The 2010 Socialist International Conference is a three day conference extending from the 24th to the 27th of June 2010. It was organised by Ethiopian Ligan Lopez with the help of other leading socialist politicians. The event began with a speech by Lopez before the delegates met each other and preceded the opening ceremony.
Origins[]
The conference had its origins in the visit of Sergey Sobyanin to the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa when Lopez raised concerns that many socialist nations and parties were unwilling to join the CSTO as they were unwilling to assign themselves to Siberia. Lopez soon spoke with many other ambassadors about creating the Fifth Communist International but soon realised that anything with the word communist in it would be shunned by the ANZC and he felt that the inclusion of Australia's labour party was vital to avoid accusations of bias. Eventually he agreed to the terms of other Socialist politicians and in April 2010 the International was formed. The date of the conference itself was set the following month and the first delegates arrived in Asmara on June the 20th.
The Conference[]
24th of June[]
Lopez's Airship docks at Asmara
The majority of the delegates were already in Eritrea touring the nations hospitals and being shown around the pride of the Eritrean Navy, ENV Eritrea at the start date. The conference itself however could only start once Lopez and Aleksandr Serebrov had arrived from Australia. Lopez descended from the airship first and made a speech stating that "I hope this conference will allow all of us dedicated to socialism to discuss our problems and improve the world for the good of the human race". Following Lopez's speech the assembled delegates applauded him and proceeded into the opening ceremony. They were then all treated to a demonstration of the Ethiopian national dance troupe and the the Eritrean gymnastics team.
Following the opening ceremony the delegates attended the first conference of the Socialist Council. The delegate from Brazil was involved in a long discussion with the Angolan delegate in Portuguese while Sergey Sobyanin was delighted to meet one of the few men alive to have been in space (Aleksandr Serebrov). The day concluded with a speech by the leader of the Celtic Alliance's labour party.
25th of June[]
After settling in the day before, the conference started in earnest on Friday, as a wide array of subjects were touched upon, ranging from debating the virtues of a one-party system opposed to a multi-party socialist system. The debates were especially fierce between the Siberian and ANZC delegates, were accusations were being thrown back and forth, while mister Lopez tried ease tensions between CSTO and non-aligned members of the Socialist International.
The conference was even postponed for several hours, allowing the delegates to collect their thoughts. After this alarming break, Lopez issued a statement saying to the assembled press to "Not worry", and that, "the conference will resume shortly. You have to understand that this is a first for you, as well as us, as this is the first meeting of its kind after Doomsday. But rest assured, although we do not agree on everything, the conference will continue later today, and we will find common ground."
The conference did indeed continue, much to the surprise of the assembled journalists, who eagerly awaited what would come next. Surprisingly the Siberian and ANZC delegates apologized to each other, both with nervous smiles on their faces. The rest of the conference proceeded as planned, discussing sustainable development in the post-Doomsday world, as well as energy resources and petroleum and gas availability.
Another major dispute between the African nations occurred later in the day when the delegate from the Republic of Somalia said that the "Cruel & Heartless Ethiopians were holding the conference just to gain international support for their alliance" and that they "Had no interest in improving the world". The Puntland delegate jumped to his feet to defend the Ethiopians saying that they had helped his nation with no demands in return. Amazingly Lopez managed to control the debate (and his temper) but later said to the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation that "I seriously considered that at that point I might jump out of my seat and shout the man down myself".
26th of June[]
Today's part of the conference was kicked off by the first meeting of the Socialist World Council, which discussed a wide array of subjects, ranging from the ever present problem of poverty, to current events, such as the, now finished, war in North America, as well as the ongoing conflicts in Africa. Mister Lopez was steadfast in his belief that, if all resources of the combined socialist states were combined, conflicts like those in Sudan could be avoided. There was some concern amongst members South American members of the International regarding its ability to act in such situations and whether it was necessary, as the League of Nations was the paramount world help organization.
More leftist members then went on to argue that the LoN was ineffective in its approach to global problems. This caused a set of serious debates, once again causing unrest between the various factions of the socialist world. This debate would have gone on much longer, were it not for the fact that a break in the program was scheduled due to lunch. Over lunch two members of the world council agreed to end the only conflict between socialist nations (The Republic of Somalia and Ethiopia). The two men agreed to a ceasefire between their nations which brought great pride to Lopez and the International as a whole as it marked the first problem solved by the World Council.
