties due to other constraints) the section below on ‘Historical Influences’ was detailed and shared. Primary it discusses how these events could occur under an alternative future history.
The other section that is partially documented ‘Current Influences’ was actually prepared prior to the other section. While largely incomplete it provides a clear outline of were the setting was heading: the trading of government debt for corporate greed, ultra-high pollution (and an accompanying quarantine) and factional maneuvering being feuding sovereign clans, ambitious trans-global companies and a monolithic global regulatory body.
While other details will hopefully be documented later, this project currently remains one of my ‘lower priority’ SPYCRAFT projects.
In the past Australia had very strong links with foreign military forces:
· Military links with Britain were always present as a result of the political association with Britain, which can be traced back to when the British first colonized Australia.
· Military links with America can be traced back through most major conflicts, but in particular World War II with the war in the pacific against Japan. A strong joint interest in pacific stability, the formation of the ANZUS alliance on joint work on projects such as the ‘over the horizon’ radar continued the relationship.
· A “co-dependent” military strategy: Australia’s isolation and lack of local regional conflict ensured that its budget spending on the military would always be limited. Based on this Australia was always going to be in a position of having to make alliances for it’s self-protection.
Possible causes for the change to military neutrality include:
· As Australia became a more multi-cultural society personal ties with Britain became more diluted. The political and social separation that resulted from Australia inevitably becoming a republic and the later dissolution of the British commonwealth saw military ties between the two countries become more a part of Australia’s history and less a part of future strategy.
· The only real source of friction between Australia and America was Australia’s desire to import to America as part of a free trade policy while America progressively increased subsidies and tariff protection for it’s domestic steel and agricultural industries. As America discovered more domestic mineral resources (especially petroleum) and became less reliant on trade, it’s increasing policies of economic isolation continued to create an economic rift between the two countries.
· America’s decision to remove itself from international military treaties and organizations effectively cast Australia aside, making the decision for them. While Australia was an early and vocal ally to America’s war on terror, America came to the decision that it could not afford to complicate or weaken it’s military resolve by involving itself in the political issues of other countries.
· Australia desperate to replace its lost export market to America, realized it had to increase its market share to other counties. Russia, South East Asia and the Middle East indicated that in order to boost imports into their countries that Australia declare itself as ‘neutral’ in regards to all current military conflicts and alliances. Desperate to improve foreign trade and realizing that the country no longer had any military alliances of worth, Australia accepted these terms.
· As military conflict continued to escalate around the globe. Australia was keen to not be seen as a soft target linked to any other power. For the sake of self-protection Australia further extended its lack of military alliances by placing a military exclusion zone around the country and it’s territorial waters and airspace – completely forbidding any foreign military power to travel within the exclusion zone.
Possible causes for this include:
· Australia was always relatively isolated from other countries in terms of travel time to other parts of the world. Conflicts in other parts of the world took a heavy toll on many companies, both in terms of the coincidental destruction that occurred during conflicts and the property that was ‘acquired’ by the victors of these conflicts. Australia’s relative isolation from these conflicts was seen as a clear advantage.
· When Australia declared itself ‘neutral’ in regards to all military alliances and conflicts it was seen by many companies as becoming free of the political risk associated with establishing operations in other countries. It was seen as clearly unlikely that a company’s research would be confiscated and given over to another military power.
· Australia policy makers were always keen to develop Australia as the “clever country” through establishing a strong focus in education and research. The wide spread turmoil in other parts of the world helped Australia to boost immigration of highly skilled or educated people. This in turn provided a potentially strong employee base for foreign companies who established operations in Australia. Some of these companies even established operations that lost money, purely for the purpose of attracting skilled researchers and recruiting them away to the company’s parent nation.
· Australia had previously been very reliant on the export of commodities (both mineral and agricultural). Unfortunately as technology and global production gradually improved over the last 20 years the price of commodities in the world markets gradually declined. Desperate to establish other sources of foreign income Australia did everything it could to attract large foreign companies to Australia. This included the granting of company tax exemptions, long-term leases of large unpopulated areas of Australian land and the right for companies to maintain their own pseudo-military security forces in these areas.
· As the northern hemi-sphere began to suffer under the impact of exceptionally heavy pollution, the decision was made by many countries to move a lot of the pollution heavy industry to the southern hemi-sphere. Australia and South America, both crippled financially by massive foreign debt, were effectively forced into the arrangement as a way of trading out of their current financial situation.
The other follow on effects that occurred included:
· Australia became a safe financial haven for foreign investors that wished to move money and resources to a neutral area. Foreign governments, large companies, organized crime and even terrorist groups started shifting foreign capital into Australian investment institutions.
· Australia became a popular ‘neutral’ meeting ground between conflicting foreign powers. Summits, treaties, and ongoing negotiations were frequently conducted in Australia where no foreign powers had a military advantage.
The charters are not factions, but rulings by the GEA that apply in Australia. The most important rulings are briefly outlined here so that readers may be aware of their influence.
