Header Courtesy of Lynxi 

February 2019  

Community Strength
By Josh

Relatively recently (or at least it was when I started writing this thing – apparently circumstances are unkind to us all), I attended a UCR
convention which, among other things, featured various daily debate questions for participants to mull over. One of those questions asked what makes a
regional community strong, and it piqued my interest, as one of those questions that could apply to any region, not necessarily just UCRs. While most
attendees echoed the same old ideas of activity and nation count being pretty much the sole factors, myself and a couple of others took on a deeper and
more complex view of the issue. After all, one can ask for active members all they like, but there's other things to consider alongside the simple
“activity” buzzword. Those members need to be good people, that get on well together, and there needs to be a sense of cohesive community purpose
between them. There’s nothing worse for a region than its population being persistently at each other’s throats, or their sole measure of activity being
how many edgy fascist memes they can spam out. Thus, we are faced with the problem of needing a positive form of activity, rather than just activity
in the broadest sense.
Positive activity doesn’t just happen, it must be cultivated by the leadership of a region; the region must provide appropriate spaces.
Region-members must be allowed to interact with one another in an efficient and civilised manner, and thus well-structured offsite communications
platforms with good moderation are a necessary factor too. I’m sure we’ve all visited regional discords lacking such organisation, and in most cases the
effects are very unpleasant, often resulting in degeneracy pouring out of the woodwork. A lack of moderation and the ensuing problems are not in
themselves something that will destroy a community, but they are something that will harm a region in the context of NS, undermining their ability to
function as a relevant region in the GP sphere. Regions with bad reputations get cut off from the rest of the world, being left to embrace only their
fellow OOC undesirables. This is naturally the opposite to what is in the interests of a strong region community.
Concurrent with a desire not to burn one’s international image, it is important to cultivate a positive image abroad and maintain links to other
communities. This allows a region to keep another avenue open for fresh interactions, and to gauge their community's internal health against other
examples. Besides all that, it's important that your members engage on social platforms and have a knowledge of the basic workings of the game on
some level. Because natives are rarely all that informed, it's a must that those in charge are competent and well connected to the wider community in
whichever spheres your region is a part of, be in GP or RP or whatever. High nation or post count is therefore hardly the whole story, as I have argued,
the capability and character of the people behind those nations is key.
A region must at all times maintain a doctrine of flexibility, recognise that it is going to need to change and adapt, and take some actions that
contradict its traditions and precedents to survive and grow as a community. Regions that get too stuck in "the way it's done" stagnate, and often lack
the initiative to ban those who need to be banned, and make changes that are required. If one turns their gaze to large old regions, such as Europeia or
Gay, this ability to recognise of the necessity of change has brought significant improvements to their communities. Above all, a region must recognise
that NS is a fluid affair. It is not enough to reach a point and plateau. A government must perpetually work to keep interest internally and to stay
relevant externally.

Osiris Abroad
By Lynxi

The APC announced victory for the natives of St. Abbaddon through diplomatic means. The NPO’s decision to leave the region, citing drain of
WA resources and lack of cooperation from the native delegate Kitsco, created a narrow window for the Coalition to enter talks with the delegate and
restore Topid as the rightful Monarch of the region. Valuing diplomacy over military action, the leaders of the APC and Kitsco came to an agreement
that benefits the natives most of all. Altino said,

“...St Abby would have a strong native population to start work over with, no one would have to be forced out of the region or feel like
they had anyone looming over their heads, and St Abby could just go back to being its own region - with the added bonus from APC's
perspective of NPO not being involved there anymore…”

At the time of writing, Topid has held the delegacy of St Abbaddon for 14 days.