The rest of the conference resumed shortly after lunch with the Brazilian delegates leader questioning the future of socialism in the world to which the USSR's representative readily replied that: "There is nothing to worry about comrade. We have seen a rising socialist sentiment in the world since Doomsday, which can not be ignored. It is a logical next step." The debate on which was the right road to pure socialism ensued in a friendlier tone then the debates of yesterday. Despite the many differences it was agreed that Socialism did provide the best way for helping the world and that it must be advanced in a way considered appropriate by the International. Such was the passion with which each delegate of the conference argued that the debate had to be cut short, as other problems were on the day's agenda. Namely, the possibility of the various socialist countries banding even further.
This was one of the more controversial issues on the agenda as while the African nations and the USSR were completely in favour of a powerful socialist voice the SAC and ANZC delegates were divided on the issue. The debate continued for hours before Lopez brought the session to the close as he wanted to prevent another incident like the day before.
Last on the agenda was the relationship that socialist nations/parties should have with the USSR but although none of the delegates could argue the willingness of the Siberian's to help their fellow socialists, none could deny that their foreign policy has caused a state of tense relations with the SAC and ANZC, which is detrimental to the spread of socialist rhetoric.
27th of June[]
After settling in for another day of the conference, the second meeting of the Socialist World Council commenced earlier today. Hot button issues continued to pervade even during the third and final day of the conference, as representatives discussed the expansion of socialism and its influence on tentative world relations before and after Doomsday.
Sergey Sobyanin, the USSR's representative, once again reiterated the Socialist Union's stance on that faithful day: "I, as a representative of today's premier socialist government, the Socialist Union, would once again like to express how strongly we condemn the actions of our past leaders and the foolish bravado of the Mutually Assured Destruction policy. We have gone to great lengths to reform our government and to not make the same mistake again. We hope that the rest of the council has seen how we have grown since those times and now have the truest form of socialism in our state" This was met by thunderous applause by most of the council, which was cut short by SAC and ANZC members, who dismissed his claims, arguing that only truly democratic, multi-party socialist practices were the true road to a socialist future. "The people have the right to choose their leaders!", shouted the ANZC representative.
Once again, Ligan Lopez was forced to intervene, stating: "Please comrades, let us focus on the matter at hand. This Council is here to debate issues, not to make accusations at its members." Lopez proceeded to have the debate move to discuss the social inequalities that have surfaced after Doomsday and how each member state could help to eradicate the problem. The debate was friendly and all of the representatives unanimously agreed to push for better social equality both domestically and abroad.
Later in the day, the last to subjects scheduled for the conference were discussed: relations with the ANZC as well as the rise of multi-national unions in the past 25 years. Although most of the states attending the meeting were from national governments, almost all attending the meeting agreed that it was only natural that nations faced with tragedy would band together to survive. A shining example at the conference was Siberia, which is one of the most diverse nations in the world, in terms of its population. Finally, it was agreed upon that relations with the ANZC should be improved, as no one wanted the events of Doomsday recurring.
The day itself ended on a positive note with speeches from a variety of influential socialists. First up was Aleksandr Serebrov who made a speech about the enduring quality of socialism and how Doomsday must never be repeated. Following him were the leaders of the three main socialist parties (the ANZC's labour party, the USSR's communist party and Brazil's Workers Party). Noticeably none of the three leaders commented on the differences they had had instead choosing to make speeches on what they thought were the successes of the conference. The ANZC delegate spoke about the way that all nations had agreed to avoid the cold war tensions of the past. The USSR delegate spoke about the renewed commitment to socialism in the post DD world while the Brazilian delegate spoke about the dedication to solving poverty in the world. After these men had spoken Lopez took to the podium again and spoke about what he felt was the great success of the conference and how he felt that the conference had been an unpredictable success.
Following the speeches the delegates preceded to the closing ceremony aboard the ENV Eritrea. Firstly the Ethiopian aerobatics team launched from the Eritrea much to the amazement of the ANZC and SAC (the USSR was already aware of its potential) delegates who had believed that the Eritrea was simply a dud. The Ethiopians then carried out a demonstration of their skill as pilots before launching rockets filled with fireworks. Following this the delegates returned to their hotels and Lopez, Sobyanin, Serebrov and Kevin Rudd answered questions from the assembled journalists.
Quotes[]
Media Analysis[]
Siberia[]
The CAMC[]
- The African Star reported that the conference had been a great success, although it was naturally going to be biased towards the viewpoint of the CAMC. It highlighted the effects of the conference on Africa, paying special attention to the surprise of ANZC and SAC delegates after the Eritrea had launched its aircraft. It also had a small piece on the arguments between the Siberian and Australian delegates, as well as a larger piece on the resolution of the Ethiopia/Republic of Somalia conflict.