Friday, July 14, 2006
Interview with Emperor Edgard II of Alexandria
Warm Greetings, my loyal and kind readers!! Today, I recount the visit I recently made to the Empire of the Alexandrians. There, I was permitted a tete-a-tete with the Emperor himself, Emperor Edgard II.

I arrived at the Palace early this morning, somewhat jet-lagged yet very excited for this chance to have a candid conversation with this rather well-known ruler. His office was well apportioned, but it was the desk that caught my eye. It is covered with intricate marquetry of a wide variety of fine woods. In an oval reserve at the center of the side facing away from the king himself (and toward me), is the marquetry Head of Silence, with forefinger to lips, a reminder of the discretion required in the Emperor's business. Gilt-bronze moldings of plaques, statuettes, miniature busts and vases, even intricate scrolling gilt-bronze candle stands, further adorn the surfaces of the desk. I admit it was somewhat intimidating!!

I was welcomed, and took a seat across from the Emperor - who, on the other side of his desk, seemed a mile away from myself. And now for the transcript of my interview with Emperor Edgard II of Alexandria.

(HT = Haraldsborg Times, EE = Emperor Edgard)
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This first part reflects my talk with the man behind the Emperor - these are "out of character" questions.

HT: Alexandria has been around for some time now. Didn't the project to build a nation originate with another, less popular micronation called... ... well, called "Kingdom of the Union of Madland", "Kingdom of the Union of Madland and its corresponding Empire", and finally "The Empire of the Madlandians"?

EE: Yes, Alexandria was formerly called Madland. In November 11th, 2004, a unanimous referendum endorsed the name change to Alexandria. After a disastrous war with Arminy, Alexandria briefly ceased to exist as the Empire's boards were taken over by the so-called "Islamic Republic of Sennar". After that, I left to create San Martin, which was wildly successful, and while in San Martin, I re-founded Alexandria, after noticing that the people from Sennar were pretty much gone.

HT: What makes Alexandria so different from what many see as the dismal failure that was Madland?

EE: There is a larger sense of seriousness, I presume. Alexandria sees itself as a serious micronation, and when I say "serious", I mainly say that we are much more serious than what Madland was. Madland was originally meant as a con-world, then it developed into a con-nation... with "con", I mean that it was a constructed thing, not meant to serve as a serious, working nation. It was the figment of my middle school/ early high school imagination... and before we even realized it, we were involved in Micras through Puritania and Northworthy. Our "con-world, con-nation" image never really left until we saw that it was time for us to move out of that phase. We are more determined to make Alexandria work and progress towards greatness.

HT: Your national forums were recently overhauled just before Flag Day. What brought about the drastic change, and how have the people of Alexandria responded?

EE: The change in the forum look for Flag Day was meant to convey Alexandrian patriotism - there is a lot of red, white and blue, which are the colors of our flag. This year, we failed to make any significant celebrations for our national anniversary due to the Circum-Raynor War and the Lovely incidents, so we picked Flag Day as a sort of "makeup" day to celebrate our nation. Our flag represents just that, our nation, so we thought it would make sense. Pretty much everyone in Alexandria so far have said that they like the new look of the forums. I quite enjoy the new look, its modern yet it reflects the tradition of the Alexandrian tri-color.

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This is the "in character" portion of the interview - the reporter and the Emperor.

HT: Your Majesty - thank you so much for seeing us today.

EE: Thank you for coming to Wesloderia. I'm happy to participate in this interview with you.

HT: Let's get down to it, shall we?

Your Majesty, quite recently, Alexandria has skewed off onto a tangent that some critics have claimed as "overly militaristic", "war mongering", etc. There was the Circum-Raynor War, then almost immediately the Lichtenbad Crisis, the creation of your own Rec-War Society along with a Civil War, and there are rumors that you planned to participate in the Nidaros-Hurmu War that's almost occurred in Stormark. Is Alexandria planning some sort of move to a more Stratocratic System?? If so, why? And if not, then why all the military actions of late?

EE: Alexandria is not moving towards a Stratocratic system at all. Until recently, Alexandria has paid almost no attention to its military - and now that we have begun to work towards establishing the Alexandrian military as a better and improved fighting force, we feel that we have to... well, use it to keep the peace in Micras and to protect our allies and friends as well as our interests. Alexandria is not a tiny Cibolan nation anymore, we have expanded into We were drawn to the Circum-Raynor War first as a peacekeeping force, but the attack on Babhkan forces drew us into full out war through certain treaty commitments we have with the Grand Commonwealth. Certain parts of the Lichtenbad Crisis were stains in our record - we never were able to fully conclude operations as we wished since the country collapsed before we could really do anything.