Recently a treaty between Osiris and Lazarus entered into discussion between the Guardians. After strong support was shown by the guardians
in private discussion, it was put to vote and passed unanimously. Currently the Treaty is being voted on by Lazarus, but initial indications show a
probable positive outcome. Osiris looks to celebrate this new alliance amidst the multiple annulments over the past year, and the general consensus is
that a few, strong relationships outweigh the benefit of numerous, weak ones.
Many Osiran citizens have echoed the Guardian’s support, and wish for a positive outcome on Lazarus’ end. The Sister Sinkers have been
celebrating a resurgence of stable activity and growth over the last year. By forging this relationship, Osiris looks to help maintain said between the two
Sinker powerhouses, promoting sovereignty and friendship between them
 Point/Counterpoint
The Syrian War
Foreword written by Josh, debate by Josh and Res

Hello and welcome once more to my political ramblings set against another person’s. For this edition, Lynxi and I mutually
agreed that Res would make a great debate opponent, so for the past week he’s been locked in CA’s basement slaving away on his
take on the “situation” in Syria, and I’m sure he’s loved every minute of it. On another note, kindly allow me to take this
preliminary blurb to personally apologise for the lack of Oracle issues over the past couple of months. We in CA love the Oracle
but materialising this thing routinely is genuinely difficult. Do feel free to pitch article ideas and offer contributions, or Lynxi and
I will stab you. A lot.

