The governor paused a bit before continuing. “So far I have talked mostly about the past, but now I think it would be good to talk about the plans for the future that have been made while we have been developing this capital. I would like the representatives from the Delta Province as well as the realms of _____, ________, ________, _________, and _________ to come up on stage and share the spotlight with me now.” He smiled and waved up the other people, and I saw a Freman and the five foreign ministers who were all ranked ahead of me in precedence come up on stage to the sound of clapping from the audience, most of whom seemed to have some idea what was going on. I must admit I had no idea about what was being announced here.

“While we are still discussing the exact details, our six nations have agreed in principle to a comprehensive regional alliance and have also agreed to announce this before the world. I will first explain the circumstances that led to the development of this alliance and will then talk about the specific aspects of this alliance that we wish to make public, as it covers a wide variety of areas and heralds a new age of integration in the region. When the High Bravians first started to settle the mountain area immediately to the east of us, going northwest to southeast and ending near the Delta Province, we happened upon several peoples who lived in landlocked river valleys to the east of us. We made contact with these people and found that they shared a language that was similar enough to Low Bravian that we were able to communicate with them and find out that we shared a high degree of similar culture as well as history as outsider peoples in this continent. They expressed their concerns about being landlocked nations without secure access to the sea, which they viewed as hindering their economic development, and we expressed our own efforts to develop the region and since that time we have been seeking to negotiate a comprehensive treaty and memorandum that addressed all of our concerns and had the full consent and approval of all the nations involved. While some votes remain as to the specific details on some articles, we are prepared to announce what has been agreed upon so far.”

I sat stunned at this. While I had been waiting for approval for a relatively modest non-aggression pact, Bravia had been engaged in multiple complex negotiations, including a massive regional alliance that was sure to shake up whatever views I had of the balance of power in the area. Bravia was big and strong enough on its own, what would happen when it not only expanded into two new provinces but also increased its power by making a firm pact with five additional nations, each of whom was likely to be at least somewhat near us in power? It was impossible to fully grasp what was gong on, but I sought to record it anyway as a witness.

“First, we all recognize the importance of common efforts to seek the well-being and moral and economic development of all nations along the river systems springing from the three rivers which converge at Bravia’s Delta Province. The six nations of this river region have agreed to set up a riparian commission to ensure the common access to running water as well as any electricity generated by the river and also common policies involving the plants and animals that depend on these rivers for their survival. In addition, we have promised the full development of land, riverine, and seaport connections allowing the free transportation of goods and people throughout the entire region, so that all nations are able to use the ports of the Delta province as well as the river ports in the entire region without the payment of harbor fees or other tariffs. The entire region is declared a common customs zone, free trade zone, and free transportation zone where there is no allowance for visas nor any need for passports for all who have a citizenship in any of the nations included in the region. Each nation within the region will retain its self-government, but will also begin the process of developing common institutions that will allow for common weights and measures as well as common interpretations of diplomatic, civil, and religious law across the entire region.

Second, we recognize the need for common development and the building of infrastructure that will allow for the connection of the people of the regions together. All laws passed and any treaties agreed to by any of the nations will be translated into all of the languages of the region so that the people can be fully informed of the laws that they are under as well as the relationships their nations are involved in. All rights and privileges secured by the people of any nation within the region will be conferred automatically on all other peoples within the region. Additionally, all nations will seek to ensure that all accepted regional cultures are fully accepted within the region, connected by transportation infrastructure that allows their people the freedom of movement as well as the opportunity for trade and travel within the region, and provides for the economic and cultural well-being of the entire region. Furthermore, there will be common religious conferences among the clergy of the various nations within the regions to ensure that there is a common enforcement of the religious ways that we all share in common.

Third, as we work towards greater integration, we will begin the process of ensuring that the militaries of the region engage in common military exercises as well as war games in order to develop a greater espirit de corps as well as to ensure the interoperability of our forces throughout the entire region. All nations will work towards consistent military training as well as the ability to engage in humanitarian as well as joint military missions for the common defense of the entire region. Each nation within the region will be in a mutual defensive pact and optional aggressive pact with all other nations in the region, and any new nation that is accepted to this pact in the future must agree to a union on all relevant terms and must be accepted by a unanimous vote of the people and governments of all other states in the pact. New regions and provinces settled and explored by existing nations within the pact will automatically gain full acceptance within the alliance. All citizens of the region’s nations will maintain their full civil, economic, and political rights wherever they travel within the region and will be subject to the requirements to serve within the militia and to assist the well-being of whichever community within the region they reside in.

