[War] US/Spain: Spanish Dance

[John Penta]

"Spanish Dance"
19 August 2014
Pres. John Williams, USA
PM Elena Rodriguez, Spain
=========================
[OOC: This post refers to events in an as-yet-unfinished US/France JP.
Ignore the out-of-order posting, please. - John]
<Torrejon Air Base, Spain>

As Air Force One flew into Madrid, John Williams looked out the window.

Germany had gone well; Now, hopefully, time for more of the same in Madrid?

Nah, that would make it too easy.

This was going to be a challenge, actually.

Spain was not one of the places usually on the US radar - too quiet,
honestly. Until lately. They had the distinct possibility of becoming
as unpredictable as Canada had become, so it seemed a good idea to
keep communications open.

Elena Rodriguez stood side-by-side with her Deputy Prime Minister as the
stairs were brought alongside Air Force One and a smirk crossed her face.

"Tristan, remind me why we don't have one of those."

He shook his head slightly as his eyes rolled. "For that I quote you..." He
cleared his throat and did his best Rodriguez-impression. "Why would anyone
spend that much on a jet to ferry a leader about from a Cessna costs hardly
anything in comparison and doesn't eat fuel like there's no tomorrow."

"Oh, yes I remember now, thank you." The was a brief chuckle passed between
the two as the President began to descend onto Spanish soil. "Well here
goes..."

Elena Rodriguez began to stride forward, closely followed by her deputy,
passing by the several military officers that lined the way. Too much pomp
and ceremony as far as she was concerned, but the base's CO had insisted. As
she reached President Williams her hand extended in the automatic gesture of
greeting and he lips turned upwards into a genuinely warm smile. Despite
never having met the man, they had co-operated on several projects which
would not have happened with previous US administrations.

"Mr. President, welcome to Spain. It has been some time since we had the
pleasure of entertaining the 'Most Powerful Man in the World'."

"Thank you." Although most days, I could do without the power, he
refrained from saying.

"This is Deputy Prime Minister Tristan Mendez." Tristan extended his hand
and greeted the President with a solemn nod and a 'pleased to meet you'.

Williams shook the outstretched hand, returning the greeting.

Elena led the way back past the military officers standing at attention,
feeling surprisingly calm. There had been no reason for security worries but
of course extra measures had been taken then the usual visiting dignitaries,
both the Civil Guard and the American Secret Service had insisted on it.
Tristan broke from the group to head to a car to the rear of the Mercedes
that awaited the two world leaders.

As someone opened the doors on either side for them to enter, she looked
over the roof at Williams. "I apologise for my taste for smaller vehicles,
but I believe they are much more effective and discreet."

"Believe me, if I could get the Secret Service to agree, I'd be
following your example. Unfortunately, they're terrified about some
whacko with a bazooka." Williams replied with a grin. "Or at least
that's their latest excuse, and my wife doesn't have the taste for
risk that I do."
---
(Palacio de la Moncloa)

"Can I get you anything, Mr. President?" Elena was pouring herself some tea
from the fresh pot that was constantly renewed throughout the day - that had
been one of her first acts as Prime Minister.

"Coffee, please?"

Elena nodded as she approached the pot at the other end of the desk on which
they were set up and began to pour. "So, what brings you to Europe?" She had
a few matters she wouldn't mind getting some discussion in on, but courtesy
wouldn't go amiss beforehand.

"Trying to consult within NATO on the general situation, trying to get
out of DC...Whole horde of small reasons, but no topic in particular,"
Williams offered. "That said, what concerns Spain at the moment,
thinking internationally?"

She handed Williams his coffee then sat on the chair opposite him taking a
sip of her own tea. "Well you may have noted our recent attempts to be
noticed, we are a bit of a childish nation like that." She gave him a small
smile but continued. "And that said, we do have a few concerns that it might
be wise to discuss with you, for one our growing economic status..."

Williams just nodded, sipping his coffee occasionally.

"Well I am told by reliable sources that these days our GDP and other
economic indicators outstrip that of Russia and Canada and are easily on
track to rival that of Italy. Yet not only have we got no say in the G8 on
serious matters, but we are not even involved in the plus 6 'bone' that has
been tossed out to some nations in the recent past. That is, of course,
unless you count our contribution to EU representation once in a blue
moon..."

"I get what you're saying; I have two points to that. One, G8
membership is decided by consensus - it's not just me you have to
convince. Two, it's meant to be a small gathering - not necessarily
representative as such. It's one reason why I look at expanding the G8
by much in a skeptical light. The purpose of it was never meant to be
a global talking shop, even if it fulfills that function on more
occasions than not.

