The Cartel Compact

The Cartel Compact

Preamble

In that the Signatories to this Document have come to the realization that they are bound together already by various treaties of Mutual Defense and friendship, this realization has caused them to come to the conclusion that they should formalize their various agreements under one Compact in order to pursue the peace, prosperity, and security they currently enjoy, and to encourage future growth as well. Thus, it is declared that as of 8:00 pm 4-25-2008 this Cartel Accord shall be enacted and in force:

Article I. Organization

A. The name of the bloc shall be The Cartel Compact, hereafter referred to as 'the Compact'. B. While banding together for mutual defense,the Compact shall be emphasized on economic growth and development. C. Protectorate Alliances will be encouraged, to be protected by the Compact as a whole. D. Each Signatory Alliance, hereafter referred to as 'Signatory', shall have 3 representatives with the Compact. 1. 1 representative shall sit on the Steering Committee. The Steering Committee shall be responsible for interbloc and interalliance diplomacy. Chair shall be rotated once a month on the first of the month. 2. 1 representative shall sit on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, hereafter refered to as 'the Joint Chiefs'. The Joint Chiefs shall be responsible for all military actions of the Compact as a whole. The Chair shall rotate monthly on the 10th of the month. 3. 1 representative shall sit on the Development Committee. The Development Committee is responsible for co-ordinating all economic, trade, and development programs for the Compact and its protectorates. The Chair of the Committee shall rotate monthly on the 20th of the month. E. The Compact shall maintain an offsite presence, administered and moderated by the 3 Committees. All other members of the offsite forum shall be either Members with access to all but the diplomatic and planning sections, or Diplomats from non-bloc alliances and other blocs restricted to the Diplomatic section. While 'rank and file' members of the Signatories are not required to have an account on the offsite, it is highly encouraged that they do so. F. The Compact shall also maintain an online presence on the Coldfront network, in the channel #compact. Channel operators shall be any current Committee member. G. The Steering Committee's votes shall be the guiding hand of the Compact, subject to review by the Joint Chiefs and the Development Committee. All Compact announcements on the Offworld Forum shall be made by the Chair of the Steering Committee.

Article II. Admission

A. Admission shall be by invitation only. B. The review process of an applicant shall last no longer than 5 days, then a vote shall be called. Voting shall be open for 48 hours, and requires a unanimous vote for the admission to carry. Admission votes are taken by the Steering Committee. If a Signatory fails to post their vote within the 48 hours required by these Concords, it shall be registered as an abstention. C. An application may be rejected ex-committee if it is incomplete. The information required to successfully complete an application are: 1. Name of the alliance in question 2. Copy of their charter 3. Current listing of all government officials at the Minister level (or equivilent) and above. 4. A listing of all active treaties. 5. The applicant must be at peace, alliance-wide, uninvolved in any alliance wars at the time of the application. D. There shall be no preference of Team color for admission to the Compact. E. The various Committee representatives shall be placed at the bottom of the rotation list of the various Committees in order for them to learn procedures and protocols before serving as Chair.

Article III. Ejection and Departure

A. No Signatory shall be ejected without cause. B. The Signatory shall have opportunity to present its case to the Steering Committee who will judge the case on its merits. This opportunity must be engaged within 72 hours of notification of cause to eject. All evidence shall be presented in a private forum on the offsite. C. Debate on ejection shall not excede 96 hours before calling for the vote. All debate shall take place in a private forum on the offsite. D. A near-unanimous vote by the Steering Committee is needed to eject a Signatory, the voting to be closed 48 hours after debate ends. The Signatory in question cannot vote on this issue. There can be 1 dissenting vote or abstention. If a Signatory fails to post their vote within the 48 hours required by these Concords, it shall be registered as an abstention. E. Causes for ejection include, but shall not be limited to, refusal to discipline or dismiss members for espionage, refusal to discipline or dismiss members for inflamatory actions on offsite forums or IRC, refusal to discipline or dismiss members for treason against the Compact, and other offenses to be named by ammendment to these Concords. F. A Signatory may withraw at any time, with 72 hours notice. The notice must be posted on the Compact offsite, and the 72 hours starts at the top of the hour after posting. G. A state of Non-Agression with the departing Signatory shall exist for 72 hours following the announcement of the ejection on the Offworld Forum and the 72 hours starts at the top of the hour after posting.