Josh Res

Ah, Syria. I do pick some easy topics for this thing, don’t I? For
those who are unaware, somehow, of the very basics of the Syrian civil
war, I shall provide a short introduction to the situation as of January 2019.
Growing out of conflicts related to the 2011 Arab Spring, the Syrian civil
war has become an international proxy war between the United States and
an aggressive Russia, intent on regaining total regional dominance. Rebels,
largely, desire the removal of Ba'athist President Bashar al-Assad, who has
continuously held the position for the past 18 and a half years, and can
curiously enough poll nationwide at a healthy 96.7% support, if 2007
“election” figures are to be believed. As I am sure exactly nobody is
surprised to hear, the man is a dictator, has conducted chemical attacks
against his own people. Happily, Assad is no longer undisputed in that
role. The myriad rebel groups present in Syria have not been able to agree
on much more than their desire not to be ruled by Assad, however, and
have historically fought each other as much as the government. Kurds
largely desire independence or increased autonomy, some rebels desire a
more democratic system of government, and a particularly famous subset
of crazies decided they were hell bent on creating heaven on earth in a
glorious Islamic Caliphate destined to span the entire world. Oh, and
Turkey is involved seemingly to grab up some territory too. Simply put,
there’s a clusterfuck of factions with differing and incompatible interests
who have been slogging out those differences on the battlefield for the past
nearly 8 years.
More relevant to the international situation around the war is the
support different factions have received from foreign interests, and the
West’s internal debates over whether to be involved, how far to get
involved, or whether to just abandon the middle east in general. Two
simple facts must be realised for a rudimentary understanding of foreign
involvement. First, Russia supports the government of Assad, for very
much self-interested reasons. Second, the West’s disunity and lack of
direction has resulted, more or less, in support for the so-called “Syrian
Democratic Forces,” a faction largely made up of Kurds, which controls
the northeast of the country, but has so far ruled out actual military
intervention on the scale of Iraq or Afghanistan. Indeed, memories of such
interventions, and the fact they are still, despite all attempts to divest from
them, ongoing, play a large part in popular perceptions of the West’s
“rightful” role in Syria. Democracy is a fickle thing, and the unfortunate
fact of the matter is that the West permits people who know nothing about
geostrategy a voice in its execution, to some degree at least. What this
means in a practical sense is that public opinion is given far too much
weight in government policy towards interventionism, and has heavily
undermined its use as a policy, against the actual interests of Western
states. So far, the West’s reluctance to enter Syria has permitted Russia to
fully establish its own intervention, to the point that any Western full scale
intervention would now risk war with Russia. Western policy remains very
uncoordinated, even inside NATO, as Turkey’s territorially minded
interventions have demonstrated in no uncertain terms. However, the
Getting US troops out of the Middle East does not mean
abandoning our allies and friends in the region. In fact, that is a mistake
we should dare not repeat. After the Soviets were forced out of
Afghanistan, we allowed our self-interested, short term foreign policy
get the better of us, and we abandoned the Afghanis to the Taliban.
Once we’d finished selling Afghani rebels guns and missiles, we didn’t
help them stabilize in the aftermath, and that lead to the following civil
war in 1992 led to the rise of the Taliban. We have, time after time,
chosen to abandon our Middle Eastern allies because they no longer
served our interests. It happened with Afghans, and many people are
afraid we will do the same to the Kurds, leaving them to the whims of
hostile neighbors like Turkey who are, of course, also our allies. And
were we under a different presidency, I’d argue that it wasn’t an almost
certain scenario. But regardless, we are going to argue the scenario that
I believe would be both best for the US, and the Middle East, because
while I see the scenario as unlikely, we have to be willing to present all
the options.
So, how do we pull out of Syria, and the Middle East in general,
while keeping our global opponents in check and preserving some of
the careful balance between some of our regional allies? We stop being
the invader and start being the arbiter. For decades, the US and her
allies have served as a constant, antagonizing force throughout the
region, either through direct military action or through covert
operations, and we need that view to change if we ever want to repair
our relations with the region. And that can start by negotiating freedom
for Kurdistan. While that does not necessarily mean independence for
them, which even many Kurdish leaders right now would agree would
only lead to their potential nation’s destruction, what we can do is begin
serving as a host to try and unite the many factions of the Kurds, and
help them find common ground so they can have the authority to push
for the creation autonomous regions in many of these countries like the
current one in Iraq. Taking these steps will create a reliable ally, who
can keep our global rivals in check and serve as a deterrent to the more
authoritarian tendencies of some of our other allies, without having to
keep US troops on the ground.
Following freedom for the Kurds comes a much more daunting
task: figuring out how to stabilize Iraq. While Iraq may be at peace
right now, it is by no means stable. Since the relative removal of ISIS
from the country, the Iraqi government has seen it fit to go on revenge
campaigns against the Sunnis for “supporting” ISIS, arresting
thousands and executing hundreds in sham trials. That has to end. The
systematic abuse of the Sunnis in Iraq is what led to the creation of ISIS
in the first place, and if Iraq is ever to actually stabilize, the US needs to
be the body that says enough is enough. We have to end our hypocrisy
where, it’s bad when our opponents on the global stage are
authoritarians, but when our allies do it it’s fine. And I know, you can’t
solve 1000 years of conflict in a day, but we have to give peace a
answer to this mess is not to cut our losses and run, ceding Russia yet more
regional advantages and signalling that further escalation of its foreign
policy goals will be met without resistance. The West must realise that it
must stand up to Russian expansionism immediately and clearly, lest
Russia decide down the line to gamble, perhaps to re-secure its former
Baltic possessions, now NATO members, and cause a major war.
One may wonder “why is Russia the primary issue in a discussion
about Syria,” and they’d be justifiable in doing so, yet in a deeply
connected world there is no luxury of merely treating matters as regional
problems. Russia’s foreign policy has become increasingly aggressive
through Putin’s rule, truly intensifying from 2007-8 to outright hostility to
Western interests. After securing its backyard in the Caucuses through the
early 2000s, Russia proceeded to spark a war with Georgia in 2008, to
disrupt its steady drift into the USA’s orbit. It marked Russia’s clear
