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Mailing List Logs for ShadowRN

Message no. 1
From: Kevin Dole kdole@***.vsc.edu
Subject: Superpowers
Date: Sat, 8 May 1999 11:14:24 EST5EDT
> >Keep in mind that in the
> >world of SR, there are no more real superpowers.
> Beg to differ. Imperial Japan and the UCAS qualify - if you have carrier
> groups that size, you can project a fearful amount of power pretty much

From the sounds of things, Australia (maybe in union with the
Kiwis) has/has a pretty good grip on the south Pacific and was in
the process of "pacifying" New Gunea (sp). (Rigger Black Book)


Kevin Dole \;)
kdole@***.vsc.edu
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Dimension/4151/welcome.html
"Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good
of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better
to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral
busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep,
his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who
torment us for own good will torment us without end, for
they do so with the approval of their own conscience."
C.S. Lewis, God in the Dock
Message no. 2
From: Josh Munn barnack2@*****.com
Subject: Superpowers
Date: Sat, 8 May 1999 21:01:53 -0700 (PDT)
--- Kevin Dole <kdole@***.vsc.edu> wrote:
> > >Keep in mind that in the
> > >world of SR, there are no more real superpowers.
> > Beg to differ. Imperial Japan and the UCAS qualify - if you have
> carrier
> > groups that size, you can project a fearful amount of power pretty
> much
>
> From the sounds of things, Australia (maybe in union with the
> Kiwis) has/has a pretty good grip on the south Pacific and was in
> the process of "pacifying" New Gunea (sp). (Rigger Black Book)
>
>
The answer to the question of who is a superpower in the realm of
Shadowrun is dependent on what your definition of what constitutes
being a superpower. I define a superpower as a country which can exert
enough power on a world wide level to significantly alter the actions
of the most powerful regional powers. The key here is that the power
in question must have significant influence outside of its imediate
area Such as the United State today.

Under this definition Australia and the UCAS would not count as
superpowers because their significant influence is limited to those
countries in their imediate areas, North america for the UCAS and the
South Pacific for Australia. Japan might be able to be called a
Superpower since it does have influence on a global level but it seams
only to be able to affect the minor powers overseas and it does not
seem to have the ability to significantly affect the actions of the
various major reginal powers.



==
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Message no. 3
From: Robert Watkins robert.watkins@******.com
Subject: Superpowers
Date: Mon, 10 May 1999 09:51:26 +1000
Kevin Dole writes:
> From the sounds of things, Australia (maybe in union with the
> Kiwis) has/has a pretty good grip on the south Pacific and was in
> the process of "pacifying" New Gunea (sp). (Rigger Black Book)

I wouldn't get too carried away with that line of speculation...

First: Australia would have large parts of it's land mass much more
unaccessible than before due to mana storms. While virtually no-one lives
out there, most of our resources are in that region, and the loss of those
would hurt. Of course, it's possible that mana storms aren't any more a
hindrance to mining operations than normal storms: design for them and
you're laughing.

Second: Australia would have had problems with it's native population, much
like the US did.

Third: Australia, and to a lesser extent, New Zealand have a vested interest
in stability in South East Asia. There are strong hints that the region is
in utter turmoil in SR times. It is very likely that Australia would have
moved in to support falling governments, especially in Papua New Guinea,
which is a former Australian protectorate, and a country that we have very
close ties to.

To sum up: having Australian troops fighting in New Guinea is not
necessarily a sign of Australian imperialism. It could well be that the
troops are there at the invitation of the Papua New Guinea government, to
help suppress rebelling tribes.

--
.sig deleted to conserve electrons. robert.watkins@******.com

Further Reading

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