The People’s Socialist Union of Usniya is located in the Renegade Island Alliance (RIA) and is quite active in role-playing (RP) in the region. Usniya is classified as a “Father Knows Best State” and houses a population of almost 2.1 billion citizens. The nation was once part of the BonLuk Pact, which was dissipated earlier this year. While I spoke with the leader of Usniya, I asked about several topics: war and allies, civil rights, and NS gameplay.
So, tell me about your nation and what’s happening right now.
“So, My nation is heavily based off of the USSR. I created it to be the "villain" for my Kerbal Space Program save, and I put it on Nationstates to flesh it out a bit. I ended up spending so much time here that I've been almost completely neglecting KSP! The Usniyan People's Socialist Union is a country that very well fits under the moniker of ‘Corrupt Dictatorship.’ It's almost completely controlled by the upper levels of the Usniyan People's Party, although our cold war with the Satanic Empire and LMI have brought us to liberalize somewhat. Pretty much, we're bad guys, but we're not the worst ones around, at least not in my point of view.”
What countries are you and war with and why? Do you have coalitions or allies?
“Well, we aren't at war with anyone, but we are in a major power struggle/cold war with the Satanic Empire and the Land of Madness and Insanity. The reasons for this are months old, but they basically amount to that I didn't like SE's genocides and LMI didn't like my power grabs. As for my allies, I have a few loose alliances throughout the region, plus a really close alliance with Flowrisa, but nothing truly organized since LMI convinced/tricked us into disbanding the BonLuk Pact.”
Details about the BonLuk Pact.
“Possibly the most controversial part of the Pact's structure was the quick Reaction Force, a joint military force designed to make the idea of mutual defense more feasible. It required all member nations to submit a certain percentage of their military forces to be absorbed into one united military. South Timwopo was forced to either resign from the pact or be expelled because he refused to send members of his relatively small military to the QRF despite the fact that he would have gotten even more troops back for defense, and the QRF was the institution that LMI most wanted to abolish.
So, the Bonn-Lukovitsiyo Pact was a mutual economic and defense pact formed between me, Saxony, and our allies. It started as an extension of Saxony's Bonn Statement, which provided for the contracting of military hardware to them, but as we realized the level of mutual (if diverse) interests all of our states had, we agreed to expand its responsibilities and provisions greatly. When it was founded, several other nations saw it as a threat, and united as the Federation of Allied Nations to counter it. Tensions rose and fell between both sides, until eventually both pacts were disbanded after LMI convinced many that it was for the good of the region to disband them in order to create a new universal alliance. The FAN disbanded quite easily, but the BonLuk pact went down much harder, due to disagreements about the security of such a decision and concerns of economic issues caused by the disruption of the pact's provisions. Ultimately, the proposed alliance never materialized, despite proposals from both sides, and the issue faded of as tensions between LMI and myself continued to rise. Today, a the charter of the Coalition of Independent Nations draws heavily from the BonLuk charter, but with several improvements.”
How do you feel about women’s and civil rights in your country?
“Well, civil rights aren't as much of a concern in my country. The UPP worked hard during its early years to ensure equality and and end to racism between ethnicity, but they also try to keep close tabs on people's daily lives. As for Women's Rights, that's not really an area that I ever explored. A few times I've thought about putting female characters in important positions of power, but I haven't done it out of unwillingness to approach the issue. On one hand, i'd like to have the Party truly follow its ideals of equality to completion, but at the same time, I'm not too sure about how realistic it is. Let's just leave it at that the UPP says that it fully supports women's rights.”
Why do you like NS?
“Oof, that's a tough one! I've always been a big history lover, and I just like that NS gives me the chance to play my way through history in a surprisingly realistic way. It's not Civ 5, the countries are fake but the world feels real. at least when people do it well. And also, I've become kind of obsessed with protecting my country's interests and fighting the "bad guys.” Even though I would probably be the bad guy if there weren't worse guys.”
How do you play NS?
“Definitely RP, all the way. I pretty much exclusively do RMB, but I have done one on the forums and it was great. I'd love to do more. unfortunately, there is a limit to what I can do, so I'm focusing my efforts on the RMB, which is where my enemies are.”
What advice would you give a new player?
“Well, for new players to RP, there are three things I think are important. First, you have to figure out your country's identity. That way your actions will make sense and be more consistent. Second, don't let yourself think you're the biggest guy on the block right off the bat. Do not attack people and expect to just get away with it. However, don't be afraid to be bold. that's how you grow, that's how you carve your own role.”