intention to act on its expansionist dreams, and the beginning of a series of
interventions and subversive actions by the Russian state, which have since
seen annexations from Ukraine, once again to prevent a Western alliance,
and direct military involvement with the ongoing Ukrainian civil war,
clearly aiming for further annexations. Russia has signalled its desire for
regional hegemony and no mistake can be made about the clear threat it
poses to the region. In securing Crimea, Russia secured the major naval
base of Sevastopol, allowing its Black Sea fleet to operate more
effectively, and to project power into the Mediterranean far more easily.
Russian involvement in Syria, besides the obvious economic advantages of
controlling oil supplies, will provide Russia with friendly ports in the
Eastern Mediterranean, and airbases, from which to further extend its
projection of power, threatening much of the Middle East and
South-eastern Europe. Appeasement of, and lack of action in the face of,
dictators is a well-known way to get them to demand more things, and
make riskier moves. The line of escalation in Russian foreign policy is
clear.
The West’s response has not been muted, naturally, but the
economic sanctions so far imposed upon Russia will not function
effectively to erode popular support if the west permits Russia major
foreign policy successes for little effort. Despite the insistence of people
like Navalny, popular support for the Putin regime is very high, and said
support is intrinsically tied to nationalistic foreign policy objectives. The
authoritarian turn seen in Russia’s domestic policy in recent years has been
correlated with Russia’s increasingly aggressive, and largely successful
expansionism, demonstrating that the Putin government can and will prop
up its domestic support by delivering on objectives abroad. It is therefore
necessary to do as much as possible in as coordinated a way as possible to
prevent the expansion of Russian interests anywhere in the world,
including Syria. A point of honourable mention, that I will not delve too
deeply into here, is the fact that in the admittedly somewhat unlikely event
of the Western-backed rebels winning in Syria, Western powers will be
able to help shape the face of a new Syrian government, and while my utter
distrust for Western governments is well documented, Western
involvement is certainly preferable from a humanitarian perspective to
either a continuation of Assad’s rule, or a very possible Islamic
fundamentalist turn post-victory, as seen in other states of the region.
There is far more to be said on this matter, but this is running way
over my supposed word limit now. I hope this article will spark some
debate in our glorious politics chat, and I hope that debate will consider the
importance of preventing Russia from becoming too comfortable with the
idea that it can demand anything it wants, and succeed. Such a road leads
only to war.
chance. We cannot continue to throw our military weight around Iraq,
but we can use our economic power to make sure the first steps are
taken. When we invaded Iraq in 2003 and put the Shia in power, they
began persecuting Sunnis because Saddam Hussein was a Sunni, who
heavily persecuted both the Shia and the Kurds during his authoritarian
rule. And that sort of cyclical violence has to end if we ever want actual
peace in Iraq. When we invaded and set up the new Iraqi government,
we laid out the guidelines for how we wanted them to operate, and we
decided that it was ok for them to round up and abuse Sunnis so long as
they were supposedly affiliated with Al-Qaeda in Iraq, which of course
for a vast majority simply wasn’t true. And when we decided we were
ok with those operating procedures, we became morally responsible for
their actions, and how those actions created resentment in the Sunni
population. Which while we by no means can fix by ourselves, we do
have the authority to push the Iraqi government to at least begin an
actual process of stopping more damage from being done to relations
between both groups, and taking the first steps in ending the cycle of
violence that has plagued Iraq. Stabilization for Iraq gives us much
better means of countering Assad and Russia in the long run than an
invasion ever would because we don’t have to go through the process
of committing to yet another expensive regime-change war and
occupation, with the bonus of not having to go and face Russia directly,
reducing our chances of accidentally starting a global conflict. That and
gaining a stable ally who isn’t abusing their citizens is usually
something I can always dock as a win in my book.
I think what a lot of people fear about the US and her allies
moving troops out while Russia moves troops into Syria is that
somehow the Russians will do “better” than we have, or that Syria will
somehow become a staging ground for greater Russian intervention in
the Middle East, and I think people are wrong on both counts. Russia,
much like the US, is short sighted in its foreign policy, in being that it
revolves mostly around what helps Putin maintain his grip on power.
Putin has watched how the US’s war in Iraq has played out, and he has
no intention of playing out a dragged out conflict in the Middle East.
With the escalation of situations both in Ukraine and in Venezuela, and
the West’s sanctions still hampering Russia’s economy, Putin cannot
drag out the Syria conflict with so many other pieces on the board
moving against him. While having US troops on the ground cannot be
an option for us, we can continue to help the Kurds with supplies and
logistics to keep Russia and Assad in check. That, and avoiding a direct
conflict with Russia should be very heavily in the West’s interests.
While I don’t think it’s likely that Putin would expand a conflict in
Syria to something more global, I don’t think a war in Syria would be
good for the West, and especially the United States. The war in Iraq has
been dragged out and expensive for the US, and the only real results of
it were profits for a few and destabilization for everyone else. The
policy of regime change wars has hurt the West dearly, and we need to
re-assess that policy heavily, because there are better, cheaper, and
more ethical ways to support for global peace that isn’t invade and coup
everyone who doesn’t like you.
In conclusion the outdated system of Western interventionism
has to come to a close, and we cannot allow Syria to become the latest
example of how to continue a policy that has failed the West constantly
for over half a century. Couping and occupying countries and sewing
resentment into the populace because of constant foreign intervention
has continued to play out poorly in the long term for the Western
powers, but we continue to repeat it because it perpetuates short term,
self-interested national goals. The process of Interventionism has not
only proven itself expensive, it often hinders what long term goals for
relations we do have with many of these nations, as our presence
becomes that of an occupation force. There are more peaceful, more
ethical, and less expensive alternatives to fighting and couping Middle
Eastern countries for our own, selfish gain, and as a global
powerbroker, the West and the US has the option to take those paths,
and stop trying to coerce nations to follow our lead or serve our
interests by the barrel of a gun.
 Rigel Speaks
A heartfelt letter from an editor of the Oracle’s past
By Rigel