In regards to the new Rec-War society, we just want to be able to have a true Alexandrian organization to foster some friendly and healthy competition amongst our citizens and foreigners as well. The Civil War currently going on has no effect on the reality of Alexandria, and its meant to be completely for fun.

Regarding the Nidaros-Hurmu War, I cannot specifically state anything other than we are not necessarily ruling out an involvement. However, we have not reached a decision.

HT: Speaking of decision - Elections are coming up in Alexandria again. It seems that there are elections in your nation almost continuously. Do you feel this is healthy, or counter-productive? Some might say that it destabilizes the government to have so many changes so often. Has anyone in Alexandria considered the potential for lengthening the terms of office?

EE: A lot of people throughout Micras insist that Alexandria might not be a democracy, but the fact that we have elections continuously and that we have a fair amount of turnout in them should reflect that we are indeed a working democracy. However, the current election schedule makes things rather hectic, and it can have destabilizing consequences for the government. Prime Minister Jose Frias hopes to come up with several constitutional amendments to fix this issue. I have been in contact with him often regarding the matter, as I feel that keeping a steady and easy schedule of elections could indeed benefit the nation.

HT: Your nation certainly has been doing rather well lately. There are a few core citizens who participate rather heavily, keeping Alexandria active and thriving. What, in your opinion, are some of the main reasons for your nation's appeal to others?

EE: I think that what keeps Alexandria going is the political activity. Despite being a monarchy, Alexandria has an active Parliament elected directly by the citizens of the Empire's provinces. Also, the diversity found in Alexandria - both French and Spanish themes are proudly conveyed - does more to attract people that enjoy participating in either one or maybe even both of the cultural sectors of Alexandria. Also, despite the instability of the past, Alexandria has shown that it is here to stay - and that shows that Alexandria is worth joining and participating in.

HT: Alexandria is a member of the Novasolum Traty; a Pact of sorts among the nations occupying the continent on which your nation has some land. What do you feel are the benefits of being in this Partnership? Does Alexandria have solid relationships with all of the Members? And do you see any potential pitfalls of belonging to this group?

EE: Novasolum has been both welcomed and criticized in Alexandria. However, I can say that through Novasolum we have been able to reinforce relationships with friends such as Gotzborg and Natopia. Novasolum also has gotten Alexandria to be involved in common law enforcement efforts that have worked efficiently in preventing those who are reputed to be troublemakers from premeditatedly triggering trouble within our nations. The Pact has also opened Alexandria as a free market to all Novasolan companies, primarily those from Gotzborg. However, there is a dark side to everything - and Novasolum is no exception.

HT: Could you please elaborate on what you mean by a "dark side", Your Majesty?

EE: The critics of Novasolum in Alexandria continue to state that the Pact is merely a vehicle for Anthelia to dominate the continent, since to them it seems that Anthelia is "controlling" Novasolum. I guess one can see their point of view if one quotes the time Alexandria wished to place a rainforest in what was then Nubinar, which is East Baudrix today. They were working on a ecological simulation that obviously Alexandria wasn't even participating in, and they came over to the MCS demanding that Alexandria remove the rainforest... from its own lands! I can see how people can take the impression that Anthelia is using the Pact to extend its influence over all Novasolan nations.

The critics of Novasolum within Alexandria have also quoted the incident with Lovely - the spy scandals that so much rocked relations between Alexandria and Lovely. It was obvious that they had stepped out of bounds, the SNARL Charter specifically stated that spying was out of the question, and that recwars were meant to be friendly. When we tried to make our case before the nations of Novasolum, they even went on to support Lovely in its spying of Alexandria! I'm not so sure whether that's the behavior of an "ally". Anthelia and Paulovia practically endorsed Lovely's actions, while Gotzborg merely ignored it. Natopia was probably the only nation in the continent which whom Alexandria has a very close relationship with and can count on to support us if needed. They know that Alexandria is also willing to do the same, hell, their Prime Minister Tasneem doesn't live too far from my house in Grand Rapids, MI. I can probably even walk there if I wanted to one day.

We also wished for Novasolum to support us in the recwar against Lovely and all we got was a massive cold shoulder for the region except for again, Natopia.

It's interesting. The other day, while speaking to the Prime Minister (Jose Frias), he made it clear that he thought that Novasolum looked down upon Alexandria and constantly made it the butt of the region's jokes. The sham "peace conference" that the Anthelians set up to supposedly mediate eventually turned into an Alexandrian hate fest, even from the hosts themselves. I was deeply disappointed, since I wasn't even contacted by Anthelia about this. It just got downright nasty in there... I just had everyone withdraw from it. It had turned into a joke.

