Lawyers, Guns and Money Doctrine

Author:	Walsh the Beloved
Date Announced:	July 1, 2014
Link:	Original Announcement 2017 Reaffirmation
Status:	Active

The Lawyers, Guns and Money Doctrine was announced on July 1, 2014, by Walsh the Beloved of the Screaming Red Asses to define the scope of current and future treaties of the Red Asses. It represented a change from the previous Red Ass foreign policy of only signing Optional Defense and Aggression Pacts, which was designed to ensure that coalition warfare would never be forced upon the Red Asses. The Lawyers, Guns and Money Doctrine represented the same philosophy with considerably more freedom.

Text of Doctrine

All treaties signed by the Screaming Red Asses shall represent the right of the Screaming Red Asses to intervene politically, militarily and financially on behalf of treaty partners. Said treaty partners are understood to have reciprocal rights. This is forthwith applied retroactively to all existing Red Ass treaty partners. This doctrine does not represent a change to our treaty obligations, perceived or actual; it merely more accurately embodies the spirit of our treaty partnerships than any existing treaty template.

Political Philosophy Behind the Doctrine

For all practical intents and purposes, the Lawyers, Guns and Money Doctrine changed very little from SRA's previous policy of only signing ODAP treaties. It was largely an exercise in semantics -- ODAP didn't quite reflect the attitude of the Red Asses towards their treaty partners. SRA experimented with other treaty templates (Amity and Cooperation Treaties, for instance), but remained unsatisfied. There is no pretense on behalf of Walsh the Beloved that the Lawyers, Guns and Money Doctrine is new or revolutionary -- it's roots lie in a few other attempts at cracking the treaty web nut.

While philosophically, SRA agrees with Moldavi's New Sith Order Doctrine of sovereign unilateral action, it fails for SRA for two reasons: first, an alliance of its size and reluctance to engage in coalition warfare, as a standalone policy it leaves defense and inclusion in peace talks in a precarious position; second, while SRA holds some level of disdain for the treaty web, it does provide for law and order in terms of setting parameters by which other alliances may gauge their foreign policy and military intervention decisions.

The Lawyers, Guns and Money Doctrine bears a strong resemblance to Kashmir's Co-Prosperity Sphere (KCP). As well it should -- in my opinion, Kashmir is doing foreign affairs right (although it inexplicably seems to be misconstrued by many on Bob, as the comments on their introductory announcement can attest). Like KCP, this is NOT a bloc, but a sphere of influence; the Lawyers, Guns and Money Doctrine radiates out to each treaty partners from SRA like spokes on a wheel -- the treaty partners are not necessarily tied to each other. Unlike the KCP, which operated completely paperless, these are still overt, signed treaties.

In some ways, this doctrine was born out of SRA's own foreign policy satire from two years back, the One-Way Wiki PIAT -- even while writing it, Walsh the beloved couldn't help but think that this was what a the perfect treaty would look like: the ability to intervene on behalf of an ally in any way necessary.

Alliances affected by Lawyers, Guns and Money Doctrine

Treaty Partners of the Screaming Red Asses
Alliance	Treaty	Status	Signed
Kaskus	Rush Hour Accords †	Inactive	020130915000000 Sep 15, 2013
Swash Plates and Tail Rotors	Air Assault Accords	Inactive	020130322000000 Mar 22, 2013
Pirates of the Parrot Order	A Treaty to Get Behind	Active	020130930000000 Sep 30, 2013
United Republic of Nations	Asylum Accords	Merged	020131105000000 Nov 5, 2013
Zulu	Thunderbolts Over the Serengeti	Disbanded	020140427000000 Apr 27, 2014
R&R	The 3/5ths Clause ††	Active	020140612000000 Jun 12, 2014
Kashmir	An Open Letter to Walsh the Beloved †††	Active	020140827000000 Aug 27, 2014
Varangian Guard	Going Byzantine on your Ass	Merged	020140827000000 Aug 27, 2014
Kattegat	An Open Letter to Walsh the Beloved ††††	Merged	020140827000000 Aug 27, 2014

† - This treaty was an upgrade of the original protectorate treaty established on July 1, 2012

†† - This treaty extends one way from SRA to R&R; there is no reciprocal agreement

††† - This is not a treaty, but a mutual understanding between two alliances.Nevertheless, Kashmir can be considered to be under the umbrella of this doctrine.

†††† - This is not a treaty, but a continuation of the mutual understanding between Kashmir and the Red Asses.