Article IV. Steering Committee

A. The Steering Committee shall be responsible for the diplomatic presence of the Compact as well as being responsible for setting short term and long term goals of the Compact. B. Each Signatory will commit 1 member in good standing to the Steering Committee, to be determined by the usual process of that Signatory. C. The Steering Committee shall also be responsible for creating policies and procedures for the Compact as a whole. These policies, unless classified by the Steering Committee, the Joint Chiefs, or the Development Committee, shall be posted in the 'members' section of the offsite forum. D. The Steering Committee shall meet regularly, and minutes of meetings of the Steering Committee shall be posted in the 'member' section of the forum.

Article V. Joint Chiefs of Staff

A. The Joint Chiefs shall be responsible for maintaining the War & Defense portion of the forum. B. Each Signatory will commit 1 member in good standing to the Joint Chiefs, to be determined by the usual process of that Signatory. C. The Joint Chiefs shall be responsible for crafting war guides and tactics as well as war plans and target packages for Bloc-wide wars. These plans shall be co-ordinated with the Development Committee to insure timely war aid to prosecute the plans, and disseminated to the Signatories by the Military Attache's. D. The Joint Chiefs shall appoint Military Attache's to Signatories and Protectorates to co-ordinate defensive and offensive actions. The Attache's shall help the Signatory to organise an efficient military, as well as deliver target packages and strategies in case of war. To this end, it is required they have access to the assigned Signatory's war and defense forums. It is recommended that the Attache' not be a member of the assigned Signatory. Attache's are answerable directly to the Joint Chiefs and indirectly to the Steering Committee. E. The Joint Chiefs shall meet regularly, and minutes of meetings of the Joint Chiefs shall be posted in their section of the offsite forum for review by the Steering Committee.

Article VI. Development Committee

A. The Development Committee shall be responsible for the co-ordination of economic efforts to spur growth in the Signatories as a whole. B. Each Signatory will commit 1 member in good standing to the Development Committee, to be determined by the usual process of that Signatory. C. The Development Committee shall maintain the Economic, Trade, and Aid section of the Compact offsite. D. War and Rebuilding Aid shall be a priority in any aid requests, however, the main thrust shall always be toward long-term economic growth through the encouragement of interalliance trade circles, loans extended to Signatories, and so forth. Economic policy statements and plans shall be posted in 'member' areas of the forums unless deemed classified by the Joint Chiefs or the Steering Committee. E. The Development Committee shall maintain a list of nations willing to serve as Banks in times of political instability on Planet Bob at large in order to facilitate the successful prosecution of any war the Compact finds itself in. F. The Development Committee may assign, at its discretion, Coordinators to the various Signatories and Protectorates F. The Development Committee shall meet regularly, and minutes of meetings of the Development Committee shall be posted in their section of the offsite forum for review by the Steering Committee.

Article VII. War Policy

A. The Compact shall not adhere to a First-Strike nuclear policy except in the case of nuclear rogues. B. The Signatories shall be obligated to participate in defensive alliance wars of any Signatory or Protectorate. C. In the event of an offensive Alliance war, a Signatory must inform the Compact through its Steering Committee member no less than 72 hours ahead of the planned assault, and as many more as they can manage, to allow the Development Committee and the Joint Chiefs of Staff to co-ordinate efforts necessary to the war effort. D. Participating in an offensive Alliance war shall be voted on by the Steering Committee, with 80% or greater vote needed to pass the resolution. E. Signatories who vote against the resolution are not required to join in military action. However, diplomatic aid, necessary to the peace process, shall be expected of them, as well as normal rebuilding aid once hostilities cease.