*As he spoke, I could see the Emperor beginning to anger. His face and neck had turned red, and his countenance began to twist somewhat. I felt it was best to leave this topic be, and move on.*

HT: Alexandria was planning to join the Inter-Micronational Economic Community which your Novasolum Partners are using. Why was the project abandoned by your nation, and do you see a potential re-try in the future?

EE: Alexandria values inter-micronational economic cooperation, but we abandoned the idea because of our difficulties in joining MX2, which we have never truly been able to work towards overcoming. Hopefully this will change in the future.

HT: Some time back, you re-organized the Alexandrian Nobility. What was the motivation behind the changes, and can you explain the system a little for us?

EE: The reorganization of the Alexandrian nobility was the brain child of the late Count of Poitou, Robert Davis. We had been discussing for ages the pressing need to reorganize the nobility in Alexandria, and he came up with a really cool two-tiered system. One tier is the classes of nobility and the other are the noble ranks themselves. Within the classes of nobility are four types of "noblesse" - Noblesse Ancienne, or ancient nobility; Noblesse de Chancellerie, or people ennobled as reward for long, faithful and/or meritorious service; Noblesse de Lettres, or those who are ennobled for service to a lesser degree than Chancellerie; and then there's noblesse chevalresque, for those who have been knighted but don't hold lands. It's a very interesting system.

HT: And now for questions submitted by our loyal readers. Are you ready for this, Your Majesty?

EE: Sure. Bombard me with the questions!

HT: What was the best day of your reign?

EE: I think the best day of my reign was the celebration of Alexandria's 3rd anniversary. Actually, every time we celebrate May 7th, it's a good day - Alexandria has stood for one more year, showing everyone who doubted us, wrong. It's a chance to let everyone know that it's not just me, but mainly the citizens of the Empire who serve as the heart of the Empire, pumping more life into it. Every time we celebrate our nation's birthday is definitely up there as the best - but out of all the ones we've celebrated, the 3rd anniversary is much more memorable.

HT: What was the worst day of your reign?

EE: The worst day, or days, of my reign has definitely been the days of Micro World War I, where everything in Alexandria was up in the air. The worst day of my reign definitely has to be when the Empire's forums were overtaken by the Islamic Republic of Sennar and pretty much deleted all of the work that our nation had achieved after we gained independence from Antica.

HT: Have you ever thought of abdicating?

EE: Actually, I have thought about it many times. Sometimes when things in Alexandria go wrong, I question whether I should continue on as leader. Also, macronational pressures such as school, work, relationships and family have prompted me to consider abdication. However, the thought of abandoning my work for the last four years is just too heart wrenching for me. I see Alexandria as if it were my "child" even!

HT: With which micronational monarch would you like to switch thrones with for one day?

EE: If my dearest Cousin from Stormark wouldn't mind, I'd definitely switch thrones with him for a day. I have always been fond of Stormark and its people, and out of all Micras, Alexandria and Stormark probably have one of the strongest alliances. It's such a wonderful micronation.

HT: If a country would declare war on Alexandria which three countries would you turn to for help?

EE: Most definitely, Alexandria knows it can count on the friendship of Stormark in case of need. Stormark would be definitely first in the list. Second would be the Grand Commonwealth, and third would most likely be Antica. Alexandria has a close relationship with all of them, especially with Stormark.

HT: What, in your opinion, are the main factors behind your ironclad friendship with Stormark?

EE: Besides the fact that we share a wonderful and hardworking woman as our Empress and Queen, I have developed a strong personal friendship with Harald. He is one of the few micronationalists in which I can speak with not only as a fellow head of state, but as a friend. Stormark and Alexandria also share citizens, such as my brother Enrique and the Archduke of Asuncion. That should be a testament to the enduring friendship of our nations - we share citizens, yet, we are perfectly content with it and we gladly accept each other with open arms. I know that I can count on Stormark's friendship, just like they know they can count on ours.

HT: What would be the profile of the ideal citizen for Alexandria?

EE: The ideal Alexandrian citizen is loyal to the Empire, proud to be an Alexandrian, and someone who believes strongly that there is always something to do for the progress and betterment of the nation. An ideal Alexandrian citizen is committed to Alexandria and committed to supporting its institutions of the monarchy, democracy and liberty.

HT: That wraps things up for this interview! Thank you so much for speaking with me today, Your Majesty. We at the Haraldsborg Times wish your nation a long life, and continued prosperity.

EE: Thank you, and I really enjoyed having this interview with you. Maybe we can meet again after the elections for a quick update.
 
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