[War_ooc] Spain 2014

[Ian Martell]

Hey Iain,

Welcome to WAR, I'm Ian Martell, the player for Japan.


--------------------------------------------------
From: "Iain" <iain at iain-waddell.co.uk>
Sent: Tuesday, August 05, 2008 11:50 AM
To: <war_ooc at esteroic.com>
Subject: [War_ooc] Spain 2014

> ====================
> Country: Kingdom of Spain
> Leader: President of the Government Elena Garcia Rodriguez Ruling Party:
> Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
>
>
> Political Landscape
> ===================
>
> In 2008, the Spanish Socialist Worker's Party was re-elected to Government
> under President Zapatero with slightly less than an overall majority. At
> this time the party was unable to secure support of any of the other 
> parties
> in the parliament and therefore began to run a minority government. This
> government was plagued by problems both in terms of its inability to gain
> support for many of its key tabled reforms and in the public opinion of 
> the
> party. Following the shooting of one of the party's Basque politicians on
> the run up to the 2008 election, which was attributed to ETA, the party 
> and
> the government were seen to do little. This ran contrary to Zapatero's
> promise of being a hardliner on terrorism and he began to lose popularity
> and the faith of his people. When an attempt was made on the President's
> life in 2009, leaving him without the function of his left arm, he stepped
> down. Vice President Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega stepped into the
> breach as interim and two days later was elected to the Presidential post 
> on
> the second vote with only a plurality of votes having failed to gain a
> majority in the first vote.
>
> It was under Fernandez's leadership that the Spanish Socialist Worker's
> Party found a renewed support among the Spaniards. Her increasingly 
> liberal
> views on equality and a unified Spain rang resoundingly with the people of
> Spain. During the ensuing recession, her firm leadership and increasingly
> public figure seized the opportunity to further her policies. In 2010, in
> league with the monarch, Juan Carlos I, she called out to Spain to seek a
> new era of unity, to use the wealth they had gathered prior to this
> financial crisis to spread throughout the country rather than the local
> disparities that currently reigned. Nationalist movements for regions
> throughout Spain began to lose their popularity and by 2012 a return to
> Central Government Administration had been achieved.
>
> Following the 2012 elections, the Spanish Socialist Workers Party found
> themselves win a landslide victory with a clear majority in the Senate.
> Fernandez congratulated her party and their supporters before announcing 
> her
> time had come to retire. It was a third round of voting this time that
> eventually elected a President to be confirmed by the King. Elena Garcia
> Rodriguez was confirmed as President on November 17th, 2012. Rodriguez was
> much younger than her predecessor and a new-hand to politics having only
> joined the government of Fernandez 2 years earlier from a career in
> diplomacy.
>
> After a shaky start, Fernandez gained increasing popularity with key 
> members
> of her party and many public figures spoke out in support of a fresh face
> leading the country. Many social reforms remained on the table, and it was
> Fernandez that began to bring the Spanish back into the international
> political arena in 2013 following a prolonged period of political 
> isolation.
>
>
> Defence
> =======
>
> The Spanish military remains active only in International Peacekeeping
> Forces and has down-scaled considerably in recent years. The running joke 
> is
> that the coast guard and border patrol will soon be the frontline Spanish
> troops. The Spanish government have been reluctant to pledge any troops to
> the UN and have only done so when it has been suggested that they're
> co-operation is required rather than requested. This reluctance echoes the
> lack of participation in diplomacy in recent years. The participation in
> peacekeeping operations in Azerbaijan under US direction was seen as
> controversial (albeit justified) given the condemnation of violence in
> Russian provinces and Korea.
>
> Foreign Relations
> =================
>
> Over the past year, President Fernandez has reshuffled her ambassadorial
> staff to better represent Spain abroad. There are rumours of an intended
> tour of Europe to discuss common political issues with nearby leaders but
> nothing has yet been confirmed.
>
> In 2013 Fernandez directly criticised the Chinese leader for his
> government's involvement in using prisoners to produce goods for export.
> This, whilst the opinion of the majority, was seen as a bold move given 
> the
> influence of the superpower over the currently political climate. Further
> condemnations came from members of her government and diplomatic staff
> following evidence of human rights violations by Chinese soldiers.
>
> Relations with the United States have been cordial, with open discussion 
> and
> review of the Azerbaijan situation and joint criticism of the Chinese
> leading to a defrosting of the usually icy Iberian-US dialogue. There have
> been warnings from several sources against Spain becoming a new US 
> 'lapdog'
> which the President has not taken seriously. Comparisons of former UK-US
> relations have also been made.
>
> Despite widely evading damage in recent international terrorist strikes,
> Fernandez has reinforced her position to not negotiate with terrorist
> organisations and ensured that the leaders of countries affected all
> received personal messages of condolences and support from her government. 
> A
> visit to the United States is now thought to be imminent following 
> messages
> of support for the Williams administrations handling of almost ever recent
> affair.
>
>
> Economy
> =======
>
> The economy is slowly restabilising following the recessions of recent
> times. This has been helped with the central regulation of government
> spending and taxation taken back from local governments a couple of years
> ago. There is hope with a raised international profile both tourism and
> sales of Spanish exports will bring the country higher revenues once more.
>
>
> Social Issues
> =============
>
> Unemployment remains an issue in Spain which has had an effect on slightly
> higher rates of crime. The government is tackling these problems together
> with criminals having compulsory public service and training courses to
> increase their skills and 'sense of duty'.
>
> Particularly following World Youth Day in 2011 in Madrid, a return to
> Catholicism has led to immense controversies in Spain. Whilst the people 
> are
> taking up regular attendance at mass and religious views, this has led to 
> a
> decreased interest in social reform. This has been echoed by the slowing 
> of
> social reforms passing through legislative paths. Hate crimes have been on
> the increase following recent international terrorism and Iranian actions,
> particularly against the Muslim communities in Spain. There has been a
> no-tolerance approach from the government on these crimes with mandatory
> custodial sentences for anyone convicted but this has done little to curb
> the trend. Non-Spanish nationals are still finding themselves feeling
> bullied as the nation frowns on both legal and illegal immigration. The
> tightening of immigration laws does not seem to have helped the matter.
>
> Tolerance for homosexual marriage remains but is continuously being
> protested by religious groups and being brought for debate in government.
> The appointment of an openly-gay man as Vice President, who is married to
> his husband has been viewed as a token gesture to the 'liberal' views that
> the President supposedly holds and has led to a decrease in both the
> government, and their leader's popularity among the more religious.
>
> The Muslim population of Spain is also gaining increased attendance at
> religious gatherings and whilst this initially was accepted and a
> live-and-let-live attitude was adopted, increasing suspicion over the war 
> in
> Azerbaijan and terrorism has led to the occasional brawl between Muslims 
> and
> Christians. Conversely, the Muslims are protesting the Spanish 
> government's
> involvement in Azerbaijan as an act against Islamic faithfuls.
>
> Human Rights organisations and Sexual-equality groups remain a powerful
> lobbying force but are being increasingly side-lined over the growing 
> power
> of the Catholic Church and the government's desperation to quench bad
> feeling both from and toward its Muslim citizens.
>
> ====
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> War_ooc mailing list
> War_ooc at esteroic.com
> http://esteroic.com/mailman/listinfo/war_ooc_esteroic.com
>