Any corporation that has an annual gross economic production that exceeds 1% of the total annual GEA production will be declared a Trans-global corporation. At such time the company will become self-governing, subject only to the charters of the GEA and exempt from the rulings of other governments (unless willing entering into subsequent agreements with those governments that are registered with the GEA). The company also will be granted the voting privileges in the governance of the GEA.
Employees of a Trans-global corporation may declare to be under the jurisdiction of either the company or another adjoining regional based government. Employees under the jurisdiction of the company are subject only to laws of that company. The company may expel employees not under the jurisdiction of the company to the regional based government at any time for any reason.
A Trans-global corporation may exercise the right the right to develop a military force for the purpose of protecting its employees and other assets. The military may respond to any threat in an ‘appropriate’ matter, subject to the rulings and guidelines of the GEA.
The GEA has officially quarantined the continent of Australia. Nothing may leave Australia including organic substances, inorganic substances, residents under the jurisdiction of the Australian regional government or employees and other assets of trans-global companies located in the Australian geographic region.
The GEA has officially declared the government of the Australian continental region financially bankrupt. With foreign debt official within third world levels, no recognized means of being able to service the debt in a satisfactory ongoing manner and no realizable assets no future financial agreements may be entered into by or with the afore mentioned government.
The GEA has declared that all companies perform a full medical test on all employees for TMS (toxic mutation syndrome) at least twice yearly. All staff that test positive should be exiled to the Australian continental region at the company’s expense.
Due to the near emergency decline in global economic output, the GEA has sanctioned the use of industrial activity that was previously banned due to emission of ‘heavy grade pollutants’. Such output activity may be conducted within the southern hemisphere with GEA approval, subject to official testing that any ‘heavy grade pollutants’ will not be carried to the northern hemisphere before braking down to ‘medium grade pollutants’.
The GEA has lifted the quarantine against inorganic substances leaving the Australian continental region. Permission is granted to trans-global companies to commence operations in this region for industry rated as emitting ‘heavy grade pollutants’ and ‘ultra heavy grade pollutants’. Trans-global companies may access this market if they meet any of the conditions listed below; in addition they must spend 12.5% of gross operational revenue to providing public services for the region in general.
· Ownership of at least 10% of securitised foreign debt borrowed by the former government of the Australian continental region.
· Prior year losses of 25% of gross economic production in any one year due to the financial devaluation of assets quarantined under charter AUST0002.
· Formation of a singular joint partnership with any organization that can claim governance of at least 5% of the surviving population and have this claim substantiated by the GEA.
· Extra-ordinary acceptance by all voting members of the GEA at summit.
[Unfortunately not yet documented]
[Unfortunately not yet documented]
[Unfortunately not yet documented]
[Unfortunately not yet documented]
Some factions are not officially established within Australia, but have a covert or distant presence that influences Australia just the same.
Charter AUST0004 placed restrictions on which Trans-global companies could establish operations in Australia. Ultimately this meant that some companies who wanted to participate missed out.
The exceptionally wealthy ISIF is one such company. ISIF does not produce any physical goods or service; they trade purely in financial instruments. An ultra high-risk investor and lender, ISIF trades in such volume and such diversity that it is seen as a mathematical impossibility that the company could consistently lose money over an extended period of time.
ISIF on-traded (at a slight loss) the majority of its holdings in the foreign debt of the government of the Australian continental region a few weeks prior to the introduction of GEA charter AUST002, something that was seen as prudent market positioning prior to the economic impact of the AUST002 and AUST003 charters.
Then with the passing of the AUST005 charter, ISIF was left without the huge economic windfall that the current holders of Australian foreign debt had inherited. While challenging the GEA to dramatically reduce the amount of foreign debt holding required to 1%, the few partnership opportunities were taken up by other trans-global companies.
ISIF is now the bride in waiting; it has contacted at least three factions (two clans and one trans-global company) currently in partnership and advised it would like to ‘take-over’ their current partnership agreement. Exactly how this take-over would be conducted (financial, covert political or military) is yet to be seen, as they have not received any takers to their offer.
The most interesting point is that no one is aware why ISIF would want to establish operations in Australia. It does not currently have any industrial operations, let alone any that produces ‘ultra heavy grade pollutants’. There is quite speculation that ISIF may have financially acquired some potentially world changing innovation that does require industrial operation at this level. Others say it is a matter of pride and ISIF is simply trying to get back something it could have had all along, so that it may later trade it to someone else for profit.
It is still not possible to safely grow food within Australian, something quite in contrast to its prior history as a strong exporter of agricultural produce. Given the increased activity in Australia resulting from charter AUST005, it is now a major market for the import of food.
Many companies export food to Australia but ZikZak dominates the market, especially at the cheap and nasty end of the menu. The cornerstone products of the ZikZak empire are carbonated beverages and junk-food takeaway style meals packed full of artificial preservatives. These products can be cheaply exported to Australia under slow-transit sea haulage, a delivery method that would cause most other food to perish.