Hello Osiris!

Can I just say how awesome you all have been? I don't know if you know this. But the Oracle, every single issue, was a concentrated effort
from Osiris' citizens to her Citizens. These Articles, Interviews, Information pieces were written by citizens, just like you and I could not be more
proud to have helmed the Oracle for as long as I did.

But like all good things, it must come to an end. But I leave it in capable hands. The new Editor of the Oracle is Lynxi, and she has been
through the previous issues with me. She knows the standards that we hold the Oracle to, and I know that she will only make it better in the future.

You have talented individuals in your midst, Osiris and I cannot wait for you to see what they bring you going forward.

Osiris. It has been a privilege and an honor to write for you. And I cannot wait to join you and read the Oracle's future issues.

Hail!

And thank you.

Rigels Light

FROM THE OFFICE OF COMMUNITY AFFAIRS

Osiris is looking for A Few Good ... Mentors!

Have you ever joined a new community and wondered, "okay now what do I do?" Well, you can stop that from happening to new Osiris citizens. Being
a mentor means being a knowledgeable point of reference and a friend so that new citizens can find their way and feel truly welcome into the Osiris
Community! If you'd like to help welcome new citizens you can sign up on the Osiris Forum! Ask a member of the Community Affairs team for a link
if you need one!

Join the Welcoming Committee!

New people are the lifeblood of any region, and we’d like to make sure they feel at home! If you’re looking for an easy way to contribute to the region,
help integrate new members of our community, and secure the future of Osiris, then you should think about joining the Welcoming Committee. If
you’re not sure how, or if you have any questions, just contact Lynxi or Anabelle!
 Secret Santa Flag Shop
By Ham

To celebrate the new treaty between Osiris and The Empire of Mare Nostrum the Treaty of Selene, Osiris and The EMN hosted a festival! The festival
included several games of trivia, many memes, and a secret Santa flag exchange. At the secret Santa flag exchange we had several beautiful flags.
We thank everyone who took part in the festivities, especially those who took the time to brighten others day in the Secret Santa. Here’s some of our
favorite flags from the event:

