[War] Spain: "I changed my mind, again."

[Iain]

"I changed my mind, again." 
PM Elena Rodriguez
King Juan Carlos I
Spain
25th August 2014 

<Palace of Zarzuela> 

Elena gave a slight bow as she stood before the King of Spain, signifying
the respect she held for the man. "Thank you again for seeing me, Your
Majesty." 

Juan Carlos smiled, nodding as he gestured towards a fairly comfortable
armchair in his private office. "It's hardly an imposition. My secretary
said there was something on your mind?" He asked as he took a seat opposite
the PM. 

"Yes," Elena settled herself into the chair, and liked the feeling of
sinking into the material as she did so. "I've come to seek advice on one of
our long-standing policies that has been gaining momentum over recent years
- that of disarmament and scaling down the armed forces of our country. I've
begun reassessing this situation and was wondering what our C-in-C's view
might be?" 

"You know as well as I do what the only answer I can give to that is," 
Juan Carlos replied. 

Elena gave a little lopsided smile, he was right of course. Ever the
benevolent observer. "Well let me tell you the story that has brought me to
this way of thinking. We have been working quite hard to lead the way on
arms non-proliferation for a good decade or so now, and the next obvious
step for that was to scale back our military power in the hope that we could
lead by example. Now with raising our profile, and participating more in
international affairs - including conflict resolution and peacekeeping - as
well as attempting to gain entry into the upper echelons of international
politics, it has been brought to my attention that our goals of
demilitarisation might be a problem. 
President Williams, for example, made it not too subtle that we wouldn't be
taken seriously unless we began spending a lot more on defence and that was
even just to be seen as at the forefront in NATO let alone anywhere else..."
She trailed off with a bit of a shrug. It wasn't an easy predicament. 

"And to an extent, he's not wrong. Remember the difference in
perspectives: It wasn't long ago at all that he was a serving soldier under
fire, while you've been trained in diplomacy. Where you see a place for
ideals, he finds that ideals are often the first casualty of events; he's a
pragmatist. It's sad, because he -was- an idealist in Congress, I'm given to
understand. Being President, not merely an anonymous legislator, seems to
have worn that away. 

"But what he meant isn't wrong. It's perhaps a bit harsh, but it's true.
There are still dangers in the world, and countries are, for better or
worse, looked upon mostly for their ability to fend off those dangers." The
King paused here. "But understand from whence it comes - someone who
*believes* in NATO, but who seems to feel like his side's been carrying most
of the burden. It's a common complaint among American soldiers, and it isn't
entirely without merit, when you look at NATO as a whole. They *have*
carried most of the burden, and it does feel a bit unfair from their
perspective. 

"Add in, I think he felt more than a little sore about your quick pullout
from Azerbaijan. You had good reasons, yes...But the way I read it, it felt
to a lot of Americans like you pulled our troops out just when the
solidarity was needed. Even a partial pullout feels like a lot from that
perspective. It may not be -accurate-, but perception
-is- nine-tenths of reality. When you add that up with our force structure
cutbacks, I think it feels to some like you're taking advantage of them." 

Elena listened intently, and hearing it from someone on 'her side' seemed to
bring it into sharper focus. "Perhaps the old saying is right after all- to
get peace we must prepare for war. Perhaps it is my background, my idealism
that points me away from spending too much on defence. I'd much rather it
spent on healthcare, infrastructure, education...but then what are these
things without protection? The Azerbaijan situation was not our proudest
moment, I perhaps should have taken the advice I was given rather than act
so quickly. After all I have ended up sending back almost as many troops as
were pulled out, albeit supposedly non-combatant personnel. I'm sure the
headlines about my backtracking will last a while yet, but that's something
I'm used to." She had been focussing into midair and now looked back to Juan
Carlos. "Perhaps maintaining a larger military would not be the end of the
world, after all we still hold the decision when and how to deploy them." 

"Precisely. So long as we maintain the ability to say 'no' to a particular
conflict - something not even the Americans argue with, not too much anyhow
- we maintain the final say. But, strictly unofficially? I think what even
your opposition would say is that we need to be able to credibly contribute
when called upon, and that means having a military that can bear the burden
of, as Williams put it in that transcript your office sent over, 'the common
defence'. We have, after all, gotten more out of NATO than we could ever
give back. 
That doesn't mean we shouldn't aim to contribute our honest share." 

"You are, of course, correct." Elena thought for a moment in silence before
continuing. "The fact I've spent a lot on ambitious plans in other areas
doesn't help us out on this matter. I'm sure I can find a few Euros to throw
in the direction of the armed services, even if it is just a token gesture
until something a bit more formal could be worked out." 

"Won't really satisfy anybody, I'm afraid. As I review the transcript of
your conversation with Williams that your office sent over, I'm struck by
the thought that he, in particular, seemed to want you to at least commit to
a formal improvement plan. So would the voters here, too. So would anybody -
words don't help much, unless they're backed up by measurable actions." 

Elena sighed a little, he was right and he hadn't even been party to the
actual discussion with Williams. "I think it's time I got together the
Defence and Finance Ministers for a discussion. If we're going to do this I
want to do it right first time. I don't suppose you want to lead the
discussions while I take a few days off?" Her features contorted back into a
smile.

"It sounds tempting, but I'm not going to do your job for you." The King
replied.

"Well it was worth a try." She shrugged a little. "Perhaps, instead we could
have a chat about a few other things on both our minds?"

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Actions: 
Well none really, just a chat to show shifting views on Spain's defence
policy and as a precursor to future posts.