"It's meant, in short, to head off crises - Spain being within the EU
and the Euro, a lot of the reason for your presence would actually be
handled by more consistently inviting the EU. At the head of
government level, the fact remains that Spain doesn't have enough
throw-weight militarily or diplomatically to really help in crisis
resolution. The Canadians are invited because they tend to be effected
by whatever the US decides; the Italians are admittedly a relic of the
1970s start of the forum.

"I doubt I can satisfy you, really - it's not about right or wrong,
it's about the power base of the world's industrialized democracies
plus Russia. In any event, if you're going to make that case, make it
to the Italians - they're the logical ones to step aside."

Williams explained this with hand gestures moving with his voice - the
reality was, Spain was asking to be admitted to the top level of
global affairs when, outside of the economic sphere, the country
simply didn't have the resources to warrant admission. It wasn't
-fair-, or ideal, or a lot of things...But it was how power worked. So
he laid that out. Not to lecture, but to explain: Spain's military and
diplomatic power wasn't there yet.

Elena's smile had faded but not yet vanished, more out of courtesy than
anything else, but she shrugged a little in a 'what can you do' way before
responding. "We shall see how things develop, it's just a thought that has
been tossed around here a lot recently. Admittedly we have other forums that
we need to work on increasing our active participation in before we tackle
something so large, perhaps. We have already taken a more active role within
the European Parliament and we are doing a lot less abstaining within
organisations such as NATO and the UN. I suppose that's also a lot about
profile-building."

Another sip of her tea before she continued. "I have heard a little bit of
noise about our standing over our military services. My representatives in
the US had told me that you perhaps would be interested in discussing that
area?"

"It's an old issue for me, from when I was in Congress. One of the
oldest complaints from the US public, on the rare occasions they sit
down to think about NATO, is that European countries don't do enough
to help share the burden, capabilities-wise. Spain's military cutbacks
are a case in point: You already spend below the 2% level NATO has
suggested since basically forever - it feels to many Americans, myself
*not* among them, that countries such as Spain are exemplifying the
'free-rider problem'." He paused. "In short, I need something to take
back to Congress to show how Spain is not being a 'free-rider' oin
defense matters."

"Although we are have made cut backs in recent years to our military force,
our lack of defence requirements and tactical obligations as a nation have
allowed us to contribute more than required to NATO and other international
peace-keeping forces. I don't see why a minimum spend, in terms of GDP
percentage or actual monetary amounts should be set for each nation in NATO,
surely that should be dependent on the nations' own requirements?"

"Unfortunately, that's not how force generation works - this was my
job while I was a reservist during my Congressional service, so I'm
speaking as someone with experience. What gets looked for in NATO
planning is something of a 'minimum contribution' to the general
defense - a certain amount of capability, force levels, etc. Spain's
current posture leaves you, professionally speaking, with no more fat
to cut - it's all bone now, and cutting into bone makes it look like
you don't take Spain's obligations, as a NATO member, to contribute to
the common defense seriously. That's not my position, not yet, but it
is the thinking of a lot of people in Congress...And it's hard to
dispute." Williams had been asked to bring it up, so he did.

"Our rationale for the cutbacks is twofold. Firstly, as a nation the Spanish
are dedicated to peace and oppose arms proliferation, and I'm sure you're
aware of our anti-nuclear efforts in concert with several other governments.
We do understand that in order to maintain peace or establish order a
military force is sometimes required, but not on the levels we see them in
many places. Secondly, our budget would not allow us to expand our military
or to maintain a force of a much greater size than that which we presently
keep. A reallocation of former defence spending has arisen from the
attitudes I raised in my first point, and that which has yet to be allocated
will be required for the several rather ambitious projects this government
has announced for the coming year."

There was no convincing the PM, Williams saw. Instead, he simply
replied. "I'll be sure to tell the Joint Staff to keep that in mind
when planning for the defense of Europe."

Perhaps the scaling down of Spain's military was something that needed to be
addressed domestically, but that was not going to be on the agenda for a
while, Elena mused. She thought she almost detected bitchiness in the
President's last comment and perhaps it was time to change the direction of
the conversation. "On the note of European affairs, have you any insight on
the Romania matter? It has caused some concern over here..."

"Not sure how to think of it. The Germans and French are of the
go-slowly mindset, Germans even more lenient than the French. I was
actually wondering Spain's position on the matter, and whether I
should head over to Bucharest yet? The French say not yet, the Germans
ask why I haven't gone already."

"Well we're actively encouraging communication there with our embassy
delaying it's closure. However, little has come of that unfortunately." It
had caused a few setbacks on international co-operative projects that Spain
and Romania had been involved in, and Rodriguez was still hopeful that
Romania might return to those in the near future, whether this was naïve or
not. "And I don't think it could do any harm to visit - after all I believe
Danesti's main gripe was the lack of attention anyone paid to Romania and
other countries of 'lesser means'. A visit from the President of the United
States would go a long way to proving her wrong. Besides, I hear Bucharest
is lovely this time of year - I'm tempted to join you."