Article VIII. Protectorates

A. Alliances may apply for Protectorate status in their embassy on the Compact forum. The requirements are: 1. No more than 100 members 2. No more than 1,000,000 aggregate nation strength 3. Applicants must submit a copy of their charter, a listing of their current government officials, whether it's a provisional government or permenant government, and a listing of all treaties currently active with their formal request. 4. Protectorates agree to allow moderator/admin access to their offsites to designated Compact officials to help organise their economy, diplomacy, and defense needs. 5. Protectorates may send up to 3 Observers to the Compact offsite to aid in co-ordination of their economic, diplomatic, and defense needs. 6. Protectorates reaching 1,000,000 aggregate nation strength and 100 members shall have the opportunity to become full Signatories of the Compact, with only a 65% vote needed to admit. 7. A Protectorate may withdraw at any time without penalty, and a Non-Agression Pact shall be considered to be in force for no less than 7 days following their departure. 8. A Protectorate may be cancelled by the Steering Committee upon an 80% cancellation vote. Procedures and grounds for cancellation shall be as in Article III. A state of Non-Agression with the cancelled protectorate shall exist for 72 hours following the announcement of the cancellation on the Offworld Forum, and the 72 hours starts at the top of the hour after posting. B. A Signatory may move their current Protectorates to the protection of the Compact at large if the Protectorate so desires and agrees. However, this is not required.

Article IX. Diplomatic Scope

A. For purposes of precedence, these Concords shall have precedence over all treaties of the Signatories below the level of Mutual Defense Pact. B. The Compact as a whole shall be authorised to pursue and implement treaties of the level of Mutual Defense Pact and lower. These treaties shall be considerred binding to the Signatories as though the Signatories themselves have pursued them. C. Each Signatory shall maintain their sovereignty in internal matters. The Compact shall not interfere in the internal workings of any Signatory. However, this does not preclude Compact action necessary to the support of the lawful government of the Signatories upon request and at the discretion of the Steering Committee. C. Each Signatory shall maintain their sovereignty in matters of foreign affairs, and are free to pursue any treaty or agreement of the level of Mutual Defense Pact or lower. These treaties need not be ratified by the Compact as a whole. Treaties of the level of MoADP and greater are to be considered as an invitation to the Compact, and shall be handled persuant to Article II. Failure of the treaty to become an invitation does NOT preclude the alliance in question from enacting the treaty, only that it will not constitute formal membership in the Compact. D. Each Signatory agrees to maintain a current copy of their 'ZI list' at the Compact offsite forum, and further agrees to refrain from recruiting among a Signatory's enemies. E. In that diplomacy is a necessary part of securing the Peace, diplomatic aid shall be offered in all conflicts the Compact becomes involved in, and may be extended upon request to any alliance in any war. However, in the case of foreign wars, there is no guarantee such diplomatic aid shall be rendered.

Article X. Ammendments

A. Ammendments to these Accords may be initiated by any Steering Committee member. Debate shall take place for 96 hours, and then placed to the vote. The vote shall be tallied 96 hours after debate closes. A near-unanimous vote is required for the ammendment to pass, with either 1 'Nay' vote or abstention allowed. B. The Signatory's vote shall be cast by its Steering Committee member upon its determination by the Signatory in its usual lawful internal manner. C. Procedures of the Committees are internal to that Committee, and need not call for an ammendment, however, they will need to be posted in the respective sections of the offsite forum.

Signed By:

Signed for The Mighty Armed States of Honor: Commanding Officer - Flonker Executive Officers - Tweak1029 and <--Chase--> Foreign Affairs Officer - Ruphus Senior Drill Instructor - Col. Fitswilliam Senator - PewterPirate55 M*A*S*H Joint Chiefs of Staff

Signed for Norden Verein: Reichskaiser - Striderwannabe Minister of Foreign Affairs - Emperor �Ÿ Reichsbanker - Vinzent Zeppelin Reichsgeneral - Homer Minister of the Interior - Ludwig Erhard Chief Envoy - Weiss von Toten

Signed For Browncoats: HollowEyes, Prime Minister Hung Lo, Home Minister Schattenmann, Foreign Minister Durim, Deputy Foreign Minister Nintenderek, Defense Minister

Signed For IDC: Triumverant: Executive Branch, Deadeye Flyskate Capt. Tabor

Signed For OTS: H.M.E.H. Count von Lewenhaupt - Grand Master of OTS H.E. Hormones74 - Grand Chancellor of OTS H.E King Conan - Magistrate H.E. Grasshopper - Grand Commander of OTS