Talk:League of Nations

Structure

Some thoughts/questions:

• Does the Secretariat resemble that in our LON? In many ways it was the "civil service" drawing up agendas and issuing reports from which the Assembly would then eventually vote upon.

I think it might be rather similar.

• The Council of the World, is this analogous to the LON Council, which was a cabinet to the Assembly's legislature? I rather assume not for the simple reason there doesn't seem to be an Assembly.

This Council is kind of like the UN's big assembly. All the ministers from all the member nations sit in a big room and work their international magic. It would be here that Big Decisions get made -- those times when the whole LoN's power is to be brought to bear on some recalcitrant country; times when the world's countries as a whole need to address a problem (such as slavery or civil rights).

Perhaps that is taken up with the Regional Assemblies mentioned?

The Regional Assemblies are simply working groups of LoN ministers that seek out peaceable solutions to a given problem. Like if there is a water rights dispute between two countries and on their own they're headed for war, their ministers would work with ministers of neighbouring countries and perhaps one or more of the "big powers" ministers to come up with an equitable solution to share the available resources. It's kind of a positive peer pressure group.

Are there Permanent Members of the Council? Do they have a veto? Or does it work in some other way altogether--rotating permanent memberships, for example?

I think all member nations send ministers to the Council, so in that sense, they're "permanent". There might be some kind of UN Security Council analogue that the big powers sit on -- there might be permanent and/or revolving members there. There may also be other special councils with similarly constituted membership.

Kudos for doing some work on this important body! Zahir 12:59, 10 October 2007 (PDT)

Thanks! I should have worked on it more long ago, but there was never a pressing need. I'll have to review the archives for early mentions of the LoN and what it does. Elemtilas 16:25, 10 October 2007 (PDT)

A question:

Do nations send permanent ambassadorial representatives specifically to the League, or do things work on a more ad-hoc working-group type basis? Geoff 00:41, 23 Nov 08 (USCT)

Languages

under languages it should probably say "Francian, Castilan, Aragonese" instead of "French, Spanish". Should probanly be added Scots, Scandinavian, Japanese and a chinese languages as they are spoken in more then one country. --Marc Pasquin 06:29, 24 February 2008 (PST)

Perhaps Arabic as well? Zahir 08:42, 24 February 2008 (PST)

Those are simply the English names for the languages in question. Only in linguistics do they differentiate Francien from Gaulhosc from Limousin from everything else; or Castilian from Aragonese. *There*, like *here*, when an English speaker says "French" or "Spanish", he's simply refering to the national or principal language of the country in question, regardless of what it might actually be called in its own country and regardless of how many official languages that country may have. While I might naturally favour Scots, I'm not sure it would necessarily be one of the chief languages of the League. Having three British languages might make the League look too much like an extension of the FK itself. And while that might satisfy the jingoistic feelings of some in the FK, I hardly think it's a good idea! Probably they had to give over in favour of "Somethingorother"; or the issue never came up at all, it being assumed that the two greater languages would take precedence. I would not be adverse to Scandinavian -- the SR is undoubtedly a major player in the League's activities. Of course, the League does employ a number of translators and interpreters -- anyone who speaks Scots and has trouble with English can engage their services. As for what other language or languages should be the top ones, I'm open for suggestions. If one of the listed languages needs to be replaced by another, I would suggest replacing Spanish or Brithenig before French and English. Arabic is a possibility; perhaps an East Asian language could fill in the gap? I wouldn't be adverse to Japanese or Korean, either. Elemtilas 14:21, 24 February 2008 (PST)

The following, "The chief languages of the League are French, Spanish, English, Brithenig and Somethingorother. These are the principle languages of all official League business, however, translators are engaged in interpreting a wide variety of languages and dialects" has been removed from the article, pending discussion. Marc thinks the list is insufficient, and I agree. I asked on Conculture if the LoN should even have official languages. It might fit IB better if all languages have equal standing. Will certainly keep the cadre of translators and interpreters busy! What do the rest of you think? Elemtilas 13:46, 25 February 2008 (PST)

Headquarters

Does anybody know where the League's headquarters are? Benkarnell 14:11, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

I have no idea where LoN headquarters are but I believe it could be located in a neutral country or, perhaps, in the NAL as LoN was a "child" of the Nobel prized General Moderator Gwrthiern ffeil Gwilim. Perhaps in Philadelphia or New Amsterdam.--Pedromoderno 23:42, 23 November 2008 (UTC)

Might the LoN's official Headquarters rotate among member nations? I'm not sure how you's handle the logistics of that, but it would make it less easy for a host nation to exert undue influence (or to be accused of that). It might level the playing field a little more. Geoff 17:50, 23 Nov 2008 (USCT)

I think the logistics of a mobile LoN would be as worse *there* as a mobile UN would be *here* -- expence of building multiple campuses, time wasted in moving staff ambassadors and materiel from place to place, requiring multiple residences for staff and ambassadors. Probably best to pick a likely host city and accept whatever mutterings of "favoritism" or "influence" may come along. I think it would be more likely that some kind of condominium status would be established between the host city, say New Amsterdam, and the League itself; thus, New Amsterdam becomes a (or at least a partial) condominium between the NAL and the LoN. Or perhaps the LoN has an arrangement with New Amsterdam that it has an independent enclave (kind of like the independent enclaves of Vatican City or the Knights of St. John in Rome *here*). Elemtilas 02:40, 24 November 2008 (UTC)

I remember a Conculture discussion last spring or summer where it was decided the headquarters was in the Hague, Batavian Kingdom. At least, that was my understanding when I wrote this news article. I don't have time to search the Archives at the moment, but I know I waited until that question had been addressed before posting the article. Benkarnell 14:55, 24 November 2008 (UTC)

The Hague it is then. It might also have regional headquarters on other continents--Marc Pasquin 15:46, 24 November 2008 (UTC)

Agreed. Any ideas where some regional headquarters might be? Elemtilas 02:17, 26 November 2008 (UTC)

How many regions are there? How big an area do they cover?
For example, is Europe one Region or several? Asia is so big it pretty much needs to be broken up - Eastern (Far East: Chinas, Japan-Corea etc), Southeastern, Southern (India), Central and Western (Middle East) Asia regions might work, as well as something like a "Eurasia" region covering Russia, Ukraine, Nassland and so on.
As far as regional HQs go... East Asia: somewhere in Corea perhaps? Southeast Asia: Myqan Daij (sp?)? (I have to confess to near-total ignorance on this part of the world). South Asia: Someone with more idea of what's in IB.India should answer that. Central Asia: I'm tempted to suggest Buxara or Almaliq in Turkestan, but Persia might be a better choice. Turkestan was pretty insular when this whole thing was being set up. West Asia: Hmm... You could give it to Turkey (and irritate the Arabs), you could give it to Saudi Arabia (and annoy moderates and Islamic Democrats), or you might give it to somewhere like Lebanon.

Montrei for North America, São Paulo or Rio de Janeiro for South America. In the Pacific, Nauru is the country that's had the least colonial influence from Europe or Japan, but that island is awfully small. Aotearoa or even Fiji might be better choices. Benkarnell 05:50, 26 November 2008 (UTC)