"It's definitely something I'm considering; On the other hand, I don't
want to encourage such moves on the part of anyone else," Williams
noted.

"I find the whole situation a bit surreal and bizarre to be honest. I'm
still unclear what she's hoping to achieve over there on her own. But I
suppose each should be left to their own decisions on foreign policy, she
doesn't seem to be doing anyone any harm at the moment."

"You're hardly the only one who finds it surreal. I'm not sure, also,
that she's doing no harm - the precedent she's setting is...worrying
for the international system. Dropping out is supposed to not be a
viable option."

Elena nodded, a look of concern on her features. "Indeed, surely the
United Nations is less a body to be joined than an international forum
of recognised governments? I wasn't aware one could...leave quite like
that."

"Leaving was always an option, just...not one ever supposed to be exercised."

"Well let's hope this is a first and last for it to be so. I'm aware this
might not be possible but anything you learnt if you were to visit Bucharest
would definitely be of interest to us."

"Of course. We'll pass on anything interesting."

"Was there anything you wanted to discuss with me, Mr. President, I'm aware
that I have perhaps been steering this conversation. It is not often I get
the opportunity to do so with world leaders..."

Williams chuckled. "I hardly mind. On our end...I must admit, I'm
wondering precisely what the big projects you have in mind are. If
there's any way we could help, I'd be willing to consider it."

Now that was music to her ears. "Well we have a big renewable energy project
in progress at the moment, and we're pretty well equipped for it but outside
input is always welcomed. And on that note we're more than willing to share
our research and progress on the matter with yourself and any other
interested parties. On top of that an overhaul of our rail system is
underway to an entirely high-speed network which will hopefully complement
those already in Europe as well as others in progress and planned. You
probably are also aware of our recent interest in ANDA and either renewing
to more up to date and 'green' reactors or decommissioning and disposal of
nuclear waste. And finally we're looking into a lot of social reform
policies as there has been a distinct lack of that in recent years given the
current social climate. So not very much at all..."

He grinned. "Slow down, slow down. ANDA - You need to be more specific
on what you want. It's like any engineering project, you need to
define your requirements or the project gets beyond any control. Your
other projects, I'm not sure how we can help."

Rodriguez laughed a little. "I apologise, I'll be a bit more specific, and a
little slower. With ANDA, we are specifically interested in new generation
nuclear reactors, with better safety, longer life and less wastage. Also
we're interested in disposal technology for safe and environmentally
friendly disposal of nuclear waste."

Williams smiled. "Civil reactor development and disposal. I know that
the reactor development is moving along, I'll put in some calls once
we're done here, but more contributions to the development budget are
always helpful. Essentially, what we're looking to develop is a
standardized reactor type that, like an airplane, can be
'type-certified' once, then built repetitively to the same design,
spreading costs across all of the reactors." He paused. "Disposal is
still in basic research, sadly."

"I'm sure we can make a decent contribution if some assurances can be taken
back to my government that disposal research could become more of a
priority?" The diplomat in her was beginning to shine through, she did miss
the negotiations sometimes, and now she could state her own terms rather
than those handed to her.

"It's not a matter of priority, it's the fact that the research'll
take another few years to even get anywhere." Williams replied. "There
are some methods that show promise, but these things require time to
prove efficacy."

"Alright, I'll have a word with the relevant people here but I'm sure we can
free up some funding to support the research, but I must be explicit in that
we shall have no part in funding nuclear weapons technology."

That had Williams smiling. "Agreed. Nuclear weapons are outside of
ANDA in any regard. The only military aspect to ANDA is the work on
naval reactors."

"Still not my favourite area to work on, so you won't mind if Spain perhaps
shies away from that particular part of the project?"

"Not at all, but the money goes into a general pot. It is, after all,
the same atom - a lot of the basic research on naval reactors feeds
into civil reactors, and vice versa."

"Understood. I think we could have ourselves an agreement, in principle at
the moment anyway."
---
Actions:
Actions:
1) Rodriguez and Williams finally meet
2) Discussion around NATO and Spain's military policy.
       a) US suggests increasing military spending would be in Spain's and
NATOs best interests
       b) Spain reinforces policy of having scaled down
       c) Possible review of military spending in the future
3) Discussion re Romania
       a) Rodriguez supports idea of POTUS visiting Bucharest
       b) Agreed that any information gained from such visit will be shared
4) Discussion re ANDA
       a) Rodriguez to secure funding for Spanish participation in ANDA
       b) Expression of interest in newer and 'greener' reactors
       c) Expression of interest in disposal technology, where Spain will
be likely to deploy most resources
       d) Statement of non participation in nuclear military research.