Some other additional articles are worthy of mention as well. All nations within the alliance will work to maintain common just weights and measures, as well as common standards of justice that are to apply equally to all residents who are citizens of any of the nations within the region. All regions and all of the people of the region are to be counted among those whose general welfare is to be sought. Any law which requires a referendum within the region shall be voted on and approved by all who are affected by the particular policy, regardless of what nation they happen to be a part of. All citizens of the nations of this region are to be free to reside and work in any of the areas which are a part of the region and are free to purchase property at a fair market value. We hope to announce further items of agreement as they are agreed upon by all of the nations and people within the region.”

With that he paused again, and the crowd erupted with thundering applause. I sat dumbfounded. I did not know the population of the nations of the region, but it had to be considerable. Bravia’s development of the Delta Region had been far more important than I had realized. Not only had it been a response to aggression from our neighbors, but it had presented a whole five landlocked nations with both a massive threat to their access to the sea as well as an opportunity to build a regional superpower with Bravia at the head. Bravia had, of course, been boldly generous in eschewing any port fees on its five landlocked new neighbors, and this policy of generosity was apparently mirrored by the other nations who were happy to find in Bravia a nation much like them and also well-disposed towards regional stability and cooperation in all kinds of matters, including military, religious, economic, and environmental concerns. This was indeed a far-reaching alliance and it meant that there were now people from at least five other nations who could find themselves in Bravia’s trading posts as residents with full political, civil, and economic rights. This was clearly something of interest to us.

As the speech was over, I joined the other dignitaries in eating a fine Bravian repast as well as talking with the other people. It was a bit hard to figure out much about the ways of the other foreign ministers, who all expressed a great deal of happiness in Bravia’s willingness to deal with the other nations of the regions as equals despite their larger size. It appeared to me, at least, in talking with them that their main priority as far as common development was building transportation routes to the seaports in the Delta region that were being set up, five in number to start, and perhaps more in the future. Many of the nations had existing barge fleets that were used to transport goods up and down the rivers, and these would be able to dock in the new Fremen Delta ports and then be transferred to Bravian ships for international trade. This promised to be very lucrative business and the free trade and travel rights would allow for some immediate increase in income and economic security for the region. Their behavior also would apparently allow for much greater security for Bravia on what would otherwise be a somewhat vulnerable Eastern border which was being developed and would likely be a bit weak for perhaps a generation or two. With this security in place, the people of the region would receive a shot in the arm as far as increased income trough transit trade which would allow them to afford to beautify their new cities far faster than would otherwise be the case.

Still, despite the fact that the various foreign ministers appeared to be friendly and gracious, despite knowing nothing about our country just as I did not know anything about their own, I was still reeling from the shock of the day’s announcements. When I returned to my quarters afterwards, I pondered what I had seen over the past few months with regards to Bravia’s political and diplomatic system. How could such a nation focus on so many areas at once? While negotiating with other members of their commonwealth to build new routes to the north beyond the forests, they also were involved in a war across the Southern Seas seeking to expand territory around their trading posts. Meanwhile, they had just conducted a massive alliance with five nations whose populations likely numbered in the millions. Bravia’s own population must be in the neighborhood of more than five million and growing rapidly, so the new alliance would at least double its strength, roughly, even if that strength was still focused on its home continent. Had the other nations been informed, or perhaps even had among them people like me who had seen the way that Bravia seemingly effortlessly wiped out an entire fleet without any casualties of its own? Had the Bravian defense of the Delta region and its commitment to settle the area been decisive in gaining the support of others? I did not know anyone apart from the Bravians on our continent who shared their beliefs and ways, but given Bravia’s ability to work with and unify with others of like mind and belief system, it was something we would have to consider. At any rate, I knew that we could not wait any longer to make a treaty with them if we wanted to do so on favorable terms, since as time went on Bravia was only going to get stronger and stronger the way things were looking.