[War_ooc] Spain 2014

Tue Aug 5 18:32:11 EDT 2008

hey,

welcome aboard.  in Dylan and I play Canada.  good to have ya with us.

On Tue, Aug 5, 2008 at 2:31 PM, Ian Martell <martellian at hotmail.com> wrote:

> 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.
> >
> > ====
> >
> >
> >
> >
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> >
>
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