To Josh from Drinarius To Salvarity from Josh

To Rachael from Salvarity To Lynx from Mike

To Wym, Osiris’ deadliest weapon, from Drinarius

 Sekhmet News
By Benja
January has been a pretty good month for the Sekhmet Legion! Not
quite as active as December (winter break does wonders for activity) but
not a bad month by all means. Plenty of new people, tag raids, and big ops!
So far, we've led 9 different things at an update this month,
including 6 tag raids and one special one-hit jump. 2 of those raids were
led by someone triggering for the first time!
On top of new people learning to trigger, we had some new people
join the Legion in January - 4 in fact! Alrengard, Rushtaria,
UstarobinHood, and Vanquaria all joined our ranks this month.
Some of those people were likely lured to join us by the special
week in which I got to control the Osiris WFE to advertise the Legion. We
had an amusing time acting out as "natives" in Esterios (a trophy region of
ours) and crushing our own "rebellion," which we used to stir up
excitement and get people to join us.
On top of piling in Esterios for some time, the Legion took part in 3
longer missions this month. As members of the Anti-Pacific Coalition, we
helped in the delegate transition in St Abbaddon. At the end of the month,
we helped our friends in Voltarium with their raid in Grand Central.
By far the biggest, most awesome thing the Legion did this month
was the destruction of Politics Amino. On the first night of the mission, 7
Legionnaires and 24 foreign allies jumped into the region, which was
incredible. We were confronted with a Liberation proposal, but managed to
change our plans quickly and lock down and refound the region before the
voting period ended. This raid was a massive success under great pressure,
and a testament to the strength of the Legion right now. A few months ago
we definitely would not have had the experience, allies, or numbers of our
own to pull this off.
 
 
Gameside Affairs Announces:  won’t be able to face later on. NS politics are about three things
 
Congratulations to Praisal for becoming RMB Contributor of the month for
January 2019! We appreciate your activity and consider it one of the most
important aspects of our community.
Each month Gameside Affairs celebrates 1 consistently active and quality
contributor to the RMB. So get to posting and you can be our next RMB
Contributor of the Month!
Ask Someone Else
Ask Someone Else is Osiris’ monthly advice column from our
darling contributor Someone Elsa.
Hey, Oracle. I have a region mate here in Osiris, I won't name names,
but she has a real problem with kleptomania and I am constantly
coming home to find my socks stolen. I've tried everything from good
old fashioned bullying, to tattle-telling on her to o̶u̶r̶ her mom.
What do you suggest is the best course of action in this sockless
situation that I am endlessly being faced with?​ -Kawaii
Wow. Sounds like your region mate is a really wonderful person. Have
you thought about the fact that maybe you don't really ​need​ socks?
Like, what do they do for your feet anyways? I'm pretty sure that your
best course of action is just to let her, erm, I mean them, be themselves.
You don't want to make anyone feel guilty about it, ya know? Plus,
maybe if you bribe them with candy or something they may eventually
let you ​look​ at the socks from time to time. Man I wish I were as lucky
as you.
What should I consider first when beginning to get involved in NS
politics? (​ unknown)
Oh wow a serious question. I wasn’t expecting this so soon. Erm, do I
answer it sincerely or do I snark and run off some poor new baby
player? WHAT IF I COME OFF AS SMUG OR INTIMIDA-
Ahem. New people getting into the game of NS and the wider political
game we named Gameplay should invest in a few things:
1. Thick Skin​- Everyone eventually has to take on the daunting
and infamous ​opinion(s) of other people.​ Gameplay ensures
this from the get go, with as many harsh personalities and
unforgiving assholes as there are failed welcome committees in
dead UCRs. Learn to walk away, collect yourself, and respond
tactfully but unflinchingly.
2. Learn To Log​- Nobody talks about this much but everyone
does it. When you’re discussing some daring political move or
whatnot, make sure you know what’s worth a good screenshot
or two. This can come in handy for a number of reasons, first
and foremost being able to prove you didn’t do the shit some
rival is accusing you of.
3. Keep Calm​- That’s really it. Don’t let some situation get under
your skin so badly that you make irrational decisions that you
really: activity, responsibility, and covering your ass. You can’t
do that if you rant at an unsuspecting room about their need to
continue masturbating and your weird, undying devotion to a
browser game empire.
Any tips for keeping sand out of my socks? (​ unknown)
Donate them to someone deserving of them! If you abuse socks, you’ll
likely run out of them when you most need them. Like whenever you
wear shoes. Please, for the love of Owls everywhere, wear socks when
you wear shoes. Looking at you, Vis.
How do I break it to my girlfriend that she doesn't exist?​ (unknown)
Well, Koth, you should probably just tell her.