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Welcome to the inaugural edition "Conversations", the newspaper that brings the thoughts and opinions of prominent eRepublik figures to you, the people.

In each edition, I aim to hold 1-on-1 interviews with the leaders, politicians, commanders, and analysts of the New World. In this preamble, I want to stress that these articles will be non-partisan and primarily of international interest. If you feel I've violated these self-imposed guidelines, please, don't hesitate to notify me.

As I pen my first edition, I find myself in my temporary residence of Transylvania, Romania. In real life, Canada is the haven of refugees. In this New World, I, as well as thousands of other Canadians, find myself a refugee. Once a proud pillar of international strength and stability, Canada has been reduced to a small segment of coastline along the Atlantic Ocean. Its economy in shambles and its dignity just as badly wounded, it fell to the mighty PEACE GC invasion of North America on August 6th. Though its people are dispersed among the globe as seeds in the wind, Canadians everywhere have vowed never to forget that date. Recently an inflow of Canadians has begun with the recapture of Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, PEI, and, most recently, Nova Scotia.

Today, in the inaugural edition of "Conversations", I am excited to present to you the Prime Minister of Canada, Jacobi. Though some critics claim he is the reason Canada was briefly wiped from the map earlier this month, he is viewed by most as the orchestrator of the Canadian resurgence.

I spoke with Prime Minister Jacobi and 18:30 eRepublik time, Day 637 on the eCanada IRC. The conversation went as follows:



Adam Legge: Hello Prime Minister Jacobi, thanks for your time.

Jacobi: Thank you for having me.

AL: Lets get right down to it. Throughout this war Canada and its allies have faced the question: "Is it better to die on your feet than live kneeling down?" What's your opinion, not as a world leader, but rather as a Canadian patriot?

J: As a Canadian, my opinion is that we as Canadians aren't a super power. We aren't a massive military power, we aren't a super economic power, so we have to fill a niche, and as in real life, our niche here has been our reputation. Events in December aside, our reputation is what keep us, as a country, strong, it's what keeps us united and gives us a purpose behind fighting for the sake of fighting. Had we surrendered, we would have given up our reputation and our pride, which is the most important thing we have. As a Canadian patriot, I would never tolerate giving up our most important thing. Its not a balance.

AL: I see. Does that opinion change as the leader of a nation (as your job is to ensure the well-being of your constituents, rather than your nation's dignity)?

J: I don't have to sacrifice my patriotic feelings when I lead Canada, but there are points where, for purposes of tact and logic I have to temper myself.

AL: Much like Emerick has done this past week with the NAP then.

J: As a leader, the concept of keeping what's most important to us guides me to my decisions, but I can't let it be the logic and reasoning behind them. What Emerick did was he looked at the facts on the ground, and made a calculated decision. It was exactly what I did before the fall of Ontario. I came to a different conclusion than he did not because I'm more patriotic than him, or because he is more cynical than I am, but because our situations were different. Canada was not the main PEACE target and our reputation is far different from theirs. I judged, and continue to judge, that we can gain back our country slowly but surely. Emerick, because of how the world views the United States, and also because he has a much larger population, judged that he can take some lumps now but regain what he had later.

AL: I suppose the role of a nation, the "niche" as you put it, determines its foreign policy more than anything. Let's talk for a minute about the Battle of Ontario. Describe how you felt throughout the Battle of Ontario, including in the hours after the defeat.

J: I spent a lot of the battle of Ontario in Allied Command, and working with cabinet ministers to finalize post exile plans. There was at one point a conversation with Goran Thrax, who is the Speaker of the House and him describing the relief that we'd have if Ontario was lost, and I'll tell you why. If we kept Ontario, and just Ontario, PEACE would be able to keep all of their MPPs on the entire time, so there would be little likelihood of us winning any 10 on 14 battles. Also, we'd see the situation we presently see today amplified, because we'd have all these companies and all these Canadians holed up in Ontario with no resource provinces to feed them. If we lost Ontario, we would have a chance to rebuild yes, a chance to move our people to places where they could save money, but most importantly our wars would be closed but our alliances, our MPPs, would not be. So when we got our regions back (as we have been) if France or Hungary wanted to take them back, it would literally be JUST France or JUST Hungary attacking us, which is much more manageable odds, aside from the propaganda of continually attacking a small rebuilding country that you just wiped off the map. Then, when it looked like we were going to win (I had convinced the US to drop Texas and focus on Ontario, so we got this huge influx of American help), we started planning out what Canada would look like the next day. Which is to say if PEACE would waste more gold and attack Ontario again or if they would simply give up.

AL: Which is lost on some critics of our government, the tactical significance of losing a battle, such as Ontario. A lot has transpired in the last 10 days, the fall of Canada, the America-PEACE NAP. Knowing what you know now, would you have handled the war differently over the last month?

J: I would have bought that Spanish company with 16,000 gold in it.

AL: Haha, I might've beaten you to it.

J: I think if we're looking hindsight we've realized two things: 1) PEACE wanted us completely wiped off the map; 2) PEACE certainly had the financial ability to do it. We could have doubled Canada's efforts and had 100% organization. We still would have lost and we still would be in a similar situation as today.

AL: I guess when facing a power so large, the finer strategy becomes irrelevant.

J: I think the only thing that I would change is what happened before the war primarily in my first term more aggressively pursuing peace with France. We could have thrown 700 or 900 gold at that problem, which would have been outrageous then, but think of how cheap that price would be now! That might be a game mechanics problem or a problem inherent in an alliance that so overwhelmingly dominates militarily and economically. What, we had one Iron region in the entirety of Fortis and EDEN for 2 months?

AL: Certainly a well-noted flaw.

J: Until we liberated Central Greece we were completely reliant on Spanish iron. When you have that sort of massive disadvantage, it's hard to compete, and PEACE had that sort of advantage in many different areas. I'm not saying I didn't make mistakes or more obnoxiously, that the mistakes I didn't make don't matter because we would have lost anyway, because that would be the response of a jackass. What I am saying is that we didn't quite recognize the entirety of the threat we were up against, but if we had recognized the threat back then, we may not have acted so nobly.

AL: Haha, well said. After suffering the loss (however brief) of their homeland, many Canadians feel betrayed by Emerick's new deal. What's your opinion? Do you empathize with these Canadians?

J: I was disappointed by Emerick's deal. I... found it really sad that he goes out on a limb on this deal and risks his political career and then Russia re-negs on the deal.

AL: A story breaking as we speak.

J: I empathize with a guy who is forced to do something that he really doesn't want to, and then he gets slapped in the face anyway. Its the worst of both worlds. I think the optics of the deal were much worse than the text. However, no one was ever really pleased with the text.

AL: In such unpredictable times as these, it's impossible to foresee the events of tomorrow, let alone the coming months. Do you have any predictions on a timeline for the resurrection of Canada, on the outcome of the war, or on the eventual fate of PEACE?

J: I would probably predict that Canada will have most of its territories back by the end of September but the full and complete return of Canada will depend on events and actions outside of our control, I'm pretty sure though that Canada will be complete by the time that the new war module is out. PEACE will continue as an alliance until either Indonesia or Hungary want to make a move to forge new relationships. We have to remember that its a vehicle for those two countries to pursue their ends, not a community of equals working together for common excellence. When one of those two countries sees its future differently, PEACE as a major power in erepublik will cease to exist.

AL: Interesting analysis.

J: I try.

AL: Do you plan on seeking re-election this September?

J: My original plan, before the war was that I stand down in August, and if I wasn't particularly happy with how things went with my successor, I would run again in September. The original plan obviously no longer applies. I think the best answer to this is that I will run in September if necessary, but I will not necessarily run.

AL: You speak like a politician, haha.

J: There will come a point in time, no matter how good a person may be at a particular job, when people will get sick of anyone. They've simply been around too long and people will want someone new and fresh, and after three months I don't think I can consider myself new and fresh. However, if I think I could do a better job than the people who are interested in the job, and I don't think there are that many, I would probably run one more time.

AL: And finally, what message would you like to send to Canadians home and abroad?

J: My message to Canadians is simple. Keep the faith. Register at www.ecanada.ws/forums, save your money to fight in Canadian resistance wars, and remember that you can vote for Canadian congress next week without being in Canada.

AL: Thanks for your time and good luck in the future.

J: Thank you.

As a country is dismantled by war, its people change. They are not altered in orientation, but rather they grow wiser. Through the rise and re-birth of such a nation as this, through the experience of oppression in one's own homeland, they become a more compassionate people. The PEACE camp would say they've learned a lesson. The Canadians would not argue that they've learned something.

That's all for this edition of "Conversations". If you have any comments on the interview or suggestions on who you would like to see in future editions, message me, Adam Legge. Vote and subscribe, and keep your eye out for the next Conversation